956 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15 



ans, or what were they?" Since then I 

 have received a copy of the Hungarian 

 Daily News, of Cleveland. This paper is 

 printed in a language I can not read, with 

 the exception of one article, and this article 

 gives me about as bad a "scorching" as 

 any thing I have ever seen in print, just be- 

 cause the editor takes it that I slandered or 

 slurred the Hungarian people. I did not in- 

 tend any thing of the kind. If the reporter 

 for the daily paper was mistaken when he 

 said the father and son were Hungarians he 

 should apologize. The responsibility for 

 that inhuman piece of work rests on the 

 crowd that were gathered there that Sunday 

 morning. I simply said, "Was that whole 

 crowd Hungarians, or what were they?" 

 We do not know, only that they seemed to 

 have but little regard for the sabbath. Let 

 me quote from the article in the Hungarian 

 daily : 



Were he not too ignorant in his own line he would 

 know that Hungary is pre-eminent in bee culture, sur- 

 passing all nations in the quality of its honey and bees: 

 and in this industry Hungary is recognized as leading the 

 world. 



If the above is true, and I sincerely hope 

 it is, I shall have to confess that we have 

 not been giving the friends from Hungary 

 the credit they deserve. Two young men who 

 assist us in our apiaries came here from 

 Hungary to learn bee culture, and they are 

 very nice Christian boys. God forbid that I 

 should think of casting any slur on such as 

 they. I find by our subscription-list, which 

 goes largely into foreign countries all over 

 the world, that we have just four subscrib- 

 ers in Hungary. 



Let me repeat: The responsibility of the 

 shameless scene I described rests on that 

 crowd; and it is a disgrace to the nation they 

 represent, whatever it may be. I think 

 good people the world over will agree with 

 me in this; and if what I wrote will be the 

 means of stirring up more manhood in any 

 nation or every nation, then I have not 

 written in vain, and I will try to be patient 

 under the severe and, as I think, unfair and 

 uncalled-for criticism. 





VMfmEssmE 



t 



■rjKmw)ii^^:ism>t'. 



ORCHARDS— THEIR MANAGEMENT, ETC. 



It grieves my heart to see there are not 

 more of the farmers and gardeners in Ohio 

 who visit the Ohio experiment station at 

 Wooster oftener, that they may get the 

 benefit of the experiments that are constant- 

 ly being made there, especially for the bene- 

 fit of the farming and gardening people. 

 Let me give you a couple of illustrations— 

 first, on the management of apple and other 



fruit-trees. On one part of the great farm 

 there is a very pretty orchard of different 

 varieties of fruit-trees, one whole row of 

 each variety running north and south. Well, 

 in order to test different methods of cultiva- 

 tion or management, there are strips run- 

 ning east and west to cut across p11 the dif- 

 ferent varieties managed in this way. First, 

 there is a strip embracing three or four 

 trees, of clean cultivation. Nothing is al- 

 lowed to grow at all, except apple -trees. 

 Next to this is a strip managed in the same 

 way except that cover crops, crimson clover, 

 soy beans, cow peas, or something of that 

 kind, is put on to cover the ground in winter 

 and be plowed under in the spring to furnish 

 fertility. Then there is a third strip, in 

 grass or clover. The grass or clover is cut 

 off at different periods and taken away ; but 

 right around every tree as far as the limbs 

 extend the sod is removed entirely, and clean 

 cultivation practiced. No weeds, grass, nor 

 any thing else is allowed to grow at all. 

 Last, but not least, is a strip in grass and 

 clover, and all the growth is cut off at dif- 

 ferent times like the other; but the grass, 

 clover, etc., are all put around the trees for 

 mulching, say as far as the limbs extend. 



Here are four different methods of man- 

 aging an orchard, right side by side, and 

 each strip embraces trees of different varie- 

 ties, habits of growth, etc. Which method 

 comes out ahead? If somebody had asked 

 me before I had seen it I should have said 

 where the leguminous cover crops were put 

 in and plowed under; but, dear me! what an 

 object-lesson the sight of that orchard was! 

 This process had been carried on for three 

 or four years, and the mulched trees were 

 away ahead in every respect. The strip 

 next to them, where the ground was left 

 bare in a circle as far around as the limbs 

 went, was the poorest in the lot. Then 

 there was the cover crop next to the mulch- 

 ing. The mulched trees all had dark-green 

 healthy foliage. Many of the trunks were 

 twice the size of those adjoining where the 

 ground was bare and clean the year round. 

 I presume the mulching was largely clover 

 hay; for on kicking down into it the soil was 

 loose, dark- colored, and looked almost like 

 woods dirt from the forest. The decaying 

 grass and clover not only furnished nutri- 

 ment for the trees, but it shaded the ground 

 and prevented the sun from scorching the 

 roots that ordinarily come near the surface 

 for air. Come to think of it, is not that 

 Nature's plan as we see it in the forest? 

 The roots are covered with dead and decay- 

 ing leaves. The ground is shaded from the 

 sun, and kept damp and moist even during a 

 dry time. Unless the ground is very rich I 

 presuipne the grass and clover that can be 

 grown between the trees, especially if they 

 are large ones, would hardly be sufficient 

 mulching, and I believe it is sometimes nec- 

 essary, especially when the trees get large, 

 to bring in spoiled hay, straw, or something 

 of that sort from somewhere else. 



On my place in Michigan there was quite 

 a little clover that contained quack grass 



