168 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Fbb. 1 



ing the peculiar local conditions as they af- 

 fect bee-keeping. He reads several of the 

 foreign publications, and in every way is 

 well qualified to render aid in our editorial 

 work. 



H. H. Root selects two-thirds of the copy, 

 preparing it for public^ation; then this copy 

 is all turned over to our old assistant W. P. 

 Root, who inserts the punctuation and other- 

 wise verbatimizes the copy for the conven- 

 ience of the printers. 



But thei'e is still another reason why we 

 should adopt the editorial we. The editor 

 has a corps of assistants in the bee-yards do- 

 ing experimental work. It would be im- 

 possible for him to perform personally the 

 detail of all this work. When the experi- 

 ments are in full progress he is called out to 

 the yards, notes the results, and prepares 

 the matter for publication. While the pro- 

 noun we will very largely, and almost en- 

 tirely, for the present at least, reflect E. R. 

 Root's opinion, that opinion will be influenc- 

 ed to a great extent by the opinions and the 

 findings of his assistants. 



In the matter of facts and figures relating 

 to the honey market he will have the help of 

 our honey-men, Mr. A. L. Boyd en and Mr. 

 Jesse Warren. There will be no change in 

 the editorial management; in fact, the edi- 

 torial buzzings will emanate from the same 

 soui'ce as heretofore. But the editor feels 

 that the time has come when it would be 

 mere egotism to take the singular form of the 

 personal pronoun any longer; and, to a cer- 

 tain extent, a usurpation of the "other fel- 

 low's thunder." In most cases his assistants 

 will write under their own signatures. Nine- 

 tenths of the matter with " — Ed.]" attached 

 to it will be the dictation of E. R. Root, al- 

 though part of the material may have been 

 supplied by others. 



FORESTRY AND BEE-KEEPING. 



There has been considerable criticism of 

 the President's action in setting aside so 

 much land for public forest reserves, and ef- 

 forts will be made to cui'b his power in this 

 respect. It is to be hoped these efforts will 

 fail. At the present rate of cutting the for- 

 ests, it will be about twenty years when 

 there will be no lumber to cut, and we shall 

 be face to face with a lumber famine, seri- 

 ously curtailing the ability of this country to 

 manufacture goods in which lumber is the 

 most important part of the raw material. 

 The idea now is to cut the trees no faster 

 than they grow, and therefore preserve the 

 forests for all time as a commercial necessity 

 and as a national asset. In Europe the 

 state forests are a source of profit to the 

 country, and it should be so here. 



What has this to do with bee-keeping? A 



freat deal of harm would be done to bee- 

 eeping in more than one way by the de- 

 struction of these forests. Some of the areas 

 already set apart as forests by the United 

 States government are excellent locations 

 for bees, and two new reserves are propos- 

 ed — one known as the Southern Appalachian 



and the other the White Mountain forest re- 

 serve. Both might be termed bee-keeping 

 reserves, as the timber on both is largely of 

 a nectar-producing kind ; and by careful 

 handling it will get better. A bill to create 

 these two reserves has passed the Senate, 

 without a single dissenting vote, and the 

 Hou.se will probably agree. As this is to be 

 a short session, write your Congressman, re- 

 questing him to urge the immediate consid- 

 eration of the foi'estry-reserve bill. This 

 will place in the hands of the government 

 vast tracts that are now being laid waste by 

 the ruthless hand of commercialism that 

 looks not to the future, but to immediate 

 gains; hence it is that thousands of young 

 trees are being cut now, which, ten years 

 from now, would yield many fold more lum- 

 ber than at present. As well ruight a farmer 

 kill his chickens, his pigs, and his calves, when 

 only two weeks old, rather than let them 

 grow to an age when they would be worth 

 something. 



If the government gets hold of these tracts 

 timber will be cut at an age that will yield 

 the best returns. The young trees that are 

 now being destroyed because they are in the 

 way will be saved. We have known all this 

 for half a century, but did nothing. Now is 

 the opportune time to do something. Do it 

 now, and thus help to confer a blessing on 

 your children. 



To get lumber enough for our needs we 

 shall have to import; and should the tariff be 

 removed it will have a strong tendency to 

 prevent further advances, for the time being 

 at least. Protection on lumber means the 

 destruction of the beautiful and valuable 

 forests we have. 



While you are writing your Congressman, 

 urge him to support any bill that will re- 

 move the tariff on lumber, that protects no- 

 body but a few mill-men. The old "stand 

 pat" doctrine of letting the tariff alone has 

 done much mischief , already. Admitting 

 that some articles should be protected, lum- 

 ber is an item that ought to go free. 



There is also now a btrong opinion among 

 expert foresters that it will pay to plant 

 trees, and there are already artificial woods 

 which are paying a fair profit. In Ohio the 

 catalpa and the black locust (both honey- 

 yielders) are being seriously tested by vari- 

 ous parties who hope to realize a good re- 

 turn. It is said, however, the most promis- 

 ing tree of all is the Australian eucalyptus, 

 which grows very rapidly and yields lumber 

 of very high value. Practically all the euca- 

 lypti are honey-yielders. Unfortunately they 

 are fitted only to the sub-tiopics. Califor- 

 nia, Arizona, South Texas, the Gulf Coast, 

 and Florida, will reap the benefit. 



There is also another strong reason why 

 tree-planting should be begun, and that is to 

 protect the farm lands from spring freshets 

 and summer drouths. Forests act as dams, 

 holding the water back in spring and giving 

 it off in summer. There is also a consider- 

 able need of trees on the highways. We 

 could materially improve the prospects of 

 the bee-keeper of the future by suggesting 



