ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



9i 



corn stalks into a silo, and they let it 

 cure in that way. They said that it 

 would come out in fine condition during 

 the winter; 'but it must not be disturbed 

 after it is put into the barn during 

 the curing process. They could grow 

 alfalfa, red clover and alsike, but they 

 preferred the sweet clover. The second 

 year when it produces seed they oould 

 readily sell the crop of seed, and then 

 plow the land and put it in cotton, 

 which kept enriching the land all the 

 time. I presume they are keeping that 

 system of farming up even now. That 

 was about 1890 when I saw sweet 

 clover growing on that farm. It was 

 made a regular barn crop in that coun- 

 try; the farmers use it for both pastur- 

 age and hay. 



I introduced alsike clover in northern 

 Illinois about the time of the Civil War; 

 a little after the war. I harvested 

 seven acres the first year after seeding 

 and I got fourteen hundred pounds of 

 seed from the seven acres. I paid one 

 dollar a pound for the seed at whole- 

 sale; and I sold it at from one dollar 

 to a dollar and a half per .pound. It 

 was selling in many places as high as 

 two dollars per pound at that time. It 

 was several years before the farmers 

 found out that it was good for pastur- 

 age and hay. Now all the dairy farm- 

 ers in Kane County where I live are 

 sowing alsike clover on their farms. 

 There are thousands of acres of alsike 

 clover all over that country being 

 grown for pasturage and for hay. 



Pres. Huffman — I would like to ask 

 Mr. iBialdridge if he considers alfalfa 

 a good honey growing plant in this sec- 

 tion of the country. 



Mr. Baldridge — •! never saw bees on 

 alfalfa in our section of the coyntry, 



Pres. Huffman — Do you think it is a 

 fact that farmers cut it too early, before 

 it is in bloom, and; that the bees do 

 not have a chance to work on it, or that 

 there is no honey in it? 



Mr. Baldridge — I have seen it in full 

 bloom and no bees on it, and in differ- 

 ent soil, ten or fifteen miles from there, 

 the hees were gathering honey freely 

 on buckwheat; I think it is the soil. 



Mr. Pyles — I do not feel that I ought 

 to talk on every question that comes 

 up, but I have had some experience 

 and have made some observation. We 

 have been taught for years that no 

 honey 'was secured from alfalfa east of 

 the Mississippi river. In the souvhern 



part of the state — take it around the 

 neighborhood of Jasper County, they 

 have a peculiar soil; down at the 

 bottom it is sand and there is more or 

 less water. They have a great deal of 

 alfalfa growing in that section of the 

 country. In that country they tell me 

 there were good crops of honey from 

 alfalfa; but T;\-hen; it is sown on the . 

 high land and heavy soil, there is no 

 honey produced at all; the bees don't 

 pay any attention to it; it is down in 

 those bottoms where they have sand 

 and moisture or water a proper depth 

 below, where you will find that the bees 

 work on it. 



Mr. Kneser — In the j'ear 1908 the bees 

 worked considerable on alfalfa, about 

 thirty miles from here, but since then 

 I have not noticed any. 



Mr. Cavanagh — I would like to ask 

 the nature of the soil above the low- 

 lands; was there any lime? Alkali 

 soil, was it? 



Mr. Kneser — I think so. 



Mr. Cavanagh — ^A neighbor of mine 

 sowed alfalfa purposely for the hees, 

 but no bees will ever go on the alfalfa 

 blossom-s; I never saw any bees on 

 them yet. 



Pres. Huffman — ^Do you think that 

 lime would help them out? 



Mr. Cavanagh — I don't know; I never 

 tried it. 



Mr. Pyles — That brings out an idea 

 that should be emphasized. In the 

 west, where they grow alfalfa, it is a 

 semi-arid country; where the alfalfa is 

 grown down in these bottoms, they 

 have every condition favorable to pro- 

 ducing honey; the alfalfa is a deep- 

 rooted plant and it goes down until it 

 gets the water, if it happens to be a dry 

 season for a year or two, they have 

 the same condition as in the far west, 

 and you can get a crop of honey where 

 you get enough warmth. 



Pres. Huffman — I believe that is so. 



Are there any other honey plants 

 worth speaking of? Are there any 

 other plants that are worth the growing 

 or cultivating? . These things are in- 

 teresting to bee-fceepers, and it is get- 

 ting to a time where we have got to 

 do something to get honey plants. I 

 would endorse what Mr. Baldridge says 

 in regard to alsike clover; I know that 

 to be A No. 1. 



Mr. Cavanagh — Tellow^ sweet clover 

 is, too. 



Pres. Huffman — Some advocate that. 



