1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



823 



that Harrisburg is in the heart of a fine bee 

 country and big-hearted bee-keepers. They 

 will, no doubt, see to it that the National is 

 royally entertained. 



Mr. Lea, the government entomologist of 

 Tasmania, has been advising all the fruit- 

 growers of that country to keep bees to insui'e 

 the full fertilization of the fruit-blossoms. 

 He has also warned the growers against 

 spraying while tne trees are in bloom. 



Dr. B. H. Warren, the State Dairy and 

 Food Commissioner of Pennsylvania, has de- 

 clined to occupy again that position, his term 

 of office having expired. He is the man who 

 brought the glucose trust to its knees in the 

 Keystone State, and, besides, has conducted 

 a strenuous campaign in behalf of pure food 

 when it was much needed. 



DOES IT PAY TO FURNISH FREE ALSIKE SEED 

 TO FARMERS? 



Fortunate will be those who have had a 

 lot of alsike-clover seed scattered around in 

 their vicinity. In the neighborhood of our 

 out-yards we are having a tine growth of the 

 plant, and we expect a fair return in the 

 form of nectar — if not this season, another 

 year. Remember that we gave away the 

 seed free to all parties who applied for it 

 within a mile of our yards. One farmer 

 would tell another about our free-seed prop- 

 osition; and the result was that many came 

 for the seed. But we expect to get it all 

 back within two years, and a good profit be- 

 sides. He who never casts his bread upon 

 the waters will never have any in return. 



SHOULD THE NATIONAL BEE-KEEPERS AS- 

 SOCIATION EXHIBIT HONEY AT THE 

 world's PURE-FOOD SHOW' V 



The editor of the Avierican Bee Journal 

 follows up our suggestion that the National 

 Bee-keepers' Association be represented at 

 the World's Pux'e-food Show at Chicago, Nov. 

 19 to 25, by adding another that some of the 

 money from the Honey-producers" League 

 be used for making a honey display. This 

 show of pure foods is exciting world-wide in- 

 terest and enthusiasm, hence the necessity 

 for a honey-exhibit. If we do not fall into 

 line the public may conclude our honey is 

 bogus, and that we are afraid to show it. If 

 the honey crop is short, that is only another 

 reason for the exhibit, as the bee-keepei's will 

 requii'e a better price for their product than 

 they have been getting. 



FOREST RESERVES. 



The Secretary of Agriculture, as we ex- 

 pected, has determined to do something with 

 the forest reserves, and now proposes to take 

 measures to improve the pasturage available 

 for stockmen where the land is suitable. A 

 special officer, Mr. Colrille, has been ap- 

 pointed to do what he can to improve pas- 

 turage conditions. We hope the Department 

 of Agriculture will take care to see that the 



bee-keepers are given a fair chance as well 

 as the cattle-men, by planting seeds which 

 are not only good for stock but for bees as 

 well. If the government can naturalize some 

 of the various species of clover on these im- 

 mense tracts the bee-keeping interests of the 

 nation would be considerably benefited. No 

 doubt Dr. Phillips will see to it that some- 

 thing of the kind is done. 



THAT FIELD OF DANDELIONS ILLUSTRATED 

 ON PAGE 840. 



Probably some of our amateur photogra- 

 pher subscribers will be interested in know- 

 ing how this photo was secured. It is a 

 well-known fact that yellow and green, to 

 the ordinary dry plate, are almost one and 

 the same thing, for the photo will make it 

 appear that every thing is of one color; but 

 by putting in what is known as the ray fil- 

 ter, with a yellow screen, we get fairly cor- 

 rect color values. In the photo reproduced 

 elsewhere one will see the sharp contrast be- 

 tween blossoms and the green foliage; and. 

 this contrast is made possible by the use of 

 the yellow screen. 



We desire to suggest that, in photograph- 

 ing highly colored honey-plants, which a 

 correspondent may desire to be seen in an 

 engraving, before doing so he consult with 

 us or some expert photographer as to how to 

 secure the proper color values. In many 

 cases orthochromatic plates will help great- 

 ly. At other times a ray filter will give sat- 

 isfactory results, but a great many times it 

 produces no effect except to delay the expo- 



SW^EET clover IN A NEW LIGHT. 



In the A^istralian of April 6, which has 

 just come to hand, sweet clover is made to 

 appear in its true light. The paragraph is 

 in answer to a correspondent. 



The missing: specimen has come to hand, and has 

 heen identified by the Government Botanist as the 

 Melilotus alba, the white flowering melilot, an intro- 

 duced plant belonging to the Leaaminosce. The odor 

 of the plant is due to cumarin, which in excess acts as 

 an intoxicant, and also gives a strong flavor to milk 

 and butter. In moderate amount, however (10 per 

 cent or so), it adds to the flavor and palatability of the 

 hay or herbage; but it would be highly inadvisable to 

 allow stock to graze entirely or mainly on this plant. 

 As in many other cases, a little is good and excess in- 

 jurious. 



The idea of adding 10 per cent of sweet 

 clover to any other fodder to give it palata- 

 bility is excellent — more especially so in the 

 case of corn silage, which is lacking in taste 

 and nuti'iment. If we could induce farmers 

 to see the practicability of this idea, sweet 

 clover would probably become a prominent 

 farm crop. In other words, the fodder would 

 be flavored with vanilla (cumarin). Quite 

 possibly the objections to silage as a feed for 

 milch cows would disappear if sweet clover 

 were added to it in a proportion of 10 or 20 

 per cent. It is worth thinking about, and 

 some experiments ought to be made at once; 

 for sweet clover grows easily in the corn- 

 producing States. Bee-keepers would do 

 well to call attention to this suggestion in all 

 agricultural papers. 



