886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



November, 1917 



that if it had not been we were quite poor at the time 

 he would have had a htindred instead of one dollar 

 out of us. 



Well, I can hear Mr. Root say, "When is that 

 woman going to stop?" eo I will "ring off," with 

 best wishes for Gleanings. 



St. Joseph, La., Aug. 7. Mrs. A. A. Wheeler. 



My good frieud, I am delighted to get fur- 

 ther particulars in regard to this wonderful 

 vegetable or fruit. But jou do not say a 

 word about the enormous crops it bears in 

 one year, away up into the hundreds or 

 even thousands. The one I pictured is now 

 growing by the poultry-fence ; and it is my 

 delight to see it reach up its tendrils and 

 grab hold of the trellis, and then go thru 

 with that unique corkscrew act to pull the 

 vines up higher. It is making such rapid 

 gTowth that I often note progress in even 

 one or two hours. Of course, it will die 

 when frost comes. Does it stand over win- 

 ter in the locality you mention? You need 

 not worry about being "rung off" so long as 

 you give us valuable facts, especially in 

 the line of reducing '' the high cost of liv- 

 ing," mj' good friend. 



SWEET CLOVER, AUTOMOBILES, HIGH COST OF 



LIVING, AND " GOATS.'^ 



Mr. A. I. Root: — I am enclosing a picture of 

 my sweet clover in a young walnut orchard. It is 

 just coming into bloom the second year. It was a 

 mistake to let it get so large before cutting for 

 hay, tho stock of all kinds eat it. The horses shown 

 have had no other feed all summer, not even 

 any grain when working; and they have done all 

 the work of the ranch, which consists of 20 acres 

 under a high state of cultivation. As I said, it was 

 a mistake to let it get so high and coarse ; for by 

 cutting earlier I could have secured a better grade 

 of hay, and there would have been another cutting. 

 The plants are now all dead. I also grow sweet 

 clover in the orange-orchard as a fertilizer. A ten- 

 foot strip is planted in the tree rows. This is 

 about the width of the trees, branches and all. 

 Lima beans are grown in the middle, six rows be- 

 tween two rows of trees. Of course the clover in 

 tree rows must be cut with a scythe ; but it makes 

 an enormous amount of green fertilizer. 



As you are interested in milch goats I will men- 

 tion that they are growing in popularity in this 

 state. Out here almost every family owns an auto, 

 and just as many take a regular summer vacation. 

 Those of us who are so old-fashioned as to keep a 

 cow have to leave the cow in charge of some one, 

 generally a neighbor, and do without milk on the 

 camping: trip, or use milk from a tin can of which 

 one is as bad as the other, in my estimation; but 

 not so with the owner of a goat. The goat is simply 

 placed on the running-board of the car ; and when 

 you arrive at camp there you are, fresh milk for 

 baby, the same as at home. 



Fillmore, Cal., Aug. 27. Wm. C. Gathkight. 



On page 871 of our September issue 

 Ernest intimated that sweet clover might 

 ultimately take the place of alfalfa. When 

 I remembered that in California alfalfa 

 often takes the place entirely of gTain for 

 woi'k horses, I thought he put it a little 

 sti'ongly; but in the above letter friend 



Gathright tdls us that he kept that big 

 team in good order on sweet clover — no 

 grain at all. Has anybody else succeeded 

 in accomplishing this? Well, the one fact 

 given above stamps this latter as something 

 of great value; but taking a goat along on 

 the running-board of an automobile is in- 

 deed a novel suggestion. I shouldn't won- 

 der, too, if it were one of great value. If 

 I understand it, goats will get right down 

 to business anywhere, and find something to 

 eat. I would have a goat on my wild five 

 acres down in Florida if it were not for 

 the matter of having to care for them when 

 I am gone in the summer time. And, by 

 the waj', if all other stock thrives on sweet 

 clover, how about sweet clover for goats? 

 If it is not just now found everywhere 

 .along the highways and in the fence-cor- 

 ners, it will be very soon. It is my impres- 

 sion a goat would hunt it up and make use 

 of it about as quickly as any other farm 

 stock. Of course, a cow could be taken 

 along on a camping trip ; and this brings up 

 the question, what is the probable weight 

 of a goat, say one that would give milk 

 enough for the baby and perhaps some 

 other small children? Many thanks for 

 your suggestion, friend G. 



GOATS AND GOATS' MILK IN SWITZERLAND AND ALSO 

 IN ARGENTINA. 



Mr. Root : — As an attentive reader of your writ- 

 ings I noted with satisfaction that you are also in- 

 terested in goats and goats' milk. In my native 

 country, Switzerland (where the Toggenburg and 

 Saanen goats were originated), this animal plays an 

 important part in those mountainous regions where 

 the pastures are too steep for cattle. In ^some 

 Alpine villages the goat-herd, usually a small boy, 

 has charge of the whole flock of the community ; and 

 early in the morning, by a horn signal, he an- 

 nounces the departure for the distant pastures, and 

 then the goats from every house gather at the 

 usual meeting-place. At sundown they come back 

 again to the meeting-place, from whence each goat 

 finds alone the house of her master, usually with a 

 well-filled udder — sometimes to the extent that some 

 milk is lost on the way drop by drop. For the less 

 mountainous part of the country, where free range 

 is not close at hand, the goat is kept as a stable- 

 fed animal all the year round — the cow of the poor. 



While modern hygiene condemns the use of un- 

 cooked cow's milk, the same authorities recommend 

 the fresh goat's milk as wholesome. 



In my native city, during the summer months 

 small herds of goats are brought to public gardens 

 and pleasure grounds, where an attractive open 

 stable is provided for them, and a few tables in the 

 open for the guests, mostly children, who get a 

 good-sized glass of fresh rich milk for 10 centimes 

 (2 cents) — at least it was so formerly. Whether the 

 same moderate price can now be maintained is 

 another question, as now the care for sustenance is 

 quite a problem for our people, for the cultivable 

 land amounts to only about one-fourth to one-third 

 of the whole area, the remainder being occupied by 

 mountains, glaciers, lakes, forests, etc., which, altho 

 offering a beautiful scenery, are of little help now. 

 The imports of foodstuffs and raw materials for the 



