The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-06-06


honey pa ln them. and each ON, or
u l. rv-pon, tile for himself If IT,
does hot prepare the light winged
harvester, ~ gather tin.
\ ! SAID before. il helane- 70
farming. and pays - vi - any
work does ufon the farm. The
return, Tor the Investment and IL
bor are . good - the returns from
any Of tire products of the farm
Am | SAVING too much, Have I
made an assertion which / cannot
sustain: Ny aim not t. b. v>-
traNayant, or say one word IN tins
matter which Il. lot strictly in ac-
cordancc with my knowledge and
belief. Nv experience a. a bee
keeper D. the VERY best evidence /
can offer. | have taken four c ops
III succession, ard they have paId
me more than one hundred per
cent. on the investment. They
averaged me for tie four Years more
than SD to the stock. For tie
last two years | have kept thirty
stocks, and they have given me So
10 the stock. What better can YOU
do with wheat, or corn or hemp:
Many OF Il people 1T this time
are turning their attention TO sheep
~husbandry, and they think it pays
well. But take 80 sheep, a far
average for an ordinary farm, and
make your calculations and see if
they will require more care than
Your bees the YEAR round. They
Will cut down Your grass and they
viii not then yield you SD per
head, notwithstanding you have 2
protective tariff for your wool and
| have none for my honey. Thus
it appears Dee keeping in fully equal
to il not better than sheep raising.
Again for the last two years |
have taken from thirty stocks 1900
lbs. OF honey each year. Now, if
| can raise 1900 lbs. can not nv
brother farmers do half 80 well and
raise 1000 lbs: Doolittle. Of New
York, took, last year over 800 lbs.
from one stock. But suppose ever
farmer IN Jessaminc county would
make l,0C0lbs. instead OF 2,GOO lbs.
rs have done, and us we have just
about 600 farms of 300 acres each.
it would make the round sum Of
600, GEO lbs. oil honey for Jc4Samin2
county. ,
! consider this not beyond the
capacity of Il county when the
seasons are at all favorable, but
doubt whether Our farmers Will
make 1000 lbs; therefore | VIII
divide it again and makeit 800 lbs,
~one-fourth the amount | have
taken, and about what Doollttle@
took from one stock only, and then
we have for our county 800. 600 lbsa
surely within the reach OF her peo-
pie. And this, at % cents per II
is $4,000, for Jessamine couuoN;
and as our State has about l2O
counties, | will multiply that sun
by 100 and we have for the State of
Kentucky $500, 900 annually 60
ING to waste in her flora. And as
a source of wealth to the nation,
let rs multiply this amount by so,
leaving off s of the States, and We
have 1928, 600, 600 of wealth living
in the tiny cells of her flora. Thus
intelligent bee keeping seems des-
tined to become Il source of untold
wealth to our nation.
In this calculation | believe | am
far under the true estimate. In a
few vears YOU Will learn from the
census of the State and the nation,
through experienced bee men, thai
the resources from this direction
alone will be estimated at from
$500. 600. coo to 81 1000. O0O. 600.
But of course, we do not al eN-
pect to make fortunes IN this bust
ness. | do not discuss it for that
purpose. The prce of honey may
change. The law of supply and de-
mand governs the market price IN
all commodities. If we oyerstock
to market with honey, us with any
other product, the price will fall.
Suppose it does. Who + for
that? We still have 4 home de-
mand III our families, VIII Oh, if
supplied, viii be a blessing to us
right there. This is the special
view | wish you % take of it. How
many of our farmers are absolutely
sorely taxed for the sweets that 90
upon their tables: How many are
in debt, anG how many are barely
able to come out at the end of the
year: To these | would say. keep
a few stocks Of bees, manage them
intelligently, and supply your own
families with this best Of sweets
free OF expense.