404 PASTURAaE AND OVERSTOCKING. 



We have no official statistics of the honey crops of the 

 United States, but the following extract from the American 

 Bee-Journal (1886), will give an idea of the immensity of 

 our honey resources, considering the comparatively small 

 areas of this country now occupied by Apiarists. 



"The California Grocer says that the crop of 1885 was about 

 1,250,000 pounds. The foreign export from San Francisco dur- 

 ing the year was approximately 8,800 cases. The shipments 

 East by rail were 3G0,000 pounds from San Francisco, and 910,000 

 pounds from Los Angeles, including both comb and extracted. 

 We notice that another California paper estimates the crop of 

 1885 at 2,000,000 pounds, and the crop of the United States for 

 1885 was put down at 26,000,000 pounds. We do not think these 

 figures are quite large enough, though it was an exceedingly 

 poor crop." 



But former years have given still better results. Through 

 the courtesy of Mr. N. W. McLain, of the D. S. Apicultural 

 Station, we have received the following statistics from 

 "The Resources of California, 1881 " : 



The honey shipped from Ventura County, California, 

 during 1880 amounted to 1,050,000 lbs. The Pacific Coast 

 Steamship Company of San Diego shipped 1,191,800 pounds 

 of honey from that county in the same year. 



The crop of the five lower counties in California that 

 year, was estimated by several parties at over three million 

 pounds. 



According to a report of S. D. Stone, Clerk of the Mer- 

 chants' Exchange of San Francisco, the actual amount of 

 honey shipped to that city from different parts of California 

 in the sixteen months ending May 1, 1881, was 4,340,400 

 pounds, equal to two hundred and seventeen car-loads. 



One hundred tons of honey, in one lot, were shipped during 

 the same year, from Los Angeles to Europe on the J'rench 

 bark Papillon. This had all been purchased from Los 

 Angeles Apiarists. 



712. In the excellent season of 1883, the honey crop of 



