189G. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



365 



Clovers ami .simiurock. 



English olnvi i.s ;iie Jiit;h sJianirrjck. 

 Perhaps no grentcr niytli exists tlmii iliat 

 relating to tlio shamrock. Sf. Patrick 

 would Unci clover in almost all parts of 

 Ireland, as ho would in England, and 

 it was a fitting emblem of the Trinity. 

 Consequently there is little doubt that 

 he used it as an iilu.stration. How the; 

 little fiction that it is a distinct plant 

 and will graw only in Ireland has been 

 maintained so long seems incompre- 

 hensible unless it is due to the pecul- 

 iarity of Englishmen when regarding 

 most things Irish. It is almost as ab- 

 lurd as regarding Lever's characters as 

 typical of the Irishman of today, prob- 

 Bbly of any day, as he appears to have 

 had as great a genius in inventing char- 

 acters as in inventing stories. Ireland 

 largely owes its clovers and shamrocks 

 to its limestone. Around Dublin, where 

 limestone is not very prevalent, the in- 

 ferior type of clover, the yellow trefoil, 

 is commonly employed as a badge, its 

 convenient shape, owing to its top root, 

 rendering it convenient as a buttonhole 

 flower. 



In limestone districts the white clo- 

 ver is more commonly used, though 

 there is no definite rule, as is shown by 

 the specimens collected by natives in 

 bU parts of Ireland now to be seen in the 

 Dublin museum. These specimens were 

 allowed to go to flower, and four dis- 

 tinct varieties of clover are represented, 

 each frequently. Even the large red 

 clover is included. There is no other 

 plant shown, because there is no other 

 shamrock. The myth is destroyed, but 

 the clovers remain, and it is due to 

 their presence that the Irish pastures are 

 so rich and so valuable for grazing. 

 They have accumulated fertility, and 

 they have done so in England. There- 

 fore their presence in lawns must not 

 be regarded as prejudicial. — London 

 Standard. 



Visibility of Lights at Night. 



The results of the experiments in 

 light visibility conducted by the inter- 

 national committee on behalf of the 

 governments of the United States, Ger- 

 many and the Netherlands have been 

 handed in. The German section gave as 

 the distance at which a light of 1 can- 

 dle power became visible 1.40 miles for 

 a dark, clear night, and 1 mile for a 



rainy night. The American experi- 

 ments show that a light of one caudle 

 power is visible at 1 mile and one of 

 three candle jDower is plainly visible at 

 2 miles. A 10 candle power light was 

 seen with a binocular at 4 miles, ono of 

 29 at 5 miles, though faintly, and one 

 of 33 candles at the same distance with- 

 out difficulty. 



To be on the safe side the experiments 

 were made with green light, as it has 

 been conclusively proved that if a light 

 of that color fills the required tests a 

 red light of the same intensity will 

 more than do so. 



It wa.s found that the candle power 

 of green light which remained visible 

 at 1, 2, 3 and 4 miles was 2, 15, 51 and 

 106 respectively. It was noticed, how- 

 ever, that great care had to be exercised 

 in the selection of the shade of the col- 

 or, so as to give the minimum interfer- 

 ence with the intensity of the light. 

 The shade adopted is a clear blue green. 

 Yellow and grass green should not be 

 employed. The tests may be of interest 

 to railroad men and seamen. — Progress- 

 ive Age. 



Uncertainty and Fear of Old Age. 



It is the practice of certain members 

 of an Oxford college, who all "went 

 up" in the same year, which is now 

 getting on for half a century ago, to 

 dine together yearly. During the year 

 the majority of them never meet at all, 

 their homes being scattered over all 

 parts of the country, and in .some cases 

 abroad. Accordingly, when they do 

 meet, they scrutinize each other pretty 

 carefully, marking the changes which 

 have taken place in their respective ap- 

 pearances during the year. At the last 

 of these gatherings a white haired old 

 gentleman, bent almost double with 

 rheumatism, turned with difficulty to 

 his neighbor, and, pointing to a gray- 

 beard on the other side of the table, 

 whispered anxiously, "Tell me — I don't 

 really look as old as that, do I?" Funny 

 and terribly pathetic, wasn't it? — Pick 

 Me Up. 



An Exchange of Compliments. 



He — You may be engaged, but I can 

 never conceive of your being in love. 



She — And you may be in love, but I 

 can never conceive of your being en- 

 gaged. — Detroit Free Press. 



