IS'.)-.' 



(;li;.\mn(;s in I{|«;k ( ii/itije. 



arc vi'i'\ ■^urc he \\ ill iiavr im nhjcci imi 

 iiiSR'"'! iiilo |ii'iiit ill this \\;iy. 



/>;•. Miller: — Von may icmi'iiihcr thai, at ilir 

 ('ohiiiit)ns i-onvt'iition. I cxitrcssci! a i^oimI deal 

 of I'oiiliiiciu-c in ri'irard in liicNaliic of sweet 

 I'lDvcr as a Idiairi'-iilaiil for slock. Tlid'c was 

 roiisi(l('ial)li' (iisciissioii on llic snl).ji'iM. If 1 fc- 

 nuMiilu'i' lifilitly you were among tliosc who 

 syniiiatlii/t'ii witli my own viows. Tlic proof 

 of tilt' piuldinR. yon l<no\\. is in catiiifi. I am 

 I'olit'i'iinir some of this sann' i<iii(l of jiroofin 

 rogai'ti to swcci i-iovcr. I am now fccdiiig it 

 to my fow oiu'c a day. Slic seems to eat witli 

 u relisli all that 1 give hef, to tlie leasiand hist 

 leaf and stalk. 'I'his elover was of tlH> tifst 

 year's gn)wth from the seed, and grew thick 

 and line, and wascni'ed in good condition late 

 in the season. I feed ii to my hofses. They 

 vat it. hut I think it is hettcf' foe cattle and 

 slieei). A fai'mer living near m(^ with whom I 

 am W(M1 ac(iuainted. has a slrij) of sweet clover 

 gfowing along one side of a lot next to the rail- 

 road, where it sjji'ead from the railroad etn- 

 hankment. He pastured a Hock of sheep in 

 this lot last summer, and he said to me those 

 sheo]) persisted in eating this clovtn' when the 

 feed was ahundaiit elsewhere in the lot. He 

 supposed nothing would eat it: but they did, 

 and kept it fed down close. They seemed to 

 prefer it. He did not know why. He regarded 

 it as a nuisanc(\ notwithstanding the evidence 

 he gave in its favor. He is not a bee-man. 

 So much for a bad reputation. 



1 have seven acre.s. sown last year. It will 

 bloom next season. lam sure it can be raised 

 on our hard clay land, and made profitable. 



H. R. KOAKDMAN. 



East Tow nsend. O.. Dec. 1. 



•iiiLT i;. McKnighl. I 



THE NORTH AMERICAN CONVENTION AT 

 ALBANY. 



liKI'OinKL) BY KWNKST. 



The Albany convention lias come and gone. 

 and only memory remains to recall the feast of 

 good things. It was indeed ;i representative 

 ■convention, perhaps moi'e States being repre- 

 sented, and more miles traveled by bee-keep- 

 <'rs, than to any other convention in the history 

 ■of the iissociation. Something over KM) railroad 

 fares were paid to Albany, and many of these 

 fares covered long distances. As wasexpected, 

 there was a large number of distinguished bee- 

 keepers present, although not all that we hoped 

 would be. A. E. Maiium and Mr. I<'iaiik Hen- 

 ton were; detained on account of sickness, as 

 were also the two doctors. Mason and Miller, 

 much to the regret of all present. The doctors 

 are a whole team in themselves, and are enough 

 to make any meeting bubbl(> o\-er with eiithiisi- 

 asm. ]}nt we had other good men. Capt. J. E. 

 Hetherington. the one bee-keeper wiio enjoys 

 the distinction of being the largest honey- pi-o- 

 dncer in the world, was present. He is full of 

 vim and busine>s push, it w as easy to S(M'. A 

 delightful and interesting speaker, he fairly 

 captivated the whole convention by liis joviali- 

 ty and enthusiasm. (J. .M. Doolittle was another 

 bright light. I had always supposed that he 

 was more of a writer than a convention man: 

 but I was very agreeably siirpiised. Like Mr. 

 Hetherington. he is a clear and foireful speak- 

 er. ('. I'. Dadant and Hon. .1. M. Ilambaugh 

 came from the Mississijipi Valley, and Eugene 

 Secor came from beyond the Mississijipi River. 

 They had come the furthest of any of the bee- 

 keepers. Of these Til tell you mure in our next 

 issue. There were also two representatives from 

 I'anada. in the persons of R. F. Ilolteiniann and 



.-,■■- lir\e iii'jirly every one of 



llie New England Slalis had oih' or moie icp- 

 leseiilative.s. The .New Hampshire lOxperiment 

 Station actually sent one of its insiructors. a 

 Mr. Wood, to tiie con vention, t he ultimate ob- 

 ject being to establish a school of aiiiciiltiire Of 

 course, the Vork State bee-keepei-s tiii-ned out 

 (11 (/la.sNr. among them being, I. II. .\ellis. of t lie 

 former iiic-iiciicis' H.kIki injr : .luliiis lloll- 

 inan. I'. II. Elwood. (J. II. K iiickeriiocker. .\. I). 

 Wesi. W. E. (lark (he's iiiiitc a driver in con- 

 ventioni. Thomas I'ierce. the two Coggshalls. I. 

 Scholield I guess \'(\ better sto|). or somebody 

 will feel hurt because 1 didirtmeiitioii his name. 



This convention, while it lacked stnne of the 

 eiitliusiasm of ot her iiieeiingsof the association, 

 was remarkable in that I here was not a, woi'd of 

 discord uttered. The pl(;asaiit(^st and best of 

 feeling prevailed at every session. With Drs. 

 Mason and Miller, supported by Caiit-. Hether- 

 ington and Doolittle and the r(!St, the enthusi- 

 asm would have run high. As it was, it did not 

 go down to ;i very low ehb. 



Were there any women -folks present '.' Only 

 one or two at a time, and that. too. after all I 

 had said about bi-ingiug along the wives, sweet- 

 hearts, and daughters: I'm not discoiirau-ed. 

 ril invite "em to come to \Vashiiigt(>n next yeai-, 

 and they'll come. 



Well, what about the convention? What did 

 th(n' say and do? More things than I have 

 space to tell you. A very full report by that 

 prince of reiiort.ers. W. Z. Hutchinson, will ap- 

 Ijeai' in iht' AiiKrlnm Bee JounutJ: and if you 

 are not already a suhsci'ilier of that journal, 

 send 10 cents for a few sample copies, and you 

 will be amply rt^jaid. I will attempt to give 

 you only a gist of the subjects discussed. The 

 president's addiess is so excellent and impor- 

 tant in its suggestions that we have decided to 

 publish it entire in uni- next issue. 



INCOUPOKATION.O.VND WHATrIT MKANS. 



The North American is now incorporated un- 

 der the laws of the State of Illinois. At the 

 first session it was asked what incorjioration 

 meant, and why any particular State should 

 take jurisdiction. It was explained that incor- 

 poration signiHed t he making of the society into 

 a legal body. and. so to speak, an individual ca- 

 pable of transacting business — one that can sue 

 and be sued. As to localizing the incorporation, 

 it was explained that a society, in order to be 

 incorporated in the United States, has to come 

 under the jurisdiction of some particular State; 

 and as Illinois is centrally located, as far as the 

 Northern bee-keepers are concerned. Chicago 

 was thought t(j be an appropriate place for its 

 headquarters. All other societies that are in- 

 corporated, whether fraternal or otherwise, are 

 under the laws of some (larticular .State, though 

 in their practical workings they may be nation- 

 al. The North .American bad also procured 

 medals, as |)er the clause in its constitution, and 

 was ready to distribme them to afliliatcd socie- 

 ties when called for. 



HEES, THK I.OCATIO.N', AND THK MAN. 



Mr. Doolittle gave us an exct^llent talk on the 

 subject above. The tifst thing of prime impor- 

 tance; is the (iiieen. \V(» should not have excess- 

 ive biood-rearing after the honey-season, but 

 encourage it by all jiossible means hrfoi'c, so as 

 to have a U>vco of bees of honey-gathering age 

 come on at the right time. As to location, most 

 of us. Mr. Doolittle said, are bound iiy our eii- 

 vironmeiils. and therefoi'e the location may be 

 good or bad: but all honor to the man who se- 

 cures good crops in a poor location. As to the 

 man. he must be one of push — one not woi'king 

 to fill out so many hours, but wcjikiiig for a cer- 

 tain delinite result. He must eniov bis work: 



