23(3 



&LfeAJliNGS tN BEE CULTURE 



gei', richer, redder, more resistant to late 

 frosts, and better keepers. Hence the or- 

 chardist wishes to keep as many bees as he 

 can to poUeuize his blossoms. 



Now, how shall we regulate the spraying 

 for codling worms so as not to kill the bees 

 when they come to the bloom for honey, 

 and, incidentally, to pollenize our young 

 ap23les"? Easily enough if we just wait until 

 the right time for spraying. After the 

 blossom-leaves (or petals, as they are nam- 

 ed) fall, the nectar dries up, the stamens 

 and other organs in the flower shrivel, the 

 calyx opens wide, and the young apple 

 stands erect on the stem. The bees now 

 cease to visit the trees, and the orchard is 

 in just the right condition to be sprayed for 

 codling moth. 



Take j'our gasoline-si^rayer ; set the pres- 

 sure gauge at 200 pounds, and with a Bor- 

 deaux nozzle (not a Vermoi'el nozzle) 

 shoot the spray downward into the erect 

 end of every young apple on the tree. To 



do this you will have to stand on a tower 

 on the spray-rig, or else have a gooseneck 

 on the end of your 12 or 14 foot bamboo 

 spray-pole, to direct the spray downward 

 into the upright young apples. The apples 

 are in the right condition, wide open, and 

 upright, for about seven days after the 

 petals fall. At the end of the seven days 

 the blossoms begin to close up and the 

 apples to turn downward on the stem. The 

 poison is now within the calyx (cup), and 

 when the worm hatches on the leaf beside 

 the apple, and crawls into the calyx for its 

 first meal it gets a tiny atom of the poison, 

 dies, and goes no further. This whole range 

 of activities — beekeeping, pollenizing, 

 spraying, closing the blossoms, developing 

 the apples — seems so nicely adjusted by 

 nature in order to furnish the greatest en- 

 couragement for the beekeeping orchardist 

 in his interesting but arduous work. 

 New Wilmington, Pa. 



HARVESTING SWEET-CLOVER SEED 



BY F. W. LESSER 



Wesley Foster asks for " a real good 

 method of gathering sweet-clover seed," p. 

 8, Jan. 1. I have saved considerable seed ; 

 and while I do not know that my methods 

 are real good, I do know that we have lost 

 hut little seed. 



In 1912 we cut a patch of a couple of 

 acres, and, it being near home, we used a 

 gi'ain-binder to cut it with. We cut it while 

 the dew was on, and very little of the seed 

 slielled off. We then put the bundles in 

 shocks, the same as grain, and let stand till 

 the stalks were thoroughly dried out, when 

 we made a stack of it to await the thrasher- 

 men. We would have put it in the barn if 

 ^e had had room. 



In hauling we spread canvas or horse- 

 blankets over the hayrack to catch what 

 seed fell off. In 1913 we had four patches 

 (about five acres in all) three miles from 

 home, and, as it was inconvenient to take 

 a binder that distance, we cut it with a 

 mowing-machine. A man followed the ma- 

 chine with a fork, and laid it to one side in 

 small forkfuls out of the way of the ma- 

 chine on the next round. It was allowed 

 to lie in this manner about two weeks, or 

 until the stalks were dried, and then hauled 

 and stacked. It does not handle nearly as 

 easily this way as it does when in bundles 

 from the binder, and I would prefer cutting 

 vrith a binder when possible. 



Any thrashing-machine can thrash it, but 

 they leave about thirty per cent of broken 



stalks, etc., with it, which must be removed 

 with a fanning-mill. 



In cutting small patches with a scythe we 

 simply let it lie in small forkfuls until 

 cured. It may need to be turned in wet 

 v.eather, but it takes a lot of water to hurt 

 it. We have tried thrashing it with a flail, 

 etc. That way is all right for a small quan- 

 tity, but we never could get all the seed; a 

 machine gets practically all of it. 



It is difficult to determine just when to 

 cut it to get the maximum amount of seed, 

 ar some seasons there will be seed in all 

 stages from the blossom to the ripe seed at 

 the same time; and if we wait for all to 

 mature, that which ripened first may have 

 dropped off. The fully developed green 

 seecl will ripen to a certain extent on the 

 stalk after being cut, but I do not believe 

 the seed is as good as that which ripens 

 before cutting. 



It is a gi-eat crop, and I expect to plant 

 nine acres the coming spring. 



East Syracuse, N. Y. 



A Narrow Range of Vision 



Sylvia, supple and slender, and Aunt Belle, bulky 

 and benign, had retured from a shopping tour. 

 Each had been trying to buy a ready-made suit. 



When they returned home, Sylvia was asked what 

 success each had in their efforts to be fitted. "Well," 

 said Sylvia, " I got along pretty well, but Aunt Belle 

 is getting so fat that about all she can get, ready- 

 made, is an umbrella." — The Youth's Companion. 



