1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



will, just a little bit. You can not get around 

 the fact that bees fill a thin comb quicker, and 

 that the honey is of better quality. Deep cells 

 of honey do not ripen as well. 



The grocer may be a wee bit dishonest, with- 

 out meaning to be so; but I believe the bee- 

 keeper in many cases finds there is more money 

 in the production of thin combs, outside of any 

 special call for them on the part of the buyers. 



Oh, yes! it is all right for the grocer to buy 

 what it is right to sell. We will pull together 

 here. But say, doctor, if you think the thin 4)^ 

 sections are in line with the sunken bottles, 

 what objection, outside of the fact that they 

 won't fit your super, would you have to a tall 

 section that would hold as much asyourl%x4J^ 

 x4J^, and still be only 7 to the foot thick?— Ed.] 



By R. C. Allan. 



Of nam^'S there is no end. We have the 

 "Rambles," "The Sunny Southland," •' Pick- 

 ings by the Way." and others, and now comes 

 "Ridgepole Musings." At first thought you 

 may call this a high sounding name; yet in 

 choosing it we have no thought of a " loud " or 

 egotistical heading or title. J. H. Martin ap- 

 propriated for his general heading the title of 

 " Rambler." a very characteristic name. " The 

 Sunny Southland " also was peculiar, and some- 

 what of an index to the writings, though many 

 subjects were tr^atfd. It was suggested to the 

 writer that " The Woolly West" would be a 

 good heading, but to me it seems inappropriate. 

 Geographically we are located near the center 

 of the United States, not in the West. Again, 

 we are well nigh the top of the ridgi pole or 

 backbone of the continent— the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. Since, then, our point of view is both 

 central and elevated we may speak of many 

 things; and in speaking we desire to be guided 

 to the truth, and to say only that which may 

 be right and for the good of all concerned. 



ALFAT.FA. 



There is a great amount of misunderstanding 

 in regard to alfalfa; but before we enter upon 

 the discussion of the plant itself, let me speak 

 of some general conditions in the districts 

 where the plant grows. 



There is— or seems to be — a prevailing opin- 

 ion throughout the East, that Colorado and 

 other alfalfa-growing States are a sort of bee- 

 keeper's paradise. I wish to give the fraterni- 

 ty a true conception, if possible, of the facts. 

 Let us begin at the Missouri River and look 



over Nebraska and East Colorado to the 

 mountains. Think of the slope of the country 

 from the river westward, beginning at a rise of 

 6 or 7 feet to the mile; and as vou pass on west- 

 ward the rise increasing until at or near the 

 mountains there is a rise of about 20 to 30 feet 

 to the mile. The average rise beween Omaha 

 and Denver is over 9 feet to the mile. The rise 

 is more gradual at first, but quite rapid near 

 the mountains. Now picture in your mind an 

 ordinary rolling country with hills (not bluffs, 

 but a gentle rise from the streams) being from 

 40 to 100 or more feet high. The slope from the 

 streams may be so gradual as to make a nice 

 farming land and terminate in a tableland, or 

 it may be variegated; but whatever the general 

 characteristics of the face of the country, do 

 not forget that there is a general slope, with all 

 streams pointing and flowing rapidly in the one 

 general direction. 



Now, a country to successfully irrigate must 

 have the rapidly falling streams and general 

 fall of the face of the country. The ideal 

 place to irrigate would be a country that, in 

 common expression, would be called level, 

 but in fact has sufficient fall to make good 

 drainage, the highest points or ridges be- 

 tween streams being low enough that ditches 

 taken from the streams may be carried to 

 the tops of the ridges without having to be 

 many miles in length. Irrigation is accomplish- 

 ed by taking the water from the streams by 

 means of the ditch, with sufficient grade to 

 make the water flow nicely and yet not wash or 

 cut in the channel. Thus the water is brought 

 above (on higher ground) that to be watered, 

 and then carried in smaller ditches and divided 

 and subdivided and spread over the land. 



It seems that the general air-currents have 

 an eastward trend. These currents carry mois- 

 ture, the moisture being caused to precipitate 

 by coming in contact with other or contending 

 cold currents. The combination of heat, cold, 

 moisture, and air-currents brings about our 

 rainfall. Now, the general trend of air-cur- 

 rents being from west to east, they must pass 

 over the Rocky Mountain chain that runs 

 north and south. There is on the mountain- 

 tops intense cold, as at all high elevations, and 

 this cold condenses the moisture in the air, 

 causing it ro fall upon the mountain-range and 

 not upon the plain. The air, in crossing the 

 mountain-range, seeks, or is drawn to, the de- 

 pressions or valleys, carrying more moisture to 

 some parts than others. Reasoning from this 

 you will see that there can not be a full precip- 

 itiition along the east side of the range; and 

 the higher and more extensive the mountains, 

 the more moisture they catch, and the more 

 dry will be the territory lying east. 



Alfalfa is a clover, and a perennial. The 

 other clovers are more or less strictly biennials, 

 and must be continually reseeding if a meadow 



an?>09\ 



