1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



977 



Every hod y knows that Baldwin apples, Bartlett 

 pears, and our favorite peaches, plums, and cherries, 

 can not be raispd from seeds: just the same laws hold 

 true with the improved ojiuntias, but fortunately they 

 can be raised from cuttings in any quantity with the 

 utmost ease — more truly they raise themselves, for 

 when broken from the parent plant, the cutting's at- 

 tend to the rooting without further attention, whether 

 planted right end u\>, bottom up, sidewise, or not at 

 all. 



During June, July. August, and September they 

 will thrive under almost any treatment; the leaves, 

 blossoms, buds, half-grown fruits, or any part of the 

 plant, will make root and grow, even on the floor back 

 of a cook-stove, in the pocket of your winter overcoat, 

 or on your writing-desk. 



The opuntias differ from nearly all other plants, as 

 the cuttings must tirst be wilted before they will grow, 

 after which nothing grows so readily. When received, 

 place them in some warm sunny place and allow them 

 to remain a week or more, after which they will read- 

 ily form roots and start to grow anywhere, even on a 

 board, a pile of rocks, or the roof of a house if you 

 choose. When wilted, the usual way is to plant so 

 that about one-third of the cutting is below the soil. 

 They may be planted in an upright position, or at any 

 angle from the perpendicular— it makes no difference 

 to the opuntias. 



In regard to the quality and uses of the 

 fruit, I extract the following from page 8: 



The fresh fruit of the improved varieties is unique 

 in form and color, superior to the banana in flavor, 

 and is usually sold at the same price per box as 

 oranges, and can be produced at perhaps one-half the 

 expense of producing oranges, apricots, grapes, plums, 

 or peaches, as there is never a failure in the crop, 

 which can be shipped as safely as the other deciduous 

 fruits. 



The juice from the fruits of the crimson varieties is 

 used for coloring ices, jelly, and confectionery. 



Now, there ai'e great numbers of more or 

 less well-known cacti advertised in the way 

 of cuttings, at a price within the reach of al- 

 most everybody. There are, perhaps, a doz- 

 en new creations, some of them that produce 

 "slabs," as the large leaves are called, two 

 feet long and a foot or less wide. Some of 

 these produce large luscious fruits entirely 

 thornless. The most promising one, Santa 

 Rosa, is valued at $10,000 — for the complete 

 stock. Here is what we read on page 15 con- 

 cerning the sale of a single leaf: 



One leaf of this, with the right to sell in the South- 

 ern Hemisphere, including all of Africa, has been sold 

 to Mr. John M. Rutland, of Melbourne, Australia, for 

 one thousand dollars. 



In regai'd to the fruiting of some of these 

 new creations, see the following from p. 25. 

 It is the title of a cut showing a leaf. 



One leaf of improved spineless opuntia, bearing 

 thirty-two ripe fruits which, without the leaf, weigh- 

 ed seven pounds. 



The whole catalog is a good-sized book of 

 28 pages. As nearly as I can gather, it will 

 be mailed on application by addressing Lu- 

 ther Bur bank, Santa Rosa, Cal. 



SWEET CLOVER IN THE SOUTHERN STATES. 



Since it is beginning to be generally ac- 

 knowledged, wherever sweet clover grows, 

 that it is one of the best, if not the very best, 

 means of introducing the bacteria so neces- 

 sai'y for growing alfalfa and other legumes, 

 a new interest has sprung up in sweet clo- 

 ver. Below is a report clipped from the 

 Rural New-Yorker in regard to the plant in 

 Mississippi: 



In your issue of April 25 a Pennsylvania correspond- 

 ent has a good word in behalf of melilotus. This plant 

 in the North and West is usually regarded as a weed. 



In the South the white-flowered variety is regarded 

 with much favor as a forage plant, and also for graz- 

 ing. It is largely grown in certain sections of this 

 State and Alabama, in the limestone regions, and 

 when the plant is mowed at the proper stage, before 

 there is too much wood developed in it, the quality of 

 the hay is considered second to none of the clover 

 family, alfalfa not excepted. It thrives to advantage 

 only on lands strongly impregnated with lime; here 

 it is at its best and reaches its greatest vierfection. 

 It will take root and grow luxuriantly on bare lime 

 spots where there is no other soil on the surface of 

 the ground. In time, left to itself, it will completely 

 hide these unsightly bald places, and corn and other 

 field crops can be grown profitably on the land It 

 has an enormous tap root that penetrates deep down 

 into the sub soil and grains nourishment from plant 

 food denied to other leguminous plants. It reseeds 

 itself every two years; but if the plant is mowed (in 

 this climate at any rate) or grazed, so that no seed 

 can develop, the plant seems to lose its natural tend- 

 ency to give up life after two years' growth, and will 

 continue to produce good crops for several years in 

 succession. It has been fully ten years since I have 

 sown any melilotus seed, and yet I find it every year 

 more or less plentiful and luxuriant on my Johnson- 

 grass and Bermuda-grass meadows. Of course, the 

 presence of this plant on the lands named is highly 

 beneficial to these meadows, the coarse, deeply pene- 

 trating tap roots of the melilotus opening up the 

 compact soil and thus conducing to the better growth 

 of both Johnson and Bermuda grasses. Hay made 

 from melilotus when the plant is in just the right 

 stage of growth for best results, and perfectly cured. 

 is a hay that is in every sense equal to the best quality 

 of cow-pea vines, or any of the clover family. 



In regard to the importance of lime or 

 limestone soil, this is something that I had 

 not got hold of before. Perhaps I might 

 here that I have succeeded in growing plants 

 with wonderful luxuriance in the sandy soils 

 of Northern Michigan. Some seed I sowed 

 there has produced plants as high as my 

 head, the second year. I can indorse all the 

 writer says in regard to its value for stock. 

 I should say it is fully equal to alfalfa, from 

 what experience I have had. 



THE "DANDELION COW," INDIAN RUNNER 

 DUCKS, ETC. 



Mr. Root: — You ask on page 842, "Is that 

 cow an extra cow? " Of course, she is. 

 Many here claim that a Holstein-Jersey cross 

 is the best cow in existence. The milk from 

 one such cow brought over $22 at the local 

 creamery in one month some time ago. 



W. A. H. Gils TRAP. 



Ceres, Cal., June 37, 1907. 



Thank you, friend G. Quite a number of 

 others have suggested that she is an extra 

 cow, and I am glad to tell you she is still at 

 it. Wherever we find a great mass of mis- 

 cellaneous plants — sweet clover, dandelions, 

 all the grasses, or any thing else — we just 

 give her a chance at them. The people who 

 claim that cattle will not eat sweet clover 

 ought to see this one. So far she cleans up 

 every thing indiscriminately except docks 

 and burdocks. She has not yet attained the 

 knack of converting these latter into good 

 rich milk. But the milk is still first class, no 

 matter what food she gets hold of. Surely 

 it begins to look as if we were to have "egg- 

 machines," "milk-machines," and last, but 

 not least, "meat-machines." And that re- 

 minds me that the Indian Runner ducks at 

 just 30 days old weigh 2| lbs. each. Just 

 think of it! from 1\ ounces to 2\ lbs. in only 



