1032 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURIl 



Nov. I 



Another passenger replied, "Well, you 

 may see a soaking rain to your sorrow before 

 night. ' ' 



We were finally all aboard, and the train 

 started off. I had not had my after-dinner 

 nap, and so after watching the showers over 

 on the mountains from the open window I 

 put my head on the window-sill and went to 

 sleep. I must have been sleeping quite a 

 spell when I was suddenly awakened by a 

 lurching of the train and the frightened ejac- 

 ulations of the passengers. I rubbed my 

 eyes, and looked out of the open window 

 where it had been only a dry sandy desert 

 when I went to sleep, and imagine my sur- 

 prise to see a roaring torrent of water cut- 

 ting its way though the sand, making gullies 

 in some of them a dozen feet deep or more, 

 right close up to the tracks. In some places 

 this gully had washed right under the ends 

 of railroad-ties, and the commotion of the 

 passengers was caused by all rushing to the 

 opposite side of the car, for the track already 

 sloped unpleasantly toward this chasm of 

 rushing muddy water. The engine was just 

 crawling along, and I suspect there were 

 many prayers besides my own that we might 

 get safely away from that dangerous torrent. 

 At Solomonsville we found the station in a 

 pond of water; in fact, the water was almost 

 in to the depot buildings. Some passengers 

 who wanted to take the train were coming 

 from the town a quarter of a mile away 

 through the water, in a carriage; but the 

 driver could not see the road, and it was a 

 question whether they would ever get to the 

 station; but as the rain had ceased, and the 

 water was rapidly running away, they final- 

 ly reached us and the train started off. As 

 we approached Safford there was less and 

 less rain; and at Pima, my destination, there 

 was but very little rain. 



I told you in the issue referred to of my 

 visit to friend Jefferson's home and apiary. 

 The next morning we started out to see some 

 of the fruit of Graham Valley. Right across 

 the street from friend Jefferson's there was 

 a prune-orchard of two or three acres. The 

 trees were bending with beautiful luscious 

 prunes; and when I asked why they did not 

 gather them I was told the man who owned 

 the orchard had moved away, and for sever- 

 al seasons the prices offered for prunes had 

 been so low they were never picked. The 

 people around town helped themselves to 

 what they wanted, and the rest fell to the 

 ground and rotted. Now, this is not a very 

 pleasant story, especially in regard to the 

 market price for fruit in this valley. I pre- 

 sume some enterprising man could have 

 gathered the fruit and made a good thing of 

 it, but it was simply neglected. Prunes 

 keep so long without injury that they can 

 hardly be called a perishable fruit. If I re- 

 member correctly I ate quite a few prunes 

 before breakfast; then we started out on a 

 tramp among the fruit-growers. There were 

 peaches, apples, pears, and grapes at almost 

 every stopping-place. Of course, I had to 

 sample them. I remember thinking several 

 times that I should probably get sick, but I 



thought I would take the risk for just once. 

 May be it was only imagination, as friend 

 Terry puts it. Besides, I was walking in 

 the open air. Friend Jefferson can tell you how 

 many miles we tramped that day, but it was 

 almost from morning till night. I can not 

 remember the names of the bee-keepers we 

 visited; but I shall always remember one 

 particular fruit-ranch belonging to Mr. T. 

 O'Briant, a little out of town. Arizona has 

 not been considered an apple-growing region. 

 Around near Tempe and Phoenix I saw oc- 

 casionally an apple-tree with a few apples, 

 but they were regarded mostly as a curiosity. 

 Well, this Mr. O'Briant got it into his head 

 a good many years ago that a certain varie- 

 ty of apple, with proper treatment for that 

 locality, could be made to do well, especially 

 as the prices of apples were away up. I 

 think I told you about an incident that hap- 

 pened on a former trip to Arizona. A little 

 girl came into the grocery and laid down half 

 a dollar for its value in apples. The proprie- 

 tor weighed them on the scales as he would 

 coffee and sugar. He poured the fifty cents' 

 worth of apples into a paper bag, and the 

 little girl carried them home without any 

 trouble whatever. Apples there cost two or 

 three cents apiece, and not very nice ones at 

 that. Very likely they were Ohio apples. 

 Well, now, Mr. O'Briant had had some ex- 

 perience with nurserymen in the East. He 

 laid his plans for a forty-acre apple-orchard. 

 He grew the trees himself, and did all the 

 budding and grafting. He chose such varie- 

 ties as had been grown successfully in that 

 region; and it was my privilege to see the 

 outcome for his work for twenty years or 

 more past. There were about forty acres of 

 the finest-looking apple-trees I ever saw. 

 Under the influence of irrigation the trees 

 grow every month in the year. Not only 

 the limbs but the trunks of the trees are 

 mostly smooth and clean. As there are no 

 other apple-orchards within miles and miles 

 of this one, or none of any account, there 

 were no insect enemies. The trees were 

 not only pictures of health, but almost every 

 limb was bending with the most beautiful 

 fruit it has ever been my fortune to look on. 

 Just think of it ! The codling-moth had 

 never been known in that region. There 

 was not a wormy apple, so far as I could find, 

 on that whole forty acres. There was no 

 blight nor scab, and there were no knotty, 

 gnarly, and poorly formed apples. The bugs 

 and insects had not caught on as yet to the 

 new speculation. At first he ventured on 

 only a few varieties he knew would succeed 

 in that region. Then he commenced by 

 grafting different kinds until he had almost 

 every apple you could mention, especially in 

 the way of winter apples. 



As there had been considerable discussion 

 in regard to the quality of the fruit under 

 irrigation, they wanted me to test different 

 varieties; and after I had tested the apples, 

 there were peaches and pears. After I had 

 decided for the tenth or eleventh time that 

 I must not taste another bit of fruit, I was 

 shown the Lincoln seedless pear. May be I 



