Rocky Ford enterprise., 1899-03-30


keeping qualitiea Of cantaloupes. The
answer was in the affirmative.
Mr.. Mumford said that the Omaha ex-
perrin snt proved that the Klsckley Sweet
watermelon was n fnr better keeper than
the s wink melon.
Prot. Cooke asked how many days
work were required to plant, cultivate
and market an acre Of cantaloupes. No.
body wins able to answer definitely nj.
though the impression prevailed that II
crates per acre was tho average and that
the cost Of production was 40 cents per
crate Mt ordinary wages.
A. Latson said that the conditions OF
soil, character Of irrigation and the hab-
its OF the grower made a big differencelin
the cost Of production.
Prof. Gillette's topic was luxurious
Insects" but he confined his address
largely to the collin moth, the most des-
tructive OF our insect pests. His conclu-
sions were that the faithful use OF bands
and spraying two, or perhaps three, times
would eifectually preserve the orchards
from the ravages OF the Goblin moth.
Bands aro made Of guuny sacking. 8 or 9
inches wide, folded in three layers.
Wrap around the tree rather loosely and
fasten with IL tuck.
Mr.. Crowley said TINT the best way to
fold the band was like nn S iiattensd, in.
stead OF folding one edge OF the band
within the fold
Prof. Gilletts favored picking wormy
apples from the trees, thus killing the
first crop Of moth and greatly reducing
the second crop. Apples into which the
moth huve entered are easily detected on
the tres.
Mrs. J. N. Beatty OF Mauzanola asked
how soon after the blossoms fall should
spraying be doue? Answer: Not later
thnn one week. There should be two, or
perhaps three, sprayinRs, not more than
. or days apart. Don't spray nll season,
Excessive rainfall soon after the blos-
SONS fall would make additional spray
ing desirable. Very late spraying would
tsud to leave poison on the apples, which
would be injurious to health. As rule,
the third spraying hardly pays.
Friday evening Hon. J. II. Crowley
read paper giving tho results OF his
many years Of experimenting in horticul-
requested md it Is on hand for early use
in our columns. At the close OF the pro-
gram Mr.. Crowley distributed large lot
OF very fine apples to tho audience, CIV.
ing tangible evidence OF his success as u
fruit grower.
The following paper by T. Lytle Of
Manzanola was read:
Bee Culture.
wish to call your attention to the
character OF some Of the stocks hereto
fors kept in the valley and mostly
brought here by few who were bent on
supplying the demand for bees, more
than on anything else. Brought II
contact with several such yards have
heartily wished they were miles ava,
for have found them utterly worthless
DIS n business bee. nuisance to every
one trying to make ney-prOducing q
business. am informed that the near.
est yard of these bees is entirely dead
but it will take years to completely Grad.
iceta the blood transmitted to other
yards. To this one cause I attribute
much OF my loss. One more
factor was present at my yard, hereto
shape OF what seemed to me, 30 little
versed in entomology, as variety Of
dragon fly, fly Of - reddish brown
color, about ~ inches long. These
came in large numbers and were decided.
ly voracious and predatory, swoopiDg
down on laden bees as they came near
the nlighting boards of the hives, hold.
ing the victim ut arms length thus,
easily conquered, and then inserting its
beak ut the back OF the bees neck soon
drained the contents Of it's body. feel
sure that I lost more than thirty young
queens from this source alone and was
Obliged to give up efforts to requiem
these and other colonies having aged
1
for which l Know Of no good reason, but
that does by no means prove the ab-
ssnce Of a very good one.
The most pertinent question now is,
what are we going to do about it: con-
fess see but little hope OF relief from
the first point male. When mon will,
for gain, bring in stocks OF which they
know next to nothing, endangering the
whole honey industry Of the valley, II
would seam there should be remedy,
but it is not apparent: Perhaps some
day the bee loosers will learn the lesson
aud until then, those who are most dam
aged will grin and bear it. Perhaps
even the severe losses OF the past winter
are not unmlxed evils.
The insects pests may not again
trouble for years to come but even ii
they do have noticed that they have q
habit hops to profit by. My yard ia
well shadei aud have noticed that in
the heat OF the day they alight in greai
rows on the fence wires. 1 think ol
coating these wires with some stick,
composition, like fly paper is made, and
think that can in that way laugh last
Another point can be gained by rearing
queens before their coming.
Saturday morning Prof. Bolles read q
valuable paper, "Hints on Ornamenting
Home aud School grounds" which We
hope to publish in an early issue.
Prof. Gillette read paper on insect.
cides which contained much that would
be OF utility to our horticultural readers
and from which we hops to make extracts
for future issue.