AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



217 



Prof. O. Clute, President of the 

 Michigan Agricultural College, is in 

 California, on a visit. For a time Ige 

 was the guest of Col. John P. Irish, 

 formerly of Iowa, and who is so well 

 known as a journalist and writer on 

 political economy. 



Col. Irish's home is in Oakland, a few 

 miles from the University of California, 

 at Berkeley, whei'e the Agricultural 

 College is also located, and in which 

 Prof. Clute is interested. No doubt the 

 Professor, who, by the way, is no less a 

 person than "John Allen," of bee litera- 

 ture fame, will explore the paradise of 

 the "blessed bees" while in the Golden 

 State. 



California is enjoying the distinction 

 of having two leading and well-known 

 members of the Michigan Agricultural 

 College within its confines, namely, Prof. 

 A. J. Cook, besides the one above 

 named. The former is now in the 

 southern portion of the State ; the latter 

 was in the central part, where the great 

 agricultural, horticultural and commer- 

 cial interests are centering, but is now 

 en route for home. 



To see California in these days, the 

 traveler must do the greater part of the 

 State, for its climate and resources are 

 greatly diversified ; they are scattered 

 over its 700 miles of territory. 



Some people think that the south is 

 California, because of its well adver- 

 tised climate — such is not the fact, how- 

 ever. The "Switzerland" of Califor- ' 

 nia, is in Lake County, a hundred miles 

 or so north of San Francisco. As this 

 delightful spot is not yet reached by 

 railroads, though they are pushing that 

 way, it is little frequented. 



The first apples in the State grew in 

 Lake County ; oranges grow there, too, 

 as they do in any part of the State ; 

 bees also do well anywhere, though the 

 southern part has the distinction of 

 having the celebrated sages for partial 

 bee-pasturage. Some of the northern 

 and central counties have a low growing 

 blue sage, in limited quantities, which 

 the bees work upon. 



Reporters who know nothing 

 about bee-keeping often make ludicrous 

 mistakes in reporting oojijvention matter. 

 One of the Grand Rapids, Mich., papers, 

 referring to E. R. Root's essay on the 

 use of a bicycle for' out-apiary trips, as 

 published on page 113, remarks thus : 



E. R. Root has used the bicycle to 

 good advantage. On it he has gone 

 seven miles into New York State, and 

 visited thousands of apiaries. He 

 thought the bicycle a good thing for the 

 bee-keeper. 



Thousands of apiaries within seven 

 miles is such a terrible blunder that Mr. 

 Root makes the following comments in 

 Gleanings : 



A bee-keeper would naturally think 

 that apiaries must be pretty thick along 

 th-At seven-mile route in New York State, 

 or else that we were greatly given to ex- 

 aggeration. It is too bad that it is not 

 true, for here would have been a grand 

 chance for the advocates of bee-legisla- 

 tion, or priority of location. 



The reporter had doubtless heard us 

 use the word " thousands " as referring 

 to colonies, and, as nearly as he could 

 recollect, it was thousands of apiaries. 

 Whew ! This is worse than Alley's ver- 

 sion of the North American. 



We would suggest the propriety of 

 each one, who prepares an essay or 

 paper for convention, writing out a brief 

 digest of it — yes, two or three of them, 

 to hand to reporters. They will appre- 

 ciate the favor, and will be glad to give 

 a correct version. 



It is the fault of bee-keepers, not of 

 the reporters, that such garbled notes 

 appear in the daily press. Bee-keepers 

 should avail themselves of the free 

 notices in regard to our conventions ; 

 but let us by all means have correct 

 reports. 



It is a good idea to have a "brief 

 digest " of essays prepared by their 

 authors, to give to reporters. Such 

 would save the printing of a great 

 amount of nonsense. 



The Imperial Band, of the 



Eraperior William, of Germany, will 

 attend the World's Columbian Exposi 

 tion, having already obtained permission 

 to do so. 



