1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



317 



iug came. Indeed, where there was quite a covering of tops 

 and the snow fell early remained on the ground, those sprouts 

 on the under side at the surface of the ground were not killed 

 by the freezing of winter, but remained green until the plants 

 began their new growth this spring. The whole field started 

 early, and made a green and beautiful appearance. Then 

 came on a long spell of cold and windy weather, which kept 

 everything back, hence it was not until late that the plants 

 got down to work. Since then it has let itself loose, so to say, 

 and grown in a reckless but determined fashion. Every root 

 sent out numerous shoots that spread away on every side until 

 the ground was covered with a dense mass. Then it began to 

 climb up. The tendrils of one shoot caught on to all the 

 neighboring shoots, and by June there was a deep garment of 

 verdure more than three feet in depth, which yielded at the 

 rate of 16 tons of green forage per acre. Cured, it made at 

 the rate of four tons of choice hay per acre. The forage is 

 eaten eagerly by all kinds of farm stock. Not only does it 

 enrich the soil, but it is able to flourish on very poor soil. Our 

 flat peas were sown on the most sandy soil on our farm. 

 When one sees the freshly-dug plant, with its hundreds of 

 tubercles, he feels sure that if any plant can enrich the soil, 

 this one can." 



In Gleanings for May 1, I find an account of the experi- 

 ence of Mr. A. I. Root, of Medina, Ohio, with the flat pea, 

 who says this about it : 



LATHYRUS, AGAIN. 



To-day (April 26) we are taking up our plants and mov- 

 ing them to the field. I was astonished to see the nitrogen- 

 nodules strung along on the little rootlets, like beads on a 

 cord. It is now satisfactorily settled that all leguminous 

 plants — peas, clover, etc., that produce these nodules or little 

 white knobs the size of a pinhead on their roots, have the 

 faculty of taking nitrogen from the atmosphere. That is why 

 clover is worth more than any other plant to plow under. At 

 the Experiment Station in Florida they showed me these nod- 

 ules on their leguminous plants. Well, I never saw anything 

 like the number there is on our lathyrus. The roots go down 

 so deep that my stalwart friend " Ben " said it was too much 

 work to try to dig them without breaking the roots off. At 

 its present stage, with the foliage only a few inches in height, 

 I am sure cows and horses will take it as readily as they will 

 any of our clovers. When it gets to be tall and strong it may 

 be different. If you wish to see one of these plants, foliage 

 and all, we will mail you one for .5 cents, or ten of them for 

 25 cents. With such a root as they have, I do not know how 

 the plant can fail to grow. 



The wonderful power this lathyrus possesses to penetrate 

 a hard and impervious subsoil was shown in digging up a 

 plant an hour ago, that had forced its root absolutely through 

 a piece of partially rotten board that was down in the plant- 

 bed. The root came through on the other side, and went sev- 

 eral inches beyond the board ; but it was so firmly fastened 

 that the bit of board was carried along and put out with the 

 plant. The roots invariably go straight down ; and after they 

 are six months old they will, without doubt, be proof against 

 drouth to dry up the plant, or against the effects of frost to 

 heave it out in winter. 



Those who wish to experiment with this new forage-plant 

 can send to Mr. Root for plants, as offered above. 



On page 585 of the Bee Journal for May 10, 1894, I 

 called attention to the flat pea, and also gave an illustration 

 of it. At that time these paragraphs were published, and 

 they are given again for the benefit of the new readers of the 

 Bee Journal : 



It seems that Herr Wagner, of Munich, Germany, has 

 been at work for the past 30 years, crossing and improving, 

 and from a bitter weed has developed a succulent forage-plant 

 unusually rich in sugar, and relished by all kinds of stock. 

 The illustration of the plant shows something much like the 

 sweet-pea, to which it is closely related. 



The roots are said to penetrate the hardest, driest and 

 rockiest soils, reaching to the depth of 10 or 20 feet. A dry 

 season does not affect it. Once started it will last for 50 

 years. Barren land occupied by it is changed to fertile soil. 

 Those who understand how red clover takes so much of its 

 nourishment from the air, will not have so much difficulty in 

 believing this. This flat pea belongs to the ^egumuiosxr, as 

 well as clover. 



Cows fed on this plant give forth more milk than when 

 fed on clover, and we hardly dare say how much more butter. 



Some of the German friends count the introduction of this 

 plant equally important with that of the potato. 



Railroad companies are planting along their embankments 

 and deep cuts, so that its long roots may prevent washing 

 away of the soil. 



Four tons of dry hay per acre are obtained, three cuttings 

 being made. The first cutting takes away all chance for a 

 honey crop at that time, but, if we undertand it correctly, the 

 bees have a rich harvest on its blossoms after the first cutting, 

 and not until October is its yield of nectar over. 



Of course we are only giving what is reported, and it re- 

 mains to be seen whether the plant is of value in this country. 

 A somewhat serious drawback is the difficulty of getting a 

 start. It is very liable to kill out during the first or second 



winter. 



*-»~^ 



Pleasant Occupation of Tending Bees is 



the subject of an intensely interesting and finely illustrated 

 article appearing in the May and June numbers of The Cos- 

 mopolitan, written by Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson, the scholarly 

 and practical editor of the Bee-Keepers' Review. The first 

 half of the article appears in the May number of that popular 

 monthly, and contains 13 superb apiarian pictures done in 

 half-tone. Mr. H. made all the original photographs himself, 

 so all are true to nature. The first shows a side view of the 

 interior of a bee-hive— with bees, frames, combs and all. Then 

 follow a neat section of honey, worker-bees and sting, drone, 

 queen-bee and egg— the last three being magnified about four 

 times; comb from the brood-nest of a colony that has just 

 cast a swarm, comb in process of construction, a Vermont api- 

 ary in winter, group of queen-cells, bellows bee-smoker, queen 

 shipping-cage, pulling bee-stings, and a typical farm apiary. 



Evidently the editor of The Cosmopolitan furnished the 

 double title to Mr. Hutchinson's article, for the second part 

 reads thus: "Being a complete account of the honey-bee, 

 his home, his migrations, his habits of life, his business 

 methods, his storehouses, his food, and communal life." One 

 versed in bee-keeping, if reading no further, would conclude 

 it was all about drones, but it isn't. 



However, taken as a whole, it is the richest thing on bees, 

 I believe, that has ever appeared in any popular magazine. 

 And no more able author could have been selected to prepare 

 it. The Cosmopolitan has honored both itself and the pursuit 

 of bee-culture, for it has thus presented to a large constituency 

 of readers a most fascinating subject in a very captivating 

 manner. The pictures alone are worth many times the price 

 of each number. Better get the May and June numbers of 

 The Cosmopolitan (20 cents each), furnished by W. Z. Hutch- 

 inson, Flint, Mich. 



^TC)or)^ ilr)c Bee-Papers 



Conducted by " GLUA.NBR. 



SPRING DESERTING OP HIVES. 



Lately, since the queen-excluding zinc has become com- 

 mon, I have simply hived back in its own hive the colony 

 swarming out, and placed a strip of perforated zinc at the 

 entrance, thus keeping the queen from going out, in which 

 case the bees will return after each swarming-out : and if 

 such colony so treated does not die by dwindling it can usually 

 be saved in this way. But, as I said, unless for some reason 

 you wish to preserve the individuality of any colony which 

 once swarms out, the best thing to do is to unite it with some 

 other colony, as the work required to make a good colony of 

 such a discouraged colony amounts to more than any ordinary 

 colony is worth. — Doolittle, in Gleanings. 



SELF-SPACING TACKS FOR FRAMES. 



J. M. Moore speaks of these on page 286. A few years 

 ago they were mentioned with favor in Gleanings, and per- 

 haps elsewhere. One objection is that as the frames cannot 

 be absolutely without any play lengthwise, the middle points 

 of the heads of the nails or tacks will not always exactly meet, 

 and so there will be a variation in the spacing. A single nail 



