SWEET CLOVER, ETC. 



By Charles E. Bessey. 



So many inquires have come to me in regard to Sweet Clover and 

 other clovers as to show that there is widespread interest in these plants. 

 It has occurred to me that I might very properly reprint here the sub- 

 stance of some of the replies, which appeared originally in the Breeders 

 Gazette. 



Are They Weeds? 



A correspondent sends the young shoots of the sweet clover. Since 

 these have no flowers I cannot be absolutely certain as to which species 

 this belongs, whether it is the white flowered one, or the yellow flowered 

 one. However there is very little differnce between the two, and it will 

 make no difference in my suggestion as to whether the species is the 

 Melilotus alba, or Melilotiis officinalis. In either event the thing is a 

 sweet clover and the habits are practically the same. 



This is the plant about which a great deal has been written by many 

 people, and in some parts of the United States the sentiment against it is 

 so strong that it has been outlawed; that is, the plant has been made the 

 subject of legislation, which requires that the plant be destroyed wher- 

 ever found. The reason probably for this action against these plants 

 is that they seed very freely, and plants spring up almost every place 

 and in almost any kind of soil. Around Lincoln they may be found in 

 fields, along roadsides, along the railway tracks and even in railroad 

 yards. There seems to be no place where they will not grow. On this 

 account many people regard them as weeds. However they are plants 

 that have a number of valuable properties. In the first place they grow 

 rapidly and yield a good forage. It is true that frequently cattle will 

 prefer other green things in the spring, but there is no question as 

 to the nutritious qualities of the plants for pasturage. Then later in 

 the season if the plants are mowed down before they have become woody, 

 they yield a hay which is very much like that produced by alfalfa, to 

 which the sweet clovers are related. In the third place the sweet clovers 

 have been noted for a long time as yielding good honey in considerable 

 quantity. Many bee-keepers esteem the sweet clovers so highly that 

 they purposely sow the seed in places where they can be allowed to grow. 

 I have heard bee keepers tell of their surreptitiously sowing the road 

 sides at night with sweet clover seed for the benefit of their bees. 



So I should say that unless it has become an actual nuisance other- 

 wise, it will pay to allow it to grow, especially if a man is engaged in 

 growing bees. 



