JOHNNY ON THE SPOT.

It generally pays to be "Johnny on on the spot' "' and attending to business. I have a letter from an experienced but rather slip-shod beekeeper who says: "I am located in Blank canyon. I got only one extracting. If I had been acquainted with the country I would have been with the bees and would have got two or three extractings. I thought they would not do much of anything."

You cannot expect the best results unless you know your business and attend to it. This man was located near a large area which was burned off in 1918. The deerweed (wild alfalfa) never fails to give a good honey flow under such conditions. This one little item of information, which a working knowledge of the botany of his vicinity would have given him, would have been worth a thousand dollars in cash this season.

SUGARLESS SERBIA.

Nearly two years after the ending of the great war, Serbia is still almost without sugar. Candy and cakes, desserts and pastry, even sweetened coffee, are nearly unknown, and the long vista of sugarless days is still stretching out before the mass of the country's population, says an announcement by the American Red Cross.

Serbians have felt the lack of sugar much more than Americans did, it is stated, since even such substitutes as were obtainable here are not available.

In Serbia, the only alleviation to a sugarless life has been the "slatka" served on the " "slavas, or national holidays. "Slatka" is described as the national sweetmeat-a very sweet preserve whose ingregients are a secret of the Serbian housewives, and for the making of which sugar has been carefully saved from the little to be had in the country.

American Red Cross workers in Serbia, having all their lives been accustomed to an abundance of sweets, suffered more from the shortage of sugar than did the Serbians themselves, it is stated, and greeted with eager impatience the approach of successive holidays when the jealously-guarded "slatka" jar was brought out in each household for the refreshments of visit

On

ors, along with unsweetened coffee, sugarless cakes and plum brandy. these occasions good manners dictated that each guest should help herself to a single spoonful only of "slatka."Facts about Sugar.

The Co-operative Route. The shortest road to reasonable prices for all farm produce-reasonable" to both producer and consumer, is by the cooperative route. Only by this method is the consumer's dollar properly spent, for it then pays only the legitimate costs and profits incidental to production and distribution.

The producer gets his just share; middlemen assisting in distribution get theirs, but only what is fair, and the consumer pays no profit to speculators, to ignorance or to sloppy and unbusinesslike methods.-Dairy and Stock.

P. Henrickson, of Seeley, Imperial county, raised 823 crates of lettuce dur ing the past season and delivered it to the American Fruit Growers, Inc., of California, to be packed and marketed for his account. For this service he received an advance of 25 cents per crate from the shipper as it was delivered. He received nothing more until the end of the season, when his balance was $10.72! The lettuce paid him less than 262 cents per crate. He paid the American Fruit Growers, Inc., of California practically as much for selling the lettuce on commission as he received for growing and hauling it to the packing shed. He paid the same outfit 80 cents per crate, over three times as much for packing the lettuce as he received for growing and hauling it. (Probably this included the cost of crates.) He paid the railroads $1.227 per crate for hauling it. The railroads got nearly five times as much out of the lettuce as he did. Secretary F. N. Bigelow, of the State Market Commission, furnishes us the account sales and other papers from which we get these figures at first hand.

Now are the farmers of Imperial county going to stand for that kind of encouragement to produce food crops? They are not. They have already adopted subscription and marketing agreements for an organization of the Imperial Valley Vegetable and Melon Growers Association to market their own crops.-Pacific Rural Press.

STATE PRUNE GROWERS

VOTE TO REORGANIZE

San Jose, Sept. 9.-Following_a_serics of conferences with the Federal Trade Commission, the board of directors and trustees of the California Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc., voted yesterday to change their organization from a corporation to a non-capital stock association, H. G. Coykendall, general manager, announced today.

Reorganization along these lines will begin immediately, the manager announced, and should be completed by 1922, when all of the present contracts held by the association with its 10,000 grower members expire.

Our brands are becoming known to the public and the time has now arrived when we can advertise our honey in the public prints without stimulating the sale of everybody's honey as well as our own.-J. D. B.

ALMOND SPECULATORS.

Last week the almond speculators of California started a campaign in Eastern markets guaranteeing to sell almonds to the dealers at a fraction of a cent per pound less than any price the California Almond Growers' Exchange may name. They have been in the California orchards offering growers half a cent a pound more than the Exchange will return, whatever that may be. They expect to accomplish these promises (perhaps) by dividing betwcen grower and Eastern buyer the one cent per pound which the Exchange is spending to increase the consuming demand for American almonds.

When fed late there are fewer young bees and the labor of storing feed and secreting wax to cap it rapidly wears them out, leaving too few bees to keep up the activities of the colony and raise the early brood.

A beekeeper I know fed heavily late last fall. When examined some three months later nearly half the colonies were dead, simply because not enough bees were left alive after the feeding to start a spring brood-nest. Scarcely any robbing had occurred, the colonies seeming to be so heavily supplied that there was no desire to rob. This was a clear case of "spring dwindling" caused by excessive late feeding.

or

A eader asks for information about the birds of California that are destructive to bees. All of the "flycatcher" family, to which the kingbird or "bee martin" belongs, the more less destructive to bees, but fortunately not at all abundant as compared with many other states. The blue-jay and the mocking bird also take toll of the drones and the virgin queens occasionally, but probably their combined destructiveness is not one-tenth that of the lizards-the common "swifts.' These little fellows lay in wait for the incoming workers and gobble them up by hundreds. I have often seen them chase a worker several inches, almost to the entrance.

An occasional cartridge from the shotgun will keep the birds in control, while the small-bore shotguns now so popular, loaded with very fine shot (No. 10) will end the lizard's activity Bullets, without injury to the hive. even twenty-two's, are liable to damage hives.

HONEY PRICES UP THIS SEASON.

Honey quotations for July reveal a market tone somewhat more healthy than during late winter and early spring. At that time, largely because of reduced export demand, increased ease of obtaining sugar and large honey stocks on hand, the market was slow and dull, although prices had advanced somewhat over figures of the preceding

summer.

Many markets are still dull, but values are well maintained and July jobbing prices, compared with those of a year ago, show an inrease of 15 to 40 per cent in most cities. Quotations on extracted honey for the last half of the month showed a marked decline over those of the first fifteen days, but comb prices remained firm or strengthened slightly.-U. S. Bureau of Mkts,

Havana, June 30.-Cuban cane growers, sugar mill owners and brokers, claiming to control the sale of 2,180,000 sacks of unsold sugar, were on record today as definitely pledged not to offer any more sugar for sale until the price had reached 24 cents a pound, the level reached during the last half of May.

The amount of unsold Cuban sugar was estimated by a member of the selling committee at 3.920,000 sacks, their holdings of 2,180,000 sacks leaving only 1,740,000 sacks under outside control. Efforts are being made to bring these into the pool.-S. F. Bulletin.

Comparing present prices with those of a year or two years ago, it will be seen that sugar is selling on a basis which indicates that demand still overbalances supply. Not only is there no surplus of sugar in any part of the world, but there is a condition of acute shortage in many of the important sugar consuming countries. While stagnation may prevail temporarily in one part of the world or another, it is obvious that the limitation of production through the reduction of prices to or near the pre-war level is not likely to come into operation while the world's supplies continue as short as they are at present. Facts about Sugar,

Forbidding honey from outside the state to be sold in Wisconsin unless it is marked to show that it is not Wisconsin-grown honey, the state division of markets issued orders Friday requir ing every person engaged in selling honey, whether as packer, wholesaler or retailer, to label honey shipped in from another state, or honey which is blended with Wisconsin honey. Exception is made as to honey brought in and sold in the original package.

Cases were reported to the division of markets where dealers sold honey to consumers who believed that they were buying Wisconsin honey whereas they were really buying Colorado or Utah honey, or a blend of outside honey with Wisconsin honey.

The regulations aim to protect Wisconsin growers of honey from the undisclosed competition of foreign honey and to inform consumers as to whether or not they are getting a home-grown product. Organized Farmer.

GOOD BACKING.

Our State Department of Agriculture is strongly backing State Market Director Daniels in his efforts to organize all the agricultural producers of the

state.

Bringing closer together the producer and consumer, eliminating the evils of speculation and the waste of inefficient and unequal distribution, is the prime object of the state officials in encour aging this work.

It is the plan to have the Federal Bureau of Markets supply the different marketing associations with the supply and demand of all of the states of the Union, together with price conditions and the movements of crops to eastern and middle west sections from other states of the Union. This information will enable the marketing associations to prevent an over-supply of any food products in the different large consum ing centers of the country.

The National City Bank of New York, in a recent business survey, said: "Every constructive (co-operative) movement of this kind is to be encouraged in cautious development. There is no question that the cost of handling farm products between producer and consumer can be greatly reduced and much waste eliminated by proper organization.

"The less of mystery, ignorance and misrepresentation there is in the business world the better."

Cooperative effort, properly placed, is the surest means of rendering the geatest possible service to all people. True cooperation between producer and consumer eliminates the undesirable conditions that formerly prevailed, to the disadvantage of both producer and

consumer.

A successful cooperative marketing association has three outstanding advantages: First, there are no unnecessary costs or profits between producer and consumer; second, no speculating or profiteering can exist; third, it assures dependable quality and grading. Consumers, by cooperating with growers, can insure the success of all ventures in which both are concerned.-Alfalfa Growers' Bulletin.

LARGE SAVING TO FARMERS EFFECTED BY CO-OPERATIVES.

Co-operative farmers' associations in the northern and western states, whose organization was promoted by county agents, last year effected a saving to the members of $5,434,000, according to reports made to the State Relations Service, United States Department of Agriculture. The governing principle in all activities on the part of county agents sharing in co-operative movements has been not to act as the direct business agent of the farmer or an organized group, but to assist farmers in determining what form of local organization is desirable and to secure expert assistance, when available, in organization methods. The county agent also helps guard the community against over-organization and wherever practicable advocates the use of existing agencies. The co-operative associations which the county agents have helped form have had to do both with production and distribution and include cooperative grain elevators, creameries and livestock selling associations.-U. S. Weekly News Letter

Will Be Forced To It.-(Chicago, Sept. 22.-A half-million dollars' worth of fruit in Berrien county, Michigan, lies rotting on the ground, four hours from Chicago by boat or rail. This estimate was made by expert growers to an investigator for the Chicago Daily News, which today published the story.

Thousands of bushels of fine peaches are being fed to the hogs or dumped on the ground to rot. Farmers, commission men and farmer organization experts gave various reasons for the situation. Some of these were car shortage, inability of boats to handle the huge crop, a sudden general ripening due to the late warm weather and welching" by commission men through "jokers' in contracts made last spring with the growers.

Growers admit, the article said, that their only salvation is organization such as the men of the Pacific coast have perfected.

Woman Veteran.-(Ontario, Sept. 17.) -With more than 100 former service men apportioned by the government for special vocational training in the Chaffey College of Agriculture, the first former service-woman for a course at the Ontario school arrived today and is to study bee culture.

The fair pupil is Miss Irene Reid, રી government nurse, whose health broke down in the service of the United States during the world-war.

A part of the time Miss Reid saw service on the world's biggest steamer, formerly the German monster Vaterland and later named the Leviathan. She made twenty trans-Atlantic trips, the big transport carrying as many as 15,000 soldiers at a time, dodging submarines and other perils of the deep.

Physicians have prescribed an outdoor life for Miss Reid and she cxpects to enjoy it while at the same time fitting herself for something which will provide her a living. So far Miss Reid is the one "sister" in the more than a hundred "service brothers" to be sent to Ontario.

Sugar is still on the toboggan, notwithstanding an estimated world-shortage of 300,000 tons less than the 1913 requirements. The United States seems to have been the dumping ground for all the spare sugar of the world. Even Poland expects to ship us 70,000 tons, while Germany expects to buy sugar next month at $5.82 per 100 lbs.

It will not be long before "chain stores" aggregating 500 will be handling Sunni Hunni'' in Etstern cities.