EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 169 



quantities. I think all who are interested in fruit growing 

 should be careful to save their lime. The good effects of the 

 use of lime in fruit growing I believe have not been empha- 

 sized enough. 



Question No. 6: What should be done to educate the 

 consumer as to the good quality of apples? 



N. S. Platt : I think we had better follow the custom 

 of calling for good apples everywhere and insist upon getting 

 them. I know of no better way to educate the public to the 

 good quality of apples. We are not very proficient in that 

 work and we have a good many things to study and learn. I 

 know when Gravensteins are in the market people will buy 

 them in preference to anything else. They will learn the 

 other varieties slowdy if we will put them on the market. Most 

 of our apples don't go far from the place where they grow ; 

 they are marketed close by. 



Question No. 18 : Are bees a good thing on a fruit 

 farm ; how many colonies should a beginner try to care for ? 



President Gold : I understand there is a good deal of 

 complaint of honey bees injuring fruit when it is ripe. Bee 

 men have told us repeatedly that the bees will never sting 

 sound fruit. Has anyone here anything to tell on this ques- 

 tion ? 



Mr. Fenn : The honey bee can only suck from a punc- 

 ture that has been made by some other insect. 



Mr. Wheeler : A few years ago we raised grapes and 

 the bees sometimes came and sicked the juice of the grapes 

 when the fruit had cracked. I think bees are a great advan- 

 tage on a farm, inasmuch as they distribute the pollen of 

 small fruits. I would advise a person who has never had any 

 experience with them to have but one colony to start with. 

 If you have success with that one then you can increase the 

 number, if you derire. In some places there are so many 

 bees kept they cannot gather sufficient honey to feed them- 

 selves, and they have to be fed otherwise. 



