GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



HIGH-PRESSURE GARDENING 



CORN, ALFALFA, COWS, SWINE, AND " BEES." 



We clip the following from the Alfalfa 

 Journal : 



AN IDKAL FARMING COMBINATION. 



Did you ever try to figure out what the ideal crop 

 and livestock combination would be to make you the 

 most profit ? Here is a suggestion : Corn, alfalfa, 

 cows, swine, and bees. 



Fig-urc on this proposition a little and you will 

 see that the corn and alfalfa will supply all of the 

 feed necessary for the cows and for the swine. Put 

 part of the corn into the silo, husk part of it, and 

 grind it for feed. Use the alfalfa hay for the cows 

 and also for the ho?s. Use the pasture for both 

 kinds of stock, but, of course, be careful in pastur- 

 ina: the cows. 



To keep the soil in proper condition, about every 

 five years switch the crops. Plow up the alfalfa and 

 plant corn. Tlien sow alfalfa on the corn land. 

 Wonderful yields will be the result, and real pros- 

 perity will be yours. 



The bees are a side lino, raised much too little. 

 They will thrive on the alfalfa field. They board 

 themselves, cost nothing, but make you good profit. 

 There is always a good demand for honey, and honey 

 is a mighty good food to use on your own table. 

 Think it over carefully, this ideal combination : Corn, 

 alfalfa, cows, swine, and bees. 



The part of the above that hits us par- 

 ticularly is bees; {>'\] iust now I wish to 

 say something about alfalfa honey. Last 

 evening I saw on Mr. Calvert's desk about 

 the whitest and most beautiful comb honey 

 I ever saw, and I started to take a section 

 over to Mrs. Root ; but before I got there I 

 had a mishap, and a section was crushed. 

 Mrs. Root stood out on the porch, and I 

 called to her to get a dinner-plate and 

 spoon in " double-quick " time. Well, the 

 honey was so thick, and Mrs. Root is so 

 " spry " (even if she was 75 years old on 

 the 12th day of August) that we got the 

 greater part of the honey 'r'^fore any could 

 be wasted. Altho the thermomete.' on the 

 porch indicated close to 90, this beautiful 

 white honey, almost water-white, was so 

 thick that it hardly ran out of the spoon 

 when turned upside down, and the taste 

 was simply delicious. Mr. Calvert thought 

 the source was alfalfa and sweet clover 

 mixed. And, by the way, I have just made 

 a new discovery. Good thick honey is ever 

 so much b-^tter with oatmeal than any sugar 

 ever invented. Viy breakfast was princi- 

 pally oatmeal cooked a long wliile so as to 

 be digestible; plenty of cream, and this 

 delicious alfalfa honey. To my gi-eat sur- 

 prise my strength and endurance held out 

 "amazingly," clear up to dinnertime. Then 

 T had some more of the same honey for 

 dinner — all T wanted; and now, altho it is 

 almost suppertime, I am feeling fine, even 

 if I have not had my usual outdoor exercise. 



The moral to all the above is, have some 



alfalfa, if you have not any already, and 

 have some bees if you have none already; 

 and just now I am reminded that there is 

 something else I had with my delicious 

 breakfast. It was a cupful of milk right 

 out of the refrigerator. You may have your 

 tea and coffee, and everything else along 

 the line of drinks; but give me some good 

 cold milk together with oatmeal and honey. 



■'' THE RICHEST BODY OP LAND UNDER CULTI- 

 VATION IN AMERICA.-'^ 



Our readers Avill naturally wonder where 

 this wonderful piece of fertility is located. 

 Well, it is claimed to be down in Florida. 

 Now, please do not imagine that all Florida 

 is that way; for no end of people have gone 

 to Florida with fond anticipations in the 

 way of growing crops, and have been griev- 

 ously disappointed. The clipping below, 

 from the Jacksonville Times-Union, tells 

 you all I know about it : 



Ocala, a town of 5,000 or 6,000 progressive citi- 

 zens, is very properly termed the center of the agri- 

 cultural and stock-raising section in Florida. 



What is, without doubt, the richest body of land 

 under cultivation in America is located about fifteen 

 miles southeast of Ocala, in the abandoned river- 

 bed of the Oklawaha River. This property is known 

 as the Young & Ford farm, personally owned by 

 Messrs. Yo'.ing & Ford, and is for the first time this 

 year planted on a large scale to corn. An elbow in 

 the course of the river has made it possible for this 

 tract of land to be drained. A canal has been cut 

 from each point of the elbow, and the river course 

 diverted into this canal. The old river course now 

 serves as a drainage for these lands, and the lateral 

 ditches are drained into the old river-bed. A dike is 

 formed at one end, and not only drainage obtained, 

 but by the manipulation of the dike during dry 

 weather water can be placed back on the land for ir- 

 rigation purposes. 



The soil is simply the decayed vegetation of cen- 

 turies. It ranges from twenty to forty feet deep of 

 solid muck. When drained it is accessible for culti- 

 vation with either mules and plows or tractors, and 

 it is sufficiently porous to take off rainfall without 

 discomfort or interference with the crops. 



Last year from four and one-half acres planted to 

 corn an average yield of 142 bushels of corn per 

 acre was obtained without the application of any 

 fertilizer. This year 1100 acres is solidly planted 

 to corn which averages over the entire acreage better 

 than 100 bushels to the acre, all without any com- 

 mercial fertilizer. It is a sight to behold! The 

 cornstalks stand in almost solid mass from twelve to 

 fifteen feet in height, and the quality of the corn is 

 all that could be desired. 



On page 755, Aug. 15, I told you of a 

 500-acre cornfield that they thought would 

 grow 45 bushels to the acre; but the above 

 clipping discounts that cornfield more than 

 two to one. Just think of it — 1100 acres 

 gTowing more than 100 bushels to the acre! 

 As the locality is not very far from our 

 Florida home, I will try to get some further 

 particulars in regard to it later on. 



