THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



105 



the mahiue with unfolded sections and then 

 turniuK the crank. 



Every man, woman and child knows how 

 to turn a crank, and when tliat is done, at a 

 moderate rate, out come the sections — thirty 

 per minute — all glued, folded and pressed 

 together. To give an idea of the amount of 

 power required, my boy, Ernest R., four 

 years old, can work the machine nicely. 



When the crank is raised to the highest 

 point, the slanting board at the back of the 

 machine is pushed in and there are two lit- 

 tle horizontal sticks fastened to the end of 

 the board that push the bottom one of the pile 

 of sections out over the folding-block. The 

 folding-block then comes down, folding the 

 first joint, as sf en in the cut. The upper 

 part of the little claws then comes down on 

 top of the section, causing the lower ends to 

 turn in and come together. The section, 

 folding-block and all (held up by a spring) 

 are now forced down until the ends of the 

 section are forced completely together in the 

 V groove below. 



The two little blocks in the V groove are 

 to guide the ends of the sections so that they 

 will come together right and go together ea- 

 sily. While the section is l)eing pressed to- 

 gether, the glner comes uji out of the glue 

 and puts some glue in the V grooves and on 

 the ends of the section where it is dovetailed. 

 E. W. Philo." 



Where the Money is in Alsike Clover, and 

 How to Get It Out. 



I have often heard Mr. West and his 

 daughter speak of the wonderful success at- 

 tending the efforts of Mr. McCoIl in raising 

 alsike clover. The gentleman lives only a 

 short distance south of this city, and I have 

 several times "threatened" to go out and 

 interview him for the benefit of my readers, 

 but Miss West has forestalled me and sent 

 the " interview " to Gleanings, and I con- 

 sider it of so much value that I give it entire. 

 There is no question but what, where the 

 soil is suitable for raising alsike, that the 

 production of seed, honey and hay may be 

 profitably combined. 



" The value of alsike to the bee keeper 

 makes it worth his while to extend its culture 

 in every way possible. In inducing his 

 farmer neighbors to grow it he not only 

 benefits himself but also his neighljors as 

 well. Few appreciate its value. Rightly 

 managed it may be made to yield three pro- 

 ducts — honey, hay and seed, which, in a little 

 more than a year, are equal in value to the 

 land on which it grows. 



With suitable soil, and in competent hands, 

 ten bushels of seed to the acre is a possible 

 yield, which, at the present prices, i^T.oO to 

 $9.00, will purchase an acre of good farming 

 land almost anywhere. There are, besides, 

 the hay and honey. 



When the cultivation of alsike is recom- 

 mended to farmers, one or more of the fol 

 lowing objections are usually offered : 1. It 



does not germinate well ; 2. It does not pro- 

 duce a paying crop of seed ; 3. It does not 

 produce as much hay as red clover ; 4. The 

 hay is of inferior quality. If fed to milch 

 cows, the butter produced is white. 



In the first case, either the seed was poor 

 or the ground was not in proper condition. 

 A sample of seed should be tested before 

 purchasing. 



In the second case, a short crop of seed is 

 generally due to a lack of judgment as to the 

 right time for cutting, and to improper 

 handling afterward. 



In answer to the third objection, it may be 

 stated that, though the yield of hay may not 

 be as great, the value of the whole product 

 is greater. 



Finally, the hay is better than red-clover 

 hay, the stems V)eing less woody, and devoid 

 of the fine hairs which render red clover hay 

 "dusty." In this market, timothy mixed 

 with alsike is beginning to be rated No. 1, 

 while timothy mixed with red clover is No. 

 2. As to its effect upon butter, a few roots, 

 carrots or the like, fed to cows will remedy 

 that. Often failure is the result of making 

 a trial on so small a scale that the crop is 

 neglected : then the grower thinks, of course, 

 it is "no good." 



A neighbor, Mr. McColl, has given to the 

 alsike-clover plant the same kind of intelli- 

 gent and careful study that Mr. Terry has 

 given to the potato, with equally satisfactory 

 financial results. Mr. McColl is too busy 

 "compelling success " to write of his meth- 

 ods for the benefit of ottiers ; so, believing 

 that they would be interesting and profitable 

 to many, I interviewed him one evening. 

 The following are the facts brought out : 



Mr. McColl raises alsike for the seed, so 

 his methods accord with his aim. 



The most suitaVjle soil is a clay loam, with 

 a good proportion of the vegetable matter ; 

 hut it may be grown on almost any kind of 

 land. 



The land having been deeply plowed and 

 thoroughly pulverized the previous autumn, 

 and sown to wheat, is harrowed in the spring 

 with a fine-toothed harrow — an operation 

 greatly benefiting the growing wheat. The 

 clover seed is then sown at the rate of eight 

 to ten pounds to the acre. A lighter seeding 

 is often recommended, but Mr. M. believes 

 that better results on the whole are obtained 

 by a more generous seeding. The sowing 

 should be done as early as possible, so that 

 the seed may catch some of the spring rains. 

 Here, the first of April is about right. It is 

 important that the seeding be even. Bare 

 spaces certainly lessen the crop, while over- 

 crowded ones do not increase it. It is by 

 attention to small details that success is won 

 in this as in any other undertaking. If the 

 seeding is done by hand, mixing the seed 

 thoroughly with several times its bulk of 

 sand may aid in its even distribution. 



The seed may be sown with oats, if prefer- 

 red, provided the ground can be put into 

 proper condition early enough. 



Soon after the removal of the wheat from 

 the sround, the young clover-plants should 

 cover it. They often make such growth as 

 to blossom and mature seed the first season. 

 Possibly, by sowing the seed alone, and 



