62 



apples if you had adequate means of cross-pollination. 



MR. COPELAND. I have been studying the Baldwin a 

 little myself. I had one back pasture there where I cut all 

 the apple trees down but one, which I left just for the fun of 

 the thing, and because some of the neighbors wanted that I 

 should, just to see what it would do. It is on a hill, and 

 tliere are no other apples trees nearby, and that tree bears 

 every other year ; full of nice apples. I am satsified that it 

 is self-fertilizing. 



PROF. CHENOWETH. All demonstrations have shown 

 that it is, yes. 



PROF. SEARS. The trouble with Mr. Copeland is that 

 he is getting all the apples he wants already, and this no- 

 tion that he could increase his crop by 50 or 100 per cent 

 doesn't appeal to him. (Laughter). 



MR. NORMAN. I am about 10 miles south of Mr-. 

 Copeland, and we have the same experience. Last spring 

 we had mighty few bees, saw hardly any, and yet we had 

 trees bearing 8 or 10 barrels to the tree. 



PROF. SEARS. And probably would have had 20 if 

 you had bees! 



MR. NORMAN. Well, I didn't want that. That 

 raises another question: If you have too many bees, how 

 much thinning have you got to do? 



MR. TORREY. I would like to say for the benefit of 

 these gentlemen, that in my spare time I hunt bees, and I 

 Relieve that all these New England hills are just covered 

 ivith swarms of wild bees, and they have a hard time to live. 

 I had 7 swarms that I found in 1911, and in the spring of 

 1912 every one was dead. The hills of western Massachu- 

 setts are just alive with swarms of bees. 



PROF. CHENOWETH. That explains why Mr. Cope- 

 land gets fruit without bees. 



QUESTION. I would like to ask what a good colony 

 of bees should weigh, say, the first of September. 



MR. PURRINGTON. I should, say they would weigh 

 50 pounds. 



QUESTION. Without the honey? 



MR. PURRINGTON. Oh, you mean the bees them- 

 selves? Doctor Gates ought to be here. I suppose there 

 are 40,000 to 50,000 bees, and they will weigh 5 or 10 pounds 

 with any hive. 



