THE AMERICA]SI BEE JOURNAL. 



647 



Hodcte was not minding his liorses, 

 but had his attention otlierwise en- 

 gaged. 



The ship's surgeon was called and 

 testilJed Itiat thp family of Mr. Sub- 

 soil had required his assistance more 

 frequently than formerly ; that he was 

 often called upon to prescribe for 

 hives and erysipelas, resulting from 

 beestings. lie admitted on cross- 

 examination that Subsoil's family liad 

 increased rapidly of late, which would 

 to some extent account for his being 

 more frequently called in. The coun- 

 sel for the defense proceeded to ques- 

 tion him as to facts not brought out 

 in his examination in chief. This 

 was objected to by the opposing 

 counsel. His lordship held that the 

 objection was well taken, but in view 

 of the fact that this vvas the hrst case 

 of the kind which had come before 

 the courts, and of its importance to 

 the public, he would allow counsel 

 some latitude in order to get all the 

 facts before the jury. The witness 

 then stated that as" in animals the 

 lacteal lluid is only secreted so long 

 as there is a demand for it, so in the 

 vegetable kingdom the blossoms 

 secrete nectar as long as it is needed 

 to attract insects, and that it is re- 

 plenished as fast as it is gathered. 

 The witness stated further that honey 

 ranks high among the sugars as an 

 article of food because it is already 

 partially digested by the bees, and is 

 in a condition to be at once taken up 

 by the absorbent vessels of the stom- 

 ach and assimilated, while cane sugar 

 and the starches of potatoes and 

 bread require to be first changed by 

 the saliva and pancreatic juice into 

 glucose before they can be assimilated 

 and passed into the circulation. He 

 also stated tiiat honey has important 

 medicinal properties. 



For the defense Mr. S. T. Pettit 

 was the lirst witness called. He 

 stated that he owns and manages a 

 farm of 150 acres, on which he keeps 

 over 100 hives of bees, about 15 milch 

 cows, and from 20 to 30 sheep. The 

 records at the clieese factory show 

 that his cows gave at least as much 

 milk as do those of the other patrons 

 whether there are bees in their 

 vicinity or not, and that for richness 

 his milk stands amongst the very 

 highest. His Southdown sheep have 

 for years taken most of the leading 

 prizes at the local shows, and he has 

 always shown them ofi the grass and 

 has not fed grain. He has frequently 

 observed that his crops of clover seed 

 and buckwheat are far in excess of 

 those of his neighbors, who are three 

 miles or more from bees, although 

 the other circumstances were at least 

 as much in their favor. 



Mr. S. Cornell gave evidence to the 

 efiect tliat in the vegetable kingdom 

 there is a constant struggle for the 

 survival of the fittest, that the weak 

 specimens are crowded out by the 

 stronger, and that the strongest and 

 most perfect plants can only be se- 

 cured by cross fertilization ; that the 

 methods resorted to by plants to 

 secure cross fertilization are often 

 curious and interesting, amongst 

 which are bright colors in the blos- 

 soms, strong odors, and the secretion 



of nectar to attract insects, which 

 carry the pollen from flower to flower; 

 and that the constituents of the nec- 

 tar are not drawn from the soil, as is 

 often supposed, but are absorbed by 

 the plant from the air. In reply to 

 counsel, he stated that a certain ninn- 

 ber of clover heads were covered with 

 gauze to protect them from insects, 

 that the seeds of these and the seeds 

 of an equal number of heads unpro- 

 tected were counted, and that the 

 seeds of the latter were as three to 

 one of the former. Witness continu- 

 ing, said that Chas. Darwin had made 

 the apparently bold statement that 

 the crop of clover seed depended, in 

 a measure, upon the number of old 

 maids in the country, because old 

 maids were proverbially fond of cats ; 

 the more cats the fewer field mice. 

 The queen humble-bee hibernates 

 through the winter in the nest of a 

 mouse better than anywhere else, and 

 as a rule they are the only bees whose 

 tongue is long enough to work on 

 red clover, so the fewer mice the 

 fewer deserted nests, and therefore 

 the fewer humble-bees to fertilize the 

 crop of the next season. The witness 

 had learned from his lordship the 

 bishop of Rupert's Land, who was a 

 passenger on board, that in the city 

 of Winnipeg, where there are few 

 bees, he had to fertilize the blossoms 

 of his melon vines by hand or he 

 would have little or no fruit. 



In cross-examination the witness 

 stated that Darwin was a very close 

 observer, that while it was true that 

 farmers dealt with facts, men like 

 Darwin often discovered the facts 

 which the farmers applied, and al- 

 though the plaintiff only raised clover 

 and not clover seed, if it were not for 

 insects it would be a question of only 

 a very sliort time till there would not 

 be a pound of clover seed to be ob- 

 tained. 



The defendant was called and testi- 

 fied that 100 colonies of bees would 

 exhaust all the bee-pasturage in 25,- 

 000 acres in a poor season, that as 

 Mr. Subsoil only owned 200 acres, and 

 wanted $1,000, there would be 125 

 farmers claiming damages amounting 

 to the sum of $125,000. Consequently 

 if Mr. Subsoil's claim were valid, bee- 

 keeping would become an extinct in- 

 dustry. 



So much interest was taken in the 

 case that the court held three sessions 

 before the trial was brought to a 

 close. His lordship, the Bishop of 

 Rupert's Land, was present during 

 the whole trial, and manifested a 

 lively interest in the issue. 



The counsel for the plaintiff re- 

 viewed the evidence and appealed to 

 the jury to do justice to his client. 

 Throughout the trial Mr. Carsley 

 showed marked ability as an amateur 

 counsel. 



Mr McKnight addressed the jury 

 in an eloquent speech of over half an 

 hour's duration. He reviewed the 

 evidence for the defense, dwelling 

 especially upon the point that where 

 there were no bees, melon vines had 

 to be fertilized by hand to secure a 

 crop, " and." said he, "for the privi- 

 lege of saving Mr. Subsoil this labor 

 my client is asked to pay $;i,000." 



Instead of bees and stock being an- 

 tagonistic, he alluded to the fact that 

 while the land of Canaan was pre- 

 eminently a grazing country its caves 

 were also full of bees, and the country 

 was referred to in the sacred writings 

 as " a land flowing with milk and 

 honey." 



The judge summed up the evidence 

 and charged the jury in dignified and 

 appropriate terms. After a short 

 consultation the jury brought in a 

 verdict for defendant. Counsel for 

 plaintiff gave notice of an appeal. 

 All admitted that many interesting 

 and valuable facts were elicited, and 

 that the trial contributed to the en- 

 joyment of the passengers during a> 

 pleasant voyage. 



[Mr. Cornell introduces the above 

 by stating that it was a case "suc- 

 cessfully defended without aid from 

 the Manager of the Bee-Keepers' 

 Union." True ; but it was out of his 

 jurisdiction— on thcbigh seas— and a 

 bogus case, at that ! However, some 

 capital points were made, as will be 

 noticed by the reader. We are glad 

 our Canadian friends were so jolly on 

 their voyage.— Ed.] 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



My Experleiice witli Bees. 



DAVID WILCOX. 



Ten years ago I bought a small box- 

 hive of bees, thinking to have some 

 honey which, would be easier pro- 

 duced than bought. In course of 

 time I found a frame hive the best, 

 and many other things I knew noth- 

 ing about, until now I have 90 colo- 

 nies, and supplies accordingly. I 

 have also learned that fixtures cost 

 money, with trouble and time to get 

 them, which weighed heavily on the 

 income from the bees. I had water 

 power offered me for $3 per month 

 sufficient to work lumber and make 

 my hives, etc., but as that would take 

 me away from home and the care of 

 the bees, I bought a wheel of about 

 400 pounds weight, hung upon rollers 

 with treadle and small saws attached, 

 so that my work was at home, and I 

 could see to the yard and farm at the 

 same time. Eighty or 90 square feet 

 of lumber will make almost any kind 

 of a hive, except the surplus arrange- 

 ment. For whatever hive is preferred, 

 take the measure of each piece, and 

 cut lumber to match ; when nailed 

 and painted the hive is complete. 



The past season has been very poor 

 in this locality. In marketing honey 

 I take from 100 to 500 pounds on an 

 express wagon or sleigh, and go until 

 it is sold. In almost every place 

 there can be found those who are 

 glad to keep a man for honey, and 

 that reasonable. I disposed of 2,000 

 pounds in this way last year. I ex- 

 tracted 170 pounds from unfinished 

 sections (last year) which sold in glass 

 jars more readily in some towns than 

 comb honey. 



