The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1878-10-02

| tneSe mines OF WealIn.
My own country has expended
twenty thousand dollars in the mat
ter without one cent of return. And
l fear, before these vast riches are
brought to our doors, we will have gone
to our long resting places.
But it is not so with the flowers.
We want no highway to reach them.
They are all around our doors. They
are in our fields, and the honey is in
them, and each one of us is response
BILE for himself if he does not prepare
the little winged harvesters to gather
it in.
AS l said before, it belongs to
farming, and pays as well as any
work done upon the farm. The re-
turns for the investment and labor
are as good as the returns from any
of the products Of the farm. Am 1
saying too much Have made an
assertion which 1 can not sustain
My aim is not to be extravagant, or
say one word in this matter which is
noC strictly in accordance with my
knowledge and belief My expert
ence as bee-keeper is the very best
evidence l can offer. l have taken
four crops in succession, and they
have paid me more than one hundred
per cent. on the investment. They
have averaged me for the four years
more than $12 to the stock. For the
last two years l have kept thirty
stocks, and they have given me So
TO the stock. What better can you
do with wheat, or corn, or hemp?
Many of our people at this time
are turning their attention to sheep
husbandry, and they think it pays
well. But take thirty sheep, fair
average for farm, and make your
calculations and see if they will yield
$12 profit per head. They will re-
quire more care than your bees the
year round. They will cut down
your grass and they will not then
yield you $12 per head, notwithstand-
ing you have a protective tariff for
your wool and l have none for my
honey. Thus it appears bee kicking
is fully equal to if not better than
sheep raising.
Again torthe last two years have
taken from thirty stocks 1000 pounds
of honey each year. Now, it | car
raise 1000 pounds, can not my broth
err farmers do halt as well and raise
1000 pounds? Doolittie, OF New
York, took last year over 500 pounds
from one stock. But suppose every
farmer in Jessamine county would
make 1000 pounds instead of 1000
pounds as l have done, and as we
have just about 600 farms OF 200
acres each, it would make the round
sum of 100000 pounds Of honey for
Jessamine county.
consider this not beyond the ca
pacity Of our county when the sea-
sons are at all favorable, but | doubt
whether our farmers will make 1000
pounds; therefore 1 will divide it
again and make it 500 pounds, one
fourth the amount / have taken, and
about what Doollttle took from one
stock only, and then we have for our
county just 100000 pounds, surely
within the reach of our people. And
this, at Is cents per pound, is 49,,
600 for Jessamine county; and as our
State has about 120 counties, l will
multiply that sum by 100, and we
have for the State OF Kentucky ST.
100000 annually going to waste in
her flora. And as source of wealth
to the nation, let us multiply this
amount by thirty, leaving off eight Of
the states, and we have $225, 100000
of wealth lying in the tiny cells of
her flora. Thus intelligent bee-keep-
ing seems destined to become a
source of wealth to the our nation.
In this calculation l believe l am
far under the true estimate. In a
few years you will learn from the
census OF the State and the nation,
through experienced bee men, that
the resources from this direction
alone will be estimated at from $780,
100000 to $1,000,0O0,00O.
But, of course, we do not all ex-
pect to make fortunes in this business
| do no. discuss it for that purpose
The price of honey may change. The
law of supply and demand governs
the market price in all commodities
If we overstock the market witt
honey, as with any other product, the
price will tall. Suppose it does