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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



655 



alfalfa never does. It is grown in much 

 trie same manner as alfalfa. Possibly it 

 will do equally well. Burpee the seedsman 

 says it will succeed only in the South; but 

 he also says crimson clover grows only in 

 the South, whereas it succeeds very well in 

 Nova Scotia, a very long way north. Then 

 along comes the Canadian Experimental 

 Farm, and says it does very well in Otta- 

 wa. Better boom it, Mr. Editor, and keep 

 these wandering bee-keepers at home grow- 

 ing seed and producing huge piles of fine 

 ccmb hone}'. Don't let them wither away 

 like Rambler in Cuba, but set them to work 

 brin3;ing into fashion zwAw^n'^ agriculture. 

 Sainfoin is an important European crop, 

 grown almost everywhere. I think it ad- 

 visable to send straight to Europe for the 

 seed, to get it fresh. Watkins it Simpson, 

 12 Tavistock St., Covent Garden, London, 

 sell English-grown seed, and Messrs. Vil- 

 morin Andrieux i!fe Co., Ouai de la Megis- 

 serie, Paris, sell French, while Italian seed 

 may be procured from Messrs. Damman it 

 C), San Giovanni a Teduccio, near Na- 

 ples. The Spanish kind, known as 

 "sulla," ought to prove useful in Califor- 

 nia, Arizona, and Texas, as it is semi-arid 

 in it.s habit. What is to hinder bee keepers 

 from growing sainfoin for seed purposes, 

 and booming it a little in their own neigh- 

 borhood? They need not be too modest and 

 retiring. 



WHITE CLOVFR. 



In Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana, 

 and very possibly other States, white clo- 

 v- r ought to be grown by irrigation in many 

 cases. It is a grand plant, but not a 

 drouth resister. If you, Mr. Editor, have 

 never seen white clover under irrigation, 

 you would be astonished to see it under 

 such conditions. Personally I believe it 

 would pay to grow white clover under irri- 

 gation right in Ohio; at least the seed- 

 grower ought to grow hi* patch under irri- 

 gation. This is better than looking about 

 for long-tongued bees. It is easier. The 

 yield of white clover under irrigation is 

 enormous, and of course the quality is XXX. 

 Possibly, also, the yield of nectar is in- 

 creased under water culture. Worth think- 

 ing about, isn't it? 



ARTICHOKES. 



Notwithstanding the fact the artichoke is 

 a grand food for ho^s in the hog-producing 

 States, it seems to be but little known. It 

 not only furnishes the very cheapest hog 

 food, but tends to keep these animals in 

 health. Prof. I. P. Roberts praises the ar- 

 tichoke very highly, and so do other emi- 

 nent agriculturists; but still it languishes. 

 Evidently it needs seme one to sound its 

 praises; and as it is a bee- plant, why not 

 we bee-keepers do this for it? 



HORSE BEANS. 



In his write-up of California and its 

 bean fields, ye editor didn't catch on to the 

 value of the bean to Eastern agriculture. 

 Horse beans form an impor'an* crop. They 



are principally used to feed hard-A^orked 

 horses, and for this purpose are not equaled 

 by any other food. These beans can be cul- 

 tivated and harvested just as wheat is, but 

 possibly in drills would suit the United 

 States better. Dr. Moore, one of the edi- 

 tors of the Country Gentleman, indorses 

 them for York State, and possibly they 

 would be an acquisition in Ohio and Mich- 

 igan. Anyway, it would be worth while to 

 experiment with them. 



RAPE. 



The rape-plant has been successfully in- 

 troduced into the United States, but is not 

 as extensively planted as it ought to be. I 

 think there is a chmce here for those bee- 

 keepers who are favorably situated for 

 growing it for seed. 



TACAS\STE (tree ALFALFA). 



The only reference I have seen in Glean- 

 ings to this great hone3'-plant was by the 

 lamented Rambler. Those Californians 

 who complain of lean years should try it 

 and report. It ought to prove a very desir- 

 able acquisition in some parts of the United 

 States. I am anxious to know how it suc- 

 ceeds in the Southwest. 



RED raspberries. 



There is hardly any plant, not excepting 

 white clover, that will excel the common 

 European raspberry as a honey-producer, 

 either in quality or in quantity. The red 

 raspberry furnishes a syrup that stands 

 probably without a rival, and raspberry 

 " vinegar " is a grand drink. Why would 

 it not pay to grow the raspberry in suitable 

 localities for these particular purposes — 

 the more so as raspberry syrup is the best 

 substitute for honey? and where there is a 

 local trade the same people buy both. 



hazelnuts, cobnuts, and filberts. 



The growing of these nuts in the ITjited 

 States is an " infant industry." All three 

 are pollen-plants, and, blooming early, do 

 a great good to bees. 



I could easily add a lot of other honey- 

 plants for the reader to think over, but I 

 shall be well satisfied if the bee-keepers do 

 only a small part in making these things 

 fashionable. Some Gleanings readers are 

 in a position to work up this idea, and pos- 

 sibly some are at work on it. 



[While there is an apparent lack of con- 

 sistency in the statements made by Brother 

 Hutchinson and myself, yet in reality there 

 is none. While I can not be sure just what 

 Mr. Hutchinson has said, yet I think you 

 will find that, where I have spoken of in- 

 tensive agriculture cutting down the yield 

 of hone}', I had in mind those localities that 

 formerly had a much greater proportion of 

 wild or pasture land than now; and conse- 

 quently clover (for the remarks had refer- 

 ence to the eastern portions of the cou itr}') 

 would be less abundant, while grain at d 

 hay would receive a larger sh'ire of the 

 acreage. 



There are immense possibilities in the 



