TShe RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
1003 
Mud Houses and California Bees 
Where the Bee-keeper Gets Near to Nature 
N California, especially in ivhat was “the pioneer 
portion" of the State, it is no nncoinmon thins to 
fiiul hal)itahle lionses built of nuul, thoush it is 
very seldom that any are made of this material 
these days. A few years aso myself and family 
visited friends in (he mountains ot Monterey Coun¬ 
ty. Soledad was the nearest town, and after travel¬ 
ing over an indifferent road in the flat plain for 
some 20 miles, and not passing more than two or 
three houses, we entered a canyon. 
Our way was a devious one for 80 
miles, climbing and descending and 
winding and twisting and even ford¬ 
ing waterless creeks, all on a road 
that was not i)aved with either rock 
or gravel; yes, and for long 
stretches not even graded by scratcli 
of pick, .shovel or plow. There ivere 
only two isolated houses on the road, 
one being a ver.v good one built by 
a man and his family from Los An¬ 
geles who Ciune to these lonel.v 
])arts as he considered the climate 
preferable to that from which he 
came. 
Tired indeed I was from “navi¬ 
gating" a motor car over .such a 
dangerous route, and Ave Avere glad 
to .spend a few days Avith the family 
Ave came so far to see. They Avere 
nestled in a little A’alley aa'oII up in 
the mountains; high as they Avere 
a big hill on the north rose almo.st 
from their back door. The place 
Avas established about 40 years pre¬ 
viously by some venturesome pi¬ 
oneer. A mud or adobe house Avas 
built, and .some sheds and a fairly 
pretentious barn set up. There Avas 
a small family orchard and A’ine- 
yard. The fruit of the latter Avas 
harvested by the coyotes; little 
chance has the owner of grapes get¬ 
ting them Avheii these useless ani¬ 
mals can gain access to the vines, 
Avhich they generally do during the 
night. The fruit Avas of good qual¬ 
ity; I never tasted better nectarines 
anywhere. To market fruit from 
this place was an impossibility, as 
the distance from marts of trade is 
too great. 
Mr. and Mrs. S. A. Niver, the oc- 
from the Eastern 
years before they 
bought this far-off property—135 
acres—and established a honey-farm 
upon it. The bee-pasturage seemed 
good to them, for honey-secreting 
flowering plants abounded on eA'ery 
hand. Mr. Niver a.ssociated himself 
Avith IMr. A. B. Coburn. An apiary 
of seA'eral hundred hives AA’as duly 
foundationed, extractors and tanks 
set up and the bringing in of the 
honey anxiously awaited. P>ut 
though there Avere flowers galore, 
the bees failed to collect nectar from 
them. As for ])ollen. thei'e Avere 
tons of it; the combs Avere disas¬ 
trously oA’crloaded Avith it; the boos 
could not use it all, and to rid the 
combs of it Avas impossible. It Avas 
a case that proved that man or bees 
could not live upon such bread 
alone. 
The trouble Avith the location Avas 
that it Avas too elevated for the .se¬ 
cretion* of nectar; a lower altitude 
Avould ha\-e produced a climate that 
Avould luiA'e caus(>d tlie flowers to 
exude their sw(‘etness. At an 
apiary 10 miles below they had good crop.s. 
■\Ve Avere very much interested in an addition Mr. 
Niver Avas making to his “doby” hou.se. The orig¬ 
inal structure Avas made of .sun-dried brick; he 
conceiA’ed the idea that he \Amuld build of mud 
aft('r the fa.diiou of a modeiai concrete building. 
He laid out his foundation ; fixed the “forms,” pud¬ 
dled (he mud, Avhich was from dirt that .seemed Avell 
suited for the i)ui'i)ose. and poured it into the 
forms. Instead of using iron rods or Avire for re- 
uiforcement, he secured from the vineyard long 
grapevines. These Avere laid lengtliAvise in the 
forms and embedded in the mud. When a section 
Avas thus laid, it AA-as allowed to set and dry out 
and the form moved up for the next batch of mud. 
And thus, step by .step, the Avails went up. About 
all that is required to build such a house until it is 
ready to roof, is a shovel, bucket, hod, any sort of 
lumber, some grapevines, and, of course, AA’ater and 
earth, nearly all of Avhich are dirt cheap most any 
old place. 
A “doby” house is comfortable both Summer and 
Wintci’, and yet, I am sure, it Avill neA’er become 
fa-shionable. In a climate Avhere the Winters are 
not oA’er Avet and seA'ere. the wonder is that not more 
cupants, came 
f^tates a feAV 
Making Millet Hay, Fig. 456. See Page 1004 
A Business Apiary in California. Fig. 457 
.•luoAvea 10 laii on rue cover oy rnc pump, 
of finds its Avay back into the AA-ell. It goes Avithout 
saying that this condition of things is not only un¬ 
sanitary, but positively dangerou.s. Where the poul¬ 
try are alhnved to run at large there is abiindant 
evidence that they frequent the vicinity of the Avell. 
Avhile fi-om other sources objectionable matter often 
finds lodgment on the Avell platform on top. .V 
change of conditions here is so cheap and simple that 
the only excuse that can be offered is thonghtlos.s- 
ness on the part of .some one. A board or plank 14 
or in inches Avide, Avith strips 2 inches high at the 
sides, upper end placed under the 
pump spout and set on a slight 
.slant, AA’ill carry all the drip aAA'a.v. 
This is Avide enough to set any pail 
on, one to Avash vegetables in if so 
desired, and is an insurance of san¬ 
itary conditions in the Avell. I am a 
great belieA'er in preparedness, ; 'd 
do not pi“each Avhat I do not prac¬ 
tice, for I IniA’e often personally 
made these changes in conditions 
AAdiich mean so much in safeguard¬ 
ing the health of the family. I 
liaA’e alAvays noticed that Avhen Ave 
realize the necessity of doing many 
little things aronnd the Larin and 
farm house there is ahvays time to 
do them Avithout interfering Avith 
other Avork. ir. e. cox. 
.Noav York. 
A “Doby” House in California. Fig. 458 
of tlumi are built noAvadays. It may not be long, 
oAving to the constantly .soaring price of lumber, 
before this class of building Avill have to be resorted 
to, unless, of cour,se, brick, stone or cement can be 
substituted. av. a. riivAL. 
California. 
The Well Cover 
D CUING these long hot months the farm Avell is 
liberally patronized, and in order to .secure a 
drink from the bottom, cool and fresh, much Avater 
is necessarily alloAved to Avaste. In a great many in¬ 
stances under my observation this Avaste Avater is 
Ammonia Bordeaux for 
Cucumber Blight 
A SIMALL region of Central Long 
Island, of AA'hich Farmingdale 
and the Noaa' York State School of 
Agriculture is the center, claims to 
produce more dill pickles than any 
other place in the country. Here 
the culture of cueuml>ors is A'ery 
intensive, and the practices are so 
Avell established that one may Avell 
expect to find iioaa' and Amluable 
methods in general use before they 
are reported in bulletins or even in 
the agricultural papers. The high 
humidity, heavy deAVS and light 
Avinds all favor the spread of cu¬ 
cumber blight, AA’hich the large acre¬ 
age and lack of rotation makes the 
most serious problem. 
Spraying the vines Avith Bordeaux 
mixture Avas begun about 22 years 
ago and has long been a large item 
in the labor and cost of the crop. 
The usual formula is the old 5-5-50 
(lime, .sulphate of copper-Avater), 
applied at least once a Aveek, but 
some of the best groAvers decrease 
the amoAint of lime in the later 
spraying until the last is nearly 
clear copper sulphate. More recent¬ 
ly another neAA' practice has arisen 
AA’hich is not mentioned in any book 
or bulletin Avith Avhich I am famil¬ 
iar. This practice consists in mix¬ 
ing a quai’t of strong ammonia Ava¬ 
ter Avith each 100 gallons of Bor¬ 
deaux, claiming that it greatly 
lengthens the season of bearing, and 
thereby increases the yield. No one 
seems to be able to give any ex¬ 
planation of the use of ammonia, 
or to say Avhy the ju-actice Avas 
started, but it has spread until noAv 
it is almost universal. Tavo ex¬ 
planations suggest themselve.s, either 
or neither of AA’hich may be correct, 
and they are offered in the hope 
that it may provoke a discussion 
AA’hich AA’ill end in a better method 
of spraying. 
First, it reduces the surface tension of the drops 
of spraying, causing it to .spread better and more 
thoroughly AA’et the leaves, just as Ave use soap 
Avith “Black Leaf 40.” 
yeeond, it may act on the copper .sulphate that 
has not yet combined Avitli the lime and set free 
some additional copper “ions,” Avhile not danger¬ 
ously increasing the acidity of the solution. Which¬ 
ever of these may be the solution of the undoubted 
good results, it only seems fair to the cucumber 
groAvers of the other parts of the country that they 
should liaA’e the opportunity to test out this method. 
H. F. BUTTON. 
