414 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



very i)retty sight. Tliey sow the vetch and 

 rye together along in August or September. 

 The vetch stands the frost and freezes of 

 winter just about as well as the rye; and in 

 this respect it is certainly a wonderful ])lant. 



Before we started out, my brother inform- 

 ed me that this lady had a Baldwin aj^iile- 

 tree that bore 14 barrels of api)les last sea- 

 son, and that these apples were sold right 

 on the grountl for 14.50 per barrel. Of 

 course, I wanted to see that apple-tree. It 

 was about as large an ap])le-tree as I ever 

 saw, in perfect health and vigor, and bearing 

 quite a crop of apples again this year, not- 

 withstanding its wonderful feat of last sea- 

 son. I believe it is generally agreed that 

 the Baldwin seldom or never bears a big 

 croj) every year; but here is an exception. 

 While I am about it, let me remark that we 

 took a rule and measured the si)read of the 

 branches. Measured one way the limbs 

 make a spread from tip to tip of almost 

 50 feet. Across the other way it would be 

 about 40 feet. Of course the tree had had 

 careful and judicious i)runing. The whole 

 orchard is sprayed five if not six times every 

 season. 



And now about fertilizers. For four years 

 past, a heavy crop of sandy vetch and rye 

 has been plowed under every season; and 

 that is all the fertilizer the tree has received. 

 The vetch and rye had just been plowed 

 under at the time of my visit — the first 

 week in June; and our friend with the light 

 hoe, as w^e passed along, dug up the vetch 

 and rye close to the trunk of the tree where 

 the plow could not get near enough to turn 

 it under. This vetch and rye make excel- 

 lent cow feed — especially the vetch, or feed 

 for any kind of stock. In fact, it formed a 

 great chunk of nutritious legume, for the 

 plant is a legume, after the fashion of the 

 pea family. But it is not only hardier than 

 any pea, but I should imagine, by the way 

 the cows grab for it, that it is also more nu- 

 tritious. I can not (piite understand why 

 sandy vetch, es]3ecially where it grows as it 

 does in the sandy soils all over >Iichigan, is 

 not more grown for feed and for a cover 

 crop. 



This crop of 14 barrels was all firsts. Be- 

 sides these there was a barrel or two of culls, 

 and some cider ajjples. With their method 

 of fertilizing the orchard, and pruning and 

 spraying, they have very few seconds. 1 

 think my brother said that in sorting over 

 about 40 barrels of ajjples they had only one 

 or two barrels of seconds. There were other 

 Baldwin trees in the orchard that bore 9 or 

 10 barrels; i)erhaps a few that went 11 or 12; 

 but only this one had made 14 heirrelsoi 

 firsts, .just think of it, friends! over $60.00 

 for the ajjples on a single tree! Don't you 

 think you could afforci one or two apple- 

 trees on your premises? and after you get 

 them, don't you believe you couki scrape up 

 enough energy to give these few trees " high- 

 pressure" care anil cultivation? 



I supi)ose the sandy vetch, or winter 

 vetch, as it is sometimes called, is especial- 

 ly atlai)ted to sandy soils. It is grown to 



some extent in Florida, although I do not 

 know how much. There is some growing 

 now on my Florida premises if the excessive 

 rains and hot weather have not killed it. I 

 will tell you more about it further on. 



Although Michigan is a great apple State, 

 I found api^les bringing from five to ten 

 cents apiece all over Michigan. In Trav- 

 erse City I found some wine-sajis at 40 cts. 

 a dozen, but they were rather small. They 

 came wrapped up in pai)er, jjacked in bush- 

 el boxes. I ditl not learn where they were 

 grown. .Just now there is not only a scarci- 

 ty of apples, but i)otatoes, old and new, are 

 rapidly coming up in price. Around Trav- 

 erse City the farmers informed me that po- 

 tatoes were bringing only 25 cts. a bushel. 

 At the same time in Grand Rai)ids they 

 were from 90 cts. to a dollar. Every little 

 while, notwithstanding our wonderful facil- 

 ities for transportation, mc find this state of 

 affairs. Why does not somebody start a 

 movement to make a still shorter cut be- 

 tween the " ])roducer and consumer "? Buy 

 uj) a carload of potatoes in Traverse City 

 and run them down to Grand Rajjids, or, 

 still further, down to Cleveland and Toledo, 

 and get double or treble your money. I sup- 

 pose one difficulty now is, that, after the 

 carload of potatoes reaches the point where 

 the scarcity has occurred, they might meet 

 a sudden "slump" or drop in the market. 



WEED SEEDS — GETTING BAD ONES ON 

 YOUR FARM. 



While looking over that beautiful farm, 

 in one particular corner not far from the 

 barn we were surprised and i)ained to see a 

 great number of thrifty docks; and when I 

 asked for an explanation the manager said 

 that at one time they were short of hay, 

 and purchased a load or two that, unfortu- 

 nately, contained dock seed. The horses 

 and cattle sorted out the good hay, and the 

 docks were allowed to get over into the bed- 

 ding, and then out with the manure. The 

 cost of eradicating those docks would be 

 ever so much more than the hay was worth; 

 and that is one good reason, if not the only 

 one, for growing all the hay and every thing 

 else on your own premises that may be 

 wanted for stock, .lust one more incident 

 that was new to me but may not be so to 

 others: 



There was one pet cow on the farm that 

 gave a large amount of milk — I do not re- 

 member just how much; but the manager 

 said when the weather was bad, and he had 

 l)lenty of time indoors, he was in the habit 

 of giving this cow a good currying and rub- 

 bing every day. This the pet cow greatly 

 enjoyed; and iiot only that, she gave an ex- 

 tra quart or more of milk every day that 

 she had this thorough currying all over. 

 Now, I do not know exactly how much time 

 this currying takes, and perhajis a quart of 

 milk would not be sufficient to pay a man 

 for doing it every day; but, notM'ithstand- 

 ing this, it is a \aluable suggestion. I have 

 before reminded you that the pet hen, or, if 

 you choose, the happij hen, is the one that 

 makes a big record in egg-laying; and the 



