332 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



As reg'ards the first phase, it is easy 

 enough for any one living" in an alfalfa 

 country, with two got d eyes and a fair 

 memory, to decide. Local conditions have 

 differed for many years in various locali- 

 ties in California, but in many olaces the 

 tendency is toward early cutting. 



Experiment stations should be able to de- 

 cide such questions right, so farmers could 

 tell exactly what is best; that is what the 

 stations exist for. Experimenters can 

 bring chemistry to bear on the subject, and 

 then prove or disprove the practical appli- 

 cation of the conclusions thus obtained bj' 

 feeding stock and carefully noting results. 

 Then why don't they agree? Different en- 

 vironments naturally bring different re- 

 sults. It would seem strange if the most 

 successful mode of handling alfalfa on rich 

 sandy loam would necessarily be best on a 

 thin limestone soil where the growing sea- 

 son is more than a third shorter. The best 

 hay for horses may not be best for beef stock 

 or milk production. If any one has advo- 

 cated very early cutting of hay in this val- 

 ley, when the hay is intended for horse 

 feed, it has never reached my attention. 

 Many claim that alfalfa should be in full 

 bloom for some time to make best feed for 

 beef cattle, and many claim it should not 

 stand so long. But when it comes to dairy 

 stock I do not know a man who has changed 

 from late cutting to early, and then changed 

 back to late cutting. As dairying is rapid- 

 ly coming to the front, it is revolutionizing 

 the alfalfa business. As farming is usual- 

 ly done on methods which are supposed to 

 give best average results, the alfalfa is all 

 cut young where dairying is the main thing 

 (and it generally is), 

 and little thought is giv- 

 en to the small loss, if 

 any, that is brought about 

 by feeding the "wishy- 

 washy " feed to other 

 stock. 



Mr. Aikin has told in 

 a past volume of Glean- 

 ings that the alfalfa 

 growing near fences, 

 along ditches, etc., is of 

 considerable help to the 

 apiarist in his locality. 

 The same is true here, 

 although some farmers 

 turn cattle in after each 

 cutting to graze these 

 nooks down. Some honey 

 is secured before each 

 cutting on nearly any 

 ranch, although the 

 amount may be quite 

 small. In practice, the 

 mower does not always 

 do its work as quickly 

 as in theory it should, 

 owing to miscalculation 

 or rush of work. I think 

 this occurs oftener wilh 

 small farmers, as they 

 are less methodical about 



their work, just as a large department 

 store is managed on stricter business prin- 

 ciples than a country grocery. 



It is as safe to expect alfalfa honey in 

 the future as it is to calculate on sage or 

 white clover honey. Very likely there will 

 be a decrease in the amount during the 

 next decade when our entire country is 

 considered. Of course, the acreage of al- 

 falfa is expected to increase as well as 

 some unoccupied territory to be occupied. 



If an apiarist contemplates going to an 

 alfalfa country it would be well to investi- 

 gate this very important point before lo- 

 cating. If he is located, and finds early 

 cutting is greatly reducing his crop it may 

 be wise to move his bees out of the country, 

 as the most extensive bee-keeper in this 

 county (Stanislaus) and some others did 

 last year. 



I think that is about all there is of the 

 subject — largely locality. 



Modesto, Cal., Feb. 18. 



LATE CUTTING OF ALFALFA. 



I inclose a clipping from the Kansas 

 Farmer, of Dec. 18, on early and late cut- 

 ting of alfalfa. Although the writer of 

 the article is not writing from the bee-keep- 

 er's standpoint, his experience would seem 

 to be pretty good evidence in favor of al- 

 lowing the alfalfa to bloom long enough be- 

 fore cutting to give the bees a chance to 

 gather a good deal of honey from it.i 



Editor Kansas Farmer.— "Sly experience in cutting 

 alfalfa is different from sonie others'. For instance, 

 most if not all the writers on the subject say, cut the 

 first crop early, when one-tenth of the plants are in 



A PAKT OF K. S. WKBSTIOK S Al'lAKV. 



