The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-05-02

hundreds of large chicken hawks have
been seen on the grain fields between
Helmet and San Jacinto. We learn they
have been attarcted there by the mil
| lions of army worms which nave set
out to devour what little grain we
have this season. Millions of these
worms can be seen crossing the road
and if it were not for the good work
| of these hawks the fields would be as
| barren as the roadbed in a short time.
THE HONEY INDUSTRY.
| Riverside Press: That the coming
summer is going to be a hard one on
bee men cannot be doubted. And it is
! greatly to be regretted, as the honey
industry is important Bradford Morse.
| who has a large apiary on his Box
| Springs ranch says if it were merely a
matter of dollars and cents it would
| be a toss-up with him whether he
should feed his bees or let them die.
THE VALUE OF CULTIVATION.
| San Diego Tribune: One of the valu-
able lessons learned by Southern Cali
fornia ranchers during the several dry
seasons which they have met So sue
cessfully is that of demonstrating the
value of thoroughly cultivating acres
which are dependent upon irrigation
for crops.
Careful horticultural students have
long maintained that the asSiduouS Gull
tivation of fruit groves was of two
fold benefit, inasmuch as such care not
only improved the product of the or
chards but also was a means for econ
omizing water. 1t has been demon
strated repeatedly that fruit grown
with a minimum amount of water is of
superior quality to over-irrigated pro-
duce and that this superiority is read
lily perceived by buyers who will pay
better prices for the article thus i'm
proved in quality. If curtailing the ir
rigation of orchards lessons the guam
tity of the product certainly the i'm
proved quality of the fruit compensates
in profit because of higher prices for
any decreased output that may ensue.
But with constant cultivation of or
chards their bearing capacity will not
be greatly diminished even though ir-
rigation is less frequent than it has
been during very wet seasons.
Another important factor alone worth
the work is the improved appearance
and condition of the trees IL well cult
waited orchards.
The most successful ranchers are al
most unanimous in the opinion that
they have in the past over-irrigated
their trees and that the wisest course
for the future is to cultivate more and
irrigate less than has been the custom
since fruit culture became a great in
dustry in this section.
A LARGE WOOD CONTRACT.
Red Bluff Sentinel: Buick & Wen
gler have another contract with the
Mountain Copper Company for 10000
cords of wood. By the terms of the
contract $1,000 cords must be delivered
during the season of 1899 and the re-
mainder before October. 1900. The
wood must be delivered at the mouth
of Spring Creek and stacked in ten
cord lots The contract price is SO
per cord. The contractors will be en-
titled to an advance of 81 per cord on
wood stacked at their camp ready for
floating down the Pit and Sacramento
rivers. If the contractors have not
succeeded in delivering 5000 cords by
August 10th they will forfeit their
contract. The mining company has the
option of continuing the contract in all
its terms for one, two and three years
for the delivery of 10000 cords per an
num-