1198 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15 



two monihs, begiinnlng- at the bottom branches, a few 

 buds ai a time, each bud furnishing: nectar for ten 

 du.vss or two weeks, depending- on the weather; if 

 cloudy they last longer. Before all the buds on a 

 branch are open, the first ones are done with, and be- 

 fore the top ones are open the bottom branches have 

 their seed-pods formed. 



Once pumping 70(XI buds would bring one gallon and 

 one pint of nectar, which reduced to honey, and 435 

 plants to the acre (at ten feet apart), would be about 

 34 cases (two tons) to the acre (of honey). I think I 

 had better set out fifteen or twenty acres. 



Escondido, Cal., July 21. JAS. A. Nelson. 



Very good, friend N. Your letter corrob- 

 orates what has been said before in regard 

 to the great value of the century-plant for 

 honey; but how about the fact that it blos- 

 soms" only once in fifteen or twenty years? 

 Wouldn't that be waiting a good while for a 

 crop? It is true that some of them would 

 perhaps bloom every year; but, notwith- 

 standing, I hardly think it would jjay to 

 grow century-plants for honey alone. If 

 they are worth something for making rope, 

 or something in that line, your speculation 

 might be a good one. 



A CALIFORNIA TREE THAT GREW 33 FEET IN 

 55 DAYS. 



Mr. Boot.—l send you a photograph of a century- 

 plant we had a few years ago. The blossom-stalk be- 

 gan to shoot up April 7, and June 1 it had about reach- 

 ed its greatest height, which was 41 feet from the 

 ground to tip. 33 feet in .55 days, the plant being 8 feet 

 high to where the blossom-stalk started, the branches 

 starting at about 16 feet from the ground. They 

 bloom at from 16 to 20 years fi-om the slip set out, and 

 die outright as soon as they mature their seeds. In 

 the meantime there are 50 or more small plants shoot- 

 ing up all around the roots of the old one. I also send 

 with this a sample of the nectar for you to see the 

 color, flavor, etc. The pollen is a light yellow. 



Escondido, Cal., July 27. 3 as. A. Nelson. 



Well, friends, you see the above statement 

 puts my pawloiiia tree away back in the 

 shade; but the pawlonia (now 9 feet high, 

 to-day, Aug. 7) is to make a real hanl-wood 

 tree that stands over winter, while the cen- 

 tury-plant dies down to the ground after it 

 blossoms. We have many of the century- 

 plants in Florida; but I have never seen any 

 thing like the height mentioned above. Both 

 trees yield honey; but the sample of nectar 

 from the century-plant was so thin that it 

 soured on the way. When I took the cork 

 (nit it came out w'ith a pop, and foamed like 

 beer; so I did 'not have a chance to tell you 

 the quality of the nectar. I have l)een told 

 that one century plant or tree furnishes a 

 large amount of "honey when full grown. 



Later. — The pawloiiia-tree is now, Aug. 

 20, 12 feet high, and many of the leaves are 

 fully a yard across. Even if it should not 

 live' over winter, it is worth all it cost as a 

 tropical-looking plant during summer time. 



LITTLE CHESTNUT-THEES. 



While passing through the grounds of our 

 Ohio Experiment Station a few days ago I 

 saw a little chestnut-tree, not taller than a 

 currant-bush, just loaded with burrs. In 

 fact, it was a comical sight to see such a lit- 

 tle tree bearing such a burden of nuts. Prof. 

 \\'ade, who was showing me around, could 

 not just then give me the name of the variety; 

 Init it settled the fact to my satisfaction that 



there are varieties of chestnuts where little 

 bits of trees bear great crops. I have about 

 a dozen around my cabin in the woods, but 

 none of them have commenced to bear as 

 yet. These little trees would look very 

 pretty among the other dwarf fruit-trees. 



POULTRY-KEEPING IN FLORIDA. 



J//'. Foot:— I spent last winter in Florida, and we 

 found many obstacles in the way of poultry-keeping. 

 I should like to ask, how did Mr. S. get rid of. the 

 hawks, owls, ticks, jiggers, and lice on the chickens? 

 We had nine hens, and got eight or nine eggs every 

 day. We were thinking of starting a poultry-plant 

 there, but decided, after thorough investigation, it 

 would not be protitable. We were located near Ta- 

 vares. Lake Co. Ibissa Babtlett. 



West Milford, W. Va. 



Friend B., as nearly as lean find out Mr. 

 Shumard l)rought on to the island, for his 

 first stock, poultry entirely free from lice, jig- 

 gers, etc. ; and being constantly in the open 

 air, without any hxed-up roost, they kept en- 

 tirely clean, and free from insects. Neither 

 hawks nor owls troubled them when I was 

 there; but pei'haps they were exterminated 

 like the four-footed enemies, with his unerr- 

 ing shotgun. The point I made in regard to 

 poultry in Florida was to choose an island 

 where their enemies can be banished, and 

 kept away without very much labor. Eight 

 or nine eggs a day from nine hens ought to 

 satisfy any poultry-keeper. 



CAN ANYBODY ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH 

 MAKE IT RAIN OR STOP RAINING? 



Here conies something in regard to the 

 matter, quite unexpectedly: 



It is generally known that the winds which blow 

 daily from the Pacific Ocean are laden with moisture; 

 but because of the lack of cool winds to precipitate 

 the moisture it is carried mostly over the Coast Range 

 and deposited on the top of the Cascades. 



A company have been making an experiment of their 

 theory with complete success, so that now a shower 

 or a soaking rain may be had at five minutes' notice, 

 and over an area of two rods square up to forty rods 

 square— a shower that will continue for a minute, an 

 hour, a day, or a week at the will of the operator. 



A cylindrical tube six feet in diameter, built from 

 sheet steel, and insulated with asbestos and mineral 

 wool, has been laid from the foot of Mt. Lowe to the 

 summit. Near each end of this tube, large air-fans — 

 such as are used to foi-ce air to the bottom of mines- 

 are placed so as to force the cold air from the summit 

 of the mountain to the plain below. These fans are 

 run by gasoline-engines. At the foot of the tunnel 

 the air is separated into ten smaller tubes which 

 spread over a surface of two acres. The cold air com- 

 ing from the snow-covered summit of Mt. Lowe, strik- 

 ing against the warm moisture-laden air from the 

 Pacific, precipitates the moisture to a tine rain. A 

 trial test of fifteen minutes resulted in a rainfall of 

 two inches. 



The people are jubilant, as they see the end of the 

 extortionate rates charged by the irrigation com- 

 panies. 



The above is from the Evening News, of 

 Fetoskey, Mich; but it is dated Feb. 13, 190(5. 

 Now, if' this is all true, why has not some- 

 body heard of it before, and' called A. I. 

 lioo't\-i attention to it before something like 

 six months have gone by? Our Mr. Boyden 

 has just returned from a trip to California, 

 and he visited the locality mentioned; but he 

 never heard a word of the new scheme of 



