THE BEE-KEEPERS- REVIEW ^3 



A novel feature of this exhil)it will l)e plats of all the cultivated 

 honev plants growing. The canyon will be utilited in producing a 

 natural mountain honey range with all the native wild honey plants 

 so famous in California growing and in full bloom, yielding their 

 nectar to the energetic little creatures whose business in life is to 

 lav up sweetness. This feature is the idea of John S. Harbison, the 

 veteran bee king of California, who brought the first bees to Cali- 

 fornia bv way of the Isthmus of Panama in 1S."3;. In view of the 

 fact that the San Diego Exposition will celebrate the opening of 

 the Panama Canal in 1U15, Mr. Harbison con-^idered it quite appro- 

 priate that a bee and honey-raising exhibit be installed in San Diego. 

 It will Ije the largest and most complete the world has ever seen. 



What the Trouble Is With the Producers! 



The banks in the west charge as much as twelve per cent, in- 

 terest on farmers' notes. Farm mortgages run about S to 10 '^/r . 

 Irrigated land is held at $100 to $30U an acre. Raw land suitable 

 for fruit growing and under some irrigation system sells for $150 to 

 $250 an acre without the water, which amounts to $50 to $T5 an 

 acre more. 



One hundred and fifty to ^OO bushels of potatoes and 500 to 

 1.000 bushels of onions are harvested from land suitable for growing 

 these crops. 300 to 500 boxes of apples to the acre of orchard is con- 

 sidered a good crop from a bearing orchard. Three to five tons of 

 alfalfa hay to the acre is about what is harvested of this legume. 



Crops have been good this year, but the market is all "shot to 

 pieces." Little sale is had for prodtice, and a sliortage of cars at 

 non-competitive points makes conditions chaotic. Potatoes are 

 worth fort}' to fifty cents a hundred pounds and sacks cost nine and 

 ten cents in quantities. Onions are worth sixty to sixty-five a hun- 

 dred when there is sale for them. The potato growers paid $2 to 

 $2.50 per hundred for seed, and onion seed cost $0 to $4 a pound. 

 Alfalfa hay is worth from $6 to $8 in the stack and retails in town 

 when baled at $18 per ton. Stock growing right now is the most 

 profitable rural occupation, but there are troubles for the cattleman 

 too. 



The peach and apple growers have suffered the most severe 

 losses. Peaches have been a loss to the growers where they picked 

 the fruit. The returns did not pay for the cost of preparation for 

 market. I saw hundreds of carloads of peaches on the ground — a 

 total loss except for those who have hogs. The early freeze did a 

 large share of this damage. The peach growers have paid from 



