658 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



CRIMSON CLOVER. 



•'BY LONG ODDS THE BEST BEE - PLANT; " 



HONEY VERY FINE; WHEN TO SOW ; 



GREATEST RESTORATIVE 



OF THE SOIL. 



By A. F. Ames. 



Friend Root:— I see you want information 

 about crimson clover. I have had but one 

 year's experience with it as a bee-plant; but 

 this year it was by long odds the best bee-plant 

 liere—much better than white clover ever is 

 here in the South. It blooms vary early, so one 

 must have bees strong in time. The honey is 

 very fine— not quite so white as white clover. 

 It is the greatest, soil-renovator in the world, 

 and will succeed where red will not. It should 

 never be sown in the spring— at least in the 

 South— but early enough in the fall to make a 

 good growth to carry it through the winter. 

 Here, although late sowing will winter all 

 right, it will make a very light crop, as it must 

 make a good growth in 

 the fall and winter. If 

 left to ripen it will reseed 

 itself. The best time to 

 cut for hay or to turn un- 

 der is when part of the 

 heads are brown. If sown 

 so early that there is dan- 

 ger of blooming, pasture 

 it. I have no fears of 

 mine, sown the first week 

 in July, blooming this 

 season. It will endure as 

 much cold as red, or per- 

 haps more, and make 

 over twice the growth in 

 the same time. 



Claremont, Va., Aug. (3. 



corn after cultivating the last time, seeding 

 about 10 or 15 lbs. per acre. As a land-improver 

 it can not be beat; and as for honey it is 

 simply " out of sight," yielding a large amount, 

 of the finest quality, as you will see by the 

 sample I will mail you soon. It is not very fine 



CRIMSON CLOVER " OUT 



OF SIGHT." YIELDING 



LARGEST AMOUNT 



OF THE FINEST 



HONEY. 



This clover was first 

 introduced in Virginia 

 about fifteen years ago; 

 but it has not been large- 

 ly grown in this country 

 for more than four or five 

 years. It can be sown in 

 this State in August, Sep- 

 tember, or early in Octo- 

 ber, and is in bloom the 

 latter part of April. 

 Farmers grow it largely 

 in this county for early 

 green feed, and sell large 

 quantities in Richmond at 

 10 cents per hamper. We 

 generally sow ours in the 



CRIMSON CLOVER. 

 Re-engraved from a cut iu Burpee & Co.'s catalog-, 



