I50 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



owners of the great buckwheat fields of 

 New York, or some one living in that re- 

 gion, would tell the Review ivhy they 

 grow buckwheat so extensively. Is it 

 because the soil and climate are peculiar- 

 ly adapted to its growth, or what is it ? 



The rule here is to sow your buck- 

 wheat "the Fourth of July, wet or dry." 

 But this rule is not lived up to. It is 

 often sown the middle of June; or as late 

 as the first of August. Buckwheat needs 

 cool, moist weather. If sown too early, 

 the hot sun of August is likely to blast 

 the kernels as they are forming. If sown 

 too late, the frost may catch it before it 

 ripens. 



I wish that those who have had exper- 

 ience with this crop would write on the 

 following points: The soil and its prepa- 

 ratton. What kind of soil is best adapted 

 to its growth ? How shall it be prepared? 

 What about the use of fertillizers? When 

 shall it be sowed? How shall it he sowed? 

 How much per acre shall be sowed? Then 

 comes the harvesting and threshing. I 

 may say that I have raised buckwheat in 

 a small way. I cut it with a cradle, rak- 

 ed it up in small bunches and set it up 

 with a small band of stalks around the 

 to]) to keep it together. When dry 

 enough to thresh, a machine was set in 

 the field and the grain drawn right to it 

 by two teams — one loading up while the 

 other was unloading. I had the grain 

 ground and sold the flour. The bran and 

 middlings I fed to the pigs. 



To me there is considerable fascination 

 about buckwheat. It comes up so quick- 

 ly; and the broad, green leaves scattered 

 so thickly over the brown earth give a 

 picture of thrift and life that has few 

 equals. Then the clear amber of its 

 stalks contrasts so sharply with the briglit 

 green of its leaves; and when the crown 

 ing glory of the blossoms transforms all 

 into a field of waving white the picture 

 is one of dazzling beauty. Then to 

 see the white go through the various 

 -shades of color until it ends in the reddish 

 brown of ripeness is really more enjov- 

 able to me than going to a circus. 



Department of 



riticism 



R. L. T.WlvOR. 



Blame where you must, he candid where you can, 

 And be each critic the Gooil-natured Man. 



GOLDSKITH. 



T WANT to protest that I am no pes- 

 ^ simist; for I am charged with the 

 thankless task of finding fault. I scarcely 

 know, either, why I should so protest; 

 for why should not the optimist, content 

 with what is well, turn his attention to 

 what seems to him ill; confidently hop- 

 ing to bring about a more desirable state 

 of things. But I'll let it stand. 



NO DANGKR OF ADULTERIXG \V.\X WITH 

 PROPOLIS. 



I begin near home: I can but think 

 that Mr. Aspinwall is entirely wrong in 

 assuming that there is any special danger 

 of unwittingly adulterating beeswax with 

 propolis. (A. B. J., 14S.) I do not know 

 at what temperature propolis melts; but 

 it requires a considerable higher one than 

 wax; and their specific gravities are also 

 very different. Propolis is heavier than 

 water; and I doubt if it melts at the tem- 

 perature of boiling water. For proof, 

 take the fact that it answers very well in- 

 stead of solder to stop holes in vessels in 

 which water is to be boiled. I recently 

 had occasion to extract the wax from 

 a lot of section scrapings. I did it by 

 putting them in boiling water. After 

 considerable boiling the propolis was 

 foiuid in lumps at the bottom of the ves- 

 sel; showing that while it had softened it 

 had not melted sufficiently to spread out. 

 r.NSKIl.I.I'lI. rSK Ol'" I.ANGIWOK — NO 

 HARSHXKSS TO HE) I'SKD KXCKPT IX 

 THE CASK OK KDITOR.S. 



\\ R. Poppleton writes of the cause of 

 foul brood, quoted in .A.. B. J., 168. 

 Though evidentlv unskilled in the exact 

 use of words, his meaning is ])lain and 



