THE BEE-KEEPERvS' REVIEW. 



55 



the (leciiledly unique features of oneeven- 

 iiij^. Then there were soii^s and music 

 by Miss I-Mith Ackliii, Miss Julia Mon- 

 ileug and Master Eddie Ilohnburg. Mr. 

 H. G. Ackliii, chairman of the executive 

 hoard, deserves great credit for the excel- 

 lent manner in which he worked up an 

 interest and made arrangements for the 

 meeting. 



One quite important step taken at 

 this meeting was the raising of the 

 annual dues -> fi.oo, and joining the 

 National Asst ,|,'tion in a body. To this 

 step there wa ily one dissenting vote, 

 and this was fr.ni Mr. C. Thielman, who 

 felt, thai tne Old United States Bee Keep- 

 ers' Union had not done its duty by him 

 in his time of need when he was prosecut- 

 ing a dishonest commission man; but, 

 upon the earnest request of the members, 

 he finally w'thdrew his opposition, that 

 the vote might be unanimous. One 

 after another the State and local Associa- 

 tions come into the National Association. 

 Bro. York should be given credit for hav- 

 ing originated this scheme that may yet 

 prove one of the most important features 

 for supplying the National with monev 

 and members. 



The editor of the Review was the invit- 

 e<l guest of the Minnesota Association at 

 the meeting just mentioned; and every- 

 thing possible was done to make his visit 

 a pleasant one — even to filling several 

 pages of his note book with the names 

 and addresses of new subscribers. 



The Minnesota Association is consider- 

 ing the advisability of employing a ste- 

 nographer at its ne.\t meeting, and thus be 

 able to let the public know of the good 

 things that are sairl and done. 



THK TRUTH .\lsOl.T .\MAM-A — THK .M;);1) 



OF GRK.^TER COITION IN THE 



MVKIXr. OK K.M'KKIMKNT 



ST.VTION RKI'ORTS. 



.\ny one who hts atteu leJsjtne of the 



State conventions held in the northern 



part of Michigan will be quite likely to 



remember a middle aged German by the 

 name of J. P. Berg. He has such vigor- 

 o-ii, sensible, yet h.in>rous wiys of put- 

 ting thing's in his musicil brogue, that 

 he never fails to bring down the house. 

 Usually he puts the au^r.-^nce in a roar of 

 lai^htv;r, or brings out a vig )roiis cheer- 

 ing every time he speaks. He sold out 

 and went W jst a few years ago, going to 

 Washington, I believe. A year or two 

 ago he returned to '"Michigm my Mich- 

 igm," and when he re id my description 

 of the West he was considerably stirred 

 up; so much that he wrote me a long let- 

 ter, fra:n which I mike the following 

 extracts: — 



I agree with you on nearly every point, 

 as to the bright prospects for bee- keepers 

 in the irrigated valleys near these big al- 

 falfa fields, provided we can do away 

 with the misleading statements of our 

 Expz-riuieiit .Stations and Agricultural 

 Colleges. I lived five years in the West, 

 and know whereof I am speaking. I 

 was not in or at the College, but in one 

 of those alfalfa countries. The caution 

 of Bro. M. F. Tatnian in last Gleanings 

 is a good one, and I can indorse every 

 word of it. 



[Mr. Tatman cautioned bee-keepers 

 not to be carried away with glowing re- 

 ports from alfalfa regions, as many weie 

 beginning to cut the alfalfa too early, be- 

 fore it was in full liloom — Ed.] 



Not many years ago our Agricultural 

 Department at Washington, D. C , sent 

 out a bulleiin on alfalfa, in which the 

 author said: "The riglit time to cut the 

 alfalfa is just when it begins to tjloom. 

 When it is in /«// bloom, or after, it ;^ets 

 woody.'" Now, was this not an awful shot 

 for this Professor? It matters not much 

 to him whether the alfalfa is just getting 

 into full bloom, or four weeks alter, it 

 gels woody anylioiv. The very fact that 

 bees do not work on alfalfa until it has 

 been in bloom for a week or so, shows 

 that there is no nectar in it when it fir.st 

 begins to bloom, and as long as there is 

 no nectar, the plant is not matured; and, 

 being cut before maturity, it is not health- 

 ful food. It will bloat, phvsic, and 

 weaken the digestion of, the animal that 

 eats it. Thousands of horses and cattle, 

 have died from eating just such hay. 

 But these Professors do not know how 



