Plow the plum orchard as soon as possible in order to turn under mummied plums, which are responsible for much of the primary infection of brown rot.

Plowing the apple orchard early to turn under the old leaves is also essential in preventing scab spreading to the flower stalks.

Cultivate the vineyard in order to turn under the mummies.  Practice clean cultivation from the very beginning in order to help control black rot and downy mildew.  If the rot or mildew was very bad in the previous years, early spraying with the Bordeaux mixture 4-4-50 is very important.

Keep the radishes, cauliflowers, and cabbages covered with a poison spray from April 30 to May 20 to prevent the ravages of the cabbage maggot.  This should be applied once a week in fair weather, and twice a week in rainy weather.  The spray is made as follows: 

Lead arsenate, three-fourths ounce; New Orleans molasses, one-half pint; water, one gallon.

Look over the seedling cabbages carefully and destroy all which show any sign of wilting or rotting.

Cut out apple twigs badly injured by the buffalo tree hopper and burn them immediately.

Watch for plant lice on lettuce in cold frames.  To combat the insects the plants should be sprayed with nicofume liquid, one teaspoonful to a gallon of water.

BEE-KEEPER’S COLUMN

Conducted by FRANCIS JAGER, Professor of Apiculture, University Farm, St. Paul.

COMB HONEY, EXTRACTED HONEY, AND INCREASE.

The practical beekeeper must decide at the beginning of the honey season whether he wishes to produce extracted honey, comb honey or merely to increase the number of his colonies.  The manner of management of his apiary will depend upon such decision.  At any rate a modern outfit, pure bred colonies in modern ten or eight frame hives, is required for successful beekeeping no matter in what line of bee industry he may feel inclined to engage.

For production of extracted honey the ten frame hive is to be preferred.  Bees are less inclined to swarm in a ten frame hive, and two ten frame supers as a rule will be required where three eight frame supers would otherwise be necessary.

In successful extracted honey production swarming may be reduced to a minimum if during the dandelion and fruit trees honey flow, and in the beginning of white clover flow, once a week an empty drawn comb be inserted into the middle of the brood nest.  As soon as the brood chamber has eight frames of brood the queen excluder is added and an extracting super added filled with white extracting combs.  If the beekeeper does not care to raise his extracted honey in snow white combs only, the excluder may be omitted, but the result will be that the queen will lay eggs throughout the whole hive, thus rendering extracting difficult on account of brood present.  When raising