18 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



that a temperature of 42 Fahr. would be 

 about the temperature that prevails in Me- 

 dina soil. 



Mr. Doolittle sug-g-ests that we shut our 

 cellars up a week and note results. We 

 did do that repeatedly last winter and the 

 winter before; but with a rising- tempera- 

 ture during- the day, due, no doubt, to the 

 warm steam heated room above, the bees 

 would get uneasy. 



Referring to my statement on page 375, I 

 would say that I referred only to the condi- 

 tions that exist in our cellar with its vari- 

 able temperature. — Ed.] 



ALFALFA. 



Full-grown Hay Better for Horses than the same 

 Amount of Young Feed. 



BY L. B. BELL. 



I wish my mind were as free from fear 

 of the "bogy" of early alfalfa-cutting- as 

 our Colorado friend Gill's seems to be from 

 his comforting- letter in Nov. 1st Glean- 

 ings. After reading- his article I thought 

 we had all "borrowed " considerable trou- 

 ble over the matter, and it was with a light 

 heart that I pitched into an old rancher 

 here (a well-posted Yankee, growing alfal- 

 fa as a business). I managed to retreat in 

 fairly good order, but with the impression 

 on my mind that one of us had been misin- 

 formed on this subject, and I longed for a 

 reserve force of experiment-station reports 

 to fall back upon for reinforcements. His 

 statements were in effect that nearly every 

 experiment station in the alfalfa-growing 

 region had reported that alfalfa contains 

 the greatest amount of "protein" when 

 only one-tenth in bloom. Now, one thing is 

 certain with me— that this rule was pretty 

 generally followed this year in this locali- 

 ty, with the result that I secured only one- 

 fourth of a honey crop. 



I wish this question could be settled con- 

 clusively. There is too much difference of 

 opinion on the matter. I find the difference 

 even among alfalfa-growers, and the argu- 

 ments pro and con lead me to believe that 

 the question can be settled, and settled in 

 favor of the bee men, especially in localities 

 where the hay is used largely for feeding 

 horses. 



I know this much about the matter: You 

 couldn't run fast enough to give a livery- 

 stable man a load of alfalfa to feed horses 

 for fast driving. Why? Because the qual- 

 ity varies so on account of the difference in 

 the time of cutting that they have formed a 

 prejudice against the hay, and will not feed 

 it if they can get any thing else. Horses 

 fed on alfalfa cut before the first seed be- 

 gins to form are not fit for hard driving; 

 and work horses fed on alfalfa a tenth in 

 bloom are soft and washy, with no endur- 

 ance or strength. It is entirely too laxative 

 for horse feed. 



These I know to be facts in which practi- 

 cal men will bear me out; so you can save 



them to put in your digest on this subject, 

 which I hope you may see fit to prepare, or 

 have prepared by some one competent to do 

 so, as soon as we can get it settled on suffi- 

 ciently solid ground, and know just what 

 we are talking about. Some argue that 

 horses will not eat all their hay when the 

 alfalfa is overripe, as the stems are too 

 tough and woody; but they have in a large 

 measure jumped at a conclusion, and a 

 wrong one. If I am not mistaken, a gov- 

 ernment ration of hay is 18 lbs. per day; 

 but if the hay is cut before maturity, a 

 horse will eat 30 lbs. or more, and still be 

 hungry, because of the lack of nutrition in 

 the hay; while a horse fed 25 or even 18 lbs. 

 of mature hay will probably leave some of 

 it, not because it's woody and tough, but 

 because he has been sufficiently nourished; 

 and a horseman who understands his busi- 

 ness will not hesitate long on which one to 

 take out for a long drive or hard long pull. 



What Mr. Gill says in regard to the val- 

 ue of alfalfa cut in full bloom coincides 

 with my experience and with that of most 

 practical men who reason things out; but 

 I suspect that that "fountain of wisdom," 

 the experiment station, sometimes puts out 

 opinions evolved by a process of experiment- 

 ing so exhaustive that there has been no 

 time nor strength left for thinking. 



I have written to our experiment station 

 to find out what they think about it; and I 

 would suggest that the editor of Gleanings 

 also write to each of the several stations in 

 the alfalfa-growing region, and get such 

 data as may have been issued, or any re- 

 vision of opinion which they m.iy make. 



I doubt the wisdom of saying much of the 

 bee men's interests in the circular, as many 

 men (I am sorry to say) are just selfish 

 enough to look with distrust upon any ad- 

 vice coming from such source, and would 

 rather lose something themselves than have 

 any of their fellow-men get something iff 

 their land for nothing. 



There would be several economic points 

 to be considered, such as the extra amount 

 of irrigating required to make up the 

 weight in the crop: also the extra running 

 over the ground with mower, rake, etc. 



Camp Verde, Ariz. 



[In this issue, in the editorial department, 

 I hrive already made liberal extracts from 

 the Kansas Experiment Station regarding 

 this matter of the time when to cut alfalfa. 

 I am now of the opinion that friend Gill 

 did not know, when he wrote in Gleanings 

 for Nov. 1, that there was such a strong 

 tendency on the part of the ranchers to cut 

 alfalfa earlj'. But the tide may turn the 

 other way when the buyers of early-cut ha^' 

 discover that it is too laxative for horses, 

 and that it is not suitable for horse feed as 

 compared with other hays, or alfalfa cut 

 older. Our columns are open to the full 

 and free discussion of this matter; and let 

 us know in just what predicament or posi- 

 tion the bee-keepers in the alfalfa reg^ion 

 are already placed or will be placed in the 

 future. — Ed.] 



