2.1fi XKBItASKA STATE HORTIC ULTUIIAL SOCIETY 



iiood Bee Paslurage. 



Tlio pliiiil referred to is one of the sweet clovers. This could have 

 been told by smelling the plant, especially when partially dried. The 

 very sweet odor is what has given the plants the name of sweet clover. 

 The sweet clovers belong to the genus Melilotus, and are all plants of 

 considerable importance. They grow very easily and so have been called 

 weeds by a good many people, but it has been shown that many of them 

 are valuable forage plants, and it has also been known for a long time, 

 that they are very valuable for yielding honey to the bee grower. 



There are two common species of sweet clover growing in this 

 country, namely, the yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis), and white 

 sweet clover (Melilotus alba). They are both originally from Europe, 

 but they are hardy plants and have spread westward across the country. 

 In some states the law makers some years ago passed laws requiring that 

 these plants should be cut out wherever found and so they are outlawed, 

 but I have never felt that this was right. The sweet clovers may be made 

 very useful on the farm if properly grown. In the first place they are 

 among the best of the clover-like plants for enriching the soil. Their 

 little root tubercles are well known nitrogen collectors and there is no 

 reason why nitrogen might not be added to the soil by the growth of 

 these plants. In the second place when the plants have grown a foot 

 or so in height they can be plowed under and the soil greatly enriched 

 in this way. And in the third place when the plants are pretty well 

 grown, but not yet hard and woody, they make a good hay, and lastly 

 their flowers yield an abundance of most excellent honey. 



Yellow Sweet Clover. 



The yellow sweet clover is known botanically as Melilotus officinalis. 

 It is a native of the old world and has been brought to this country 

 by people who like it for various purposes. It is a very sweet-scented, 

 honey-bearing plant and the bee keepers like it very much on this ac- 

 count, as it furnishes a large amount of very good honey. In many 

 parts of the country the bee keepers sow it along roadsides and else- 

 where in order that their bees may have the honey to collect for the 

 hives. For some reason some farmers have a great prejudice against 

 this sweet clover. Probably the principal reason is that it grows up in 

 a voluntary way and frequently forms great patches. Cattle do not care 

 to eat it when it is green, although they will do so to some extent when 

 it is cut and made into hay. For hay it should be cut before it gets 

 to be too large and rank, as then the stems are too big to utilize. I 

 never have shared in the general denunciations of the sweet clover 

 that has been indulged in by some people, and yet I can see that it may 

 become a nuisance in some places. I should advise people in regions 

 where there is much sweet clover to grow bees in great numbers. 



Buffalo Clover. 



The very pretty and striking clover sent by another correspondent 



