DEVOTED TO J3EEH AND HONEY, A.Nr> HOME INTERESTS. 



Vol. VIII. 



FEBRUARY 1, 1880. 



No. 2. 



A. I. ROOT, ^ Published Monthly. ("TERMS : «1.00 Per Annum in Ad- 



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NOTES FROM THE R A INNER APIARY. 



No. :s. 



ALSIKE CLOVElt. 



^jf- HAVE read considerable about Alsike clover, 

 Jfji but now I know something- about it by actual 

 — ' experience. On Mar. 26tb, 1878, I sowed 13 lb. 

 of Alsike-clover seed upon two acres of land. I be- 

 lieve the general rule is to sow 4 lb. of seed to the 

 acre; but 4 lb. seemed such a small amount of seed 

 to scatter over an acre of ground that I thought I 

 would better put on a little more. I now thiuk, 

 however, that perhaps 4 lb. is enough, as the clover 

 on my "patch" is a "perfect mat." Wheat had 

 been sown on the ground the preceding- autumn. 

 This wheat was harvested very early in the season, 

 and the Alsike made a good growth, blossomed con- 

 siderably, and, during Sept. and Oct., the bees work- 

 ed upon it quite freely. When the blossoms ripened, 

 they were quite well filled with seed; in fact, I 

 thought quite seriously, at one time, of cutting it 

 for seed, but I finally decided to turn in the old cow 

 and let her cut it. 



One side of the plat of ground borders on a smflll 

 stream, while the center of the plat is sandy upland, 

 and the other side is clay upland. On the side next 

 the stream, where the soil was damp, the clover was 

 much the best; on the sandy upland it was better 

 than red clover that grew by its side; while upon 

 the hard clay upland it was not quite so heavy as the 

 red clover that grew near it. 



From the middle of June, "in, until about the mid- 

 dle of July, this little "patch" of Alsike was a " per- 

 fect sea" of pink blossoms: and, until basswood 

 opened its blossoms (about July 10th), this "perfect 

 sea" was roaring with the nierrv hum of I he Ital- 

 ians. To one standing- in the field, the hum of the 

 bees would be almost as loud as in the apiary. 



There is plenty of white clover in this vicinity, but 

 it was entirely neglected for the Alsike. I do not 

 know whether it was because white clover failed to 

 secrete much honey, or whether it was because they 

 could "do better" working on the Alsike; but I do 

 know that I did not see a dozen bees working on 

 white clover while the Alsike remained in blossom. 



1 believe I mentioned, in my last article, that I had 

 MO lb. of surplus Alsike-clover honey; but this was 

 not the only advantage of the Alsike-; the bees ivere 

 brought into splendid condition for the basswood har- 

 vest. 



The clover was left standing until it was very ripe, 

 when it was cut with a scythe for seed. I let the job 



of cutting and thrashing it, on shares. Alsike-clover 

 seed shells very much easier than red-clover seed, 

 and when mine was dry and fit to draw in, we found 

 that a great deal of the seed was shelled in handling 

 it; therefore, we left it until a rain should come and 

 dampen it. Dut before the mau "got around" to 

 draw it, there had been several hard rainstorms, 

 and, when we were drawing it in, I noticed that the 

 rain had thrashed the seed from nearly all of the 

 heads that were exposed; not only this, bat the clo- 

 ver had grown up under the swaths, so that we 

 shelled considerable seed in pulling it loose. I t hink, 

 if it had been cut a little earlier, and I had had a 

 team of my own, so that I could have drawn in a 

 load every morning when the dew was on, there 

 would have been much more seed saved; as it was, 

 however, there were three bushels. 



I should have made more money if I had cut it for 

 hay, as there was a heavy growth, and it would have 

 yielded more than a ton per acre. I think I shall cut 

 it for hay another season. If raising it for hay in- 

 stead of seed, I should sow some timothy seed with 

 it. 



A neighbor, living a mile from here, sowed two 

 acres to Alsike at the same time that I did, and did 

 not have very good success. Perhaps it was because 

 he pastured his more than I did mine, aud perhaps 

 it was on account, of the soil. It made a very short 

 growth, and I believe he cut it for hay. Although 

 he is a bee-keeper, he says he has lost money by the 

 experiment, and has a very poor opinion of Alsike 

 clover. 



A few years ago, a man who then lived a few miles 

 west of here raised a large field of Alsike clover. It 

 was cut for seed, and the yield was good. I can not 

 say just how much seed was obtained per acre, but I 

 know that the yield was a great deal better than 

 mine. 



My advice in regard to Alsike clover would be, 

 sow only an acre or two, or even a smaller patch, and 

 see how it succeeds. If it is a success, you can sow 

 more another year; while, if it is a failure, the loss 

 is not very great. 



I am satisfied with the results of my experiment 

 with Alsike clover, and, if it continues to do as well 

 or nearly as well, with me as it did last season, I 

 shall continue its culture as long as I continue bee 

 culture, which will be, I think, as long as God gives 

 me health and strength to take care of the "blessed 

 bees." 



W. z. Hutchinson. 



ltogersvillc, Genesee Co., Mich. 



