1885 



(iLEANiN(;s iN i;Ki-: cuj^tLkk. 



1C.1 



may be narrower; 2. Full-sized starters of fouuda- 

 tion are necessary; 3. The hive must stand so the 

 sections \vill stand plumb sidewise; i. e., not lean so 

 the foundation will not hans- just in the center of 

 the section. C. A. Hatch. 



Ithaca, Wis. 



I know of the difficulties, friend 11.. in the 

 Avay of the moral-patent business, and I do 

 not wish to be understood that I mean to 

 advocate moral patents in place of our pat- 

 ent-laws. It is too large a subject for me to 

 even attempt to handle. I can do tliis. how- 

 ever, and like to do it: Whenever I want 

 to use some important idea advanced by 

 somebody else. 1 like the idea of paying liim 

 for it, or for his consent to my using and ad- 

 vertising it, if you choose. 1 hope the 

 brother who sends out the catalogue of 

 which you inclose a leaf will change his next 

 issue, or else make some arrangement witli 

 friend Ileddon to let it remahi as it is; that 

 is. if he continues to advertise - Heddon's 

 JKre'' he should first purchase the right to 

 use ileddon's name as an advertisement for 

 that class of hives. 



ALSIKE CLOVER AS A FORAGE AND 

 HONEY-PLANT. 



OR READ Al 



THE C'ONVENTK 

 MlCHir.AX. 



«AVING made some experiments with this clo- 

 ver that proved very satisfactory to myself. 

 I thought to give the result of tliose experi- 

 ments to this convention, liopinjj: that itAvill 

 bo of some interest to becNkcepers. and to 

 farmers in g-eheral. 1 will first {,'ive a description 

 of the plant and its growth. 



ALSIKE, OR SWEDISH CLOVER - Tltl KOI, I I'M H V- 

 ISUIDHM. 



So called from being' intei-mediale in its appear- 

 ance between the red and white clovei-, i>ossessitijr 

 (liialitics common to both. It makes but little 

 fiTOwth the first year, seldom blossominjr In our 

 latitude. 15ut the second year it comes on as fast 

 as red clover, sendinfr up from :i to .'i seed-stalks in 

 a stool, which throw out numerous side branches, 

 makinjir a succession of bloom for about four weeks. 

 The root is unlike our common red clover, from the 

 fact that it has but a small center, or tap root, and 

 throws out numerous side-roots, which makes it 

 well adapted to low land, or any lajid that is liable 

 to heave. The stalk is little if any larjrer than our 

 common timothy grass, growing- from one to two 

 feet in heig-ht, being well covered with fine leaves, 

 having blossoms similar to our common white clo- 

 ver, but about one-third larger, bright pink in color, 

 fading to white. The seed is about the size of a 

 timothy seed, with the hull oil", growing with from 

 ;{ to .5 seeds in a pod, the same as white clover. One 

 peculiarity of this clover is, that it nnikes but little 

 second growth if the seed-stalk is allowed to form; 

 conseciuently the first crop has to be saved for seed, 

 being similar in this respect to mammoth or pea- 

 vine clover. 



I consider it fully as good for hay as timothy, be- 

 ing fully as free from dust when cured. Having 

 been well satisfied of its value for a hay crop for 

 some ten years, T decided, in the spring of 1883, to 

 seed three acres of land with clear alsike, and make 

 an experiment as to its value for pasture, honey, 



and seed. The piece I decided to seed was 12 by 43 

 rods, crossing what was once a black-ash and elm 

 swail, now well underdrained. About two-thirds of 

 the ground was low; soil a black sandy loam, the 

 high ground hard clay, the whole ground being in 



j fall wheat when I sowed the seed in April, 18S3. 1 

 sowed 4 lbs. to the acre, and in October following I 

 top dressed the high ground with well-rotted ma- 

 nure, putting on 14 two -horse wagon -loads. In 

 April, 1884, the clover came on very rapidly, so that 

 by May 1st I turned .5 cows and 3 hogs into the field. 

 May 24 I put 2 horses in the field, and the last five 

 days prior to shutting all stock out of the field, 



' which I did June 1.5th, I allowed 40 sheep on the 

 ground. As a forage plant I will speak hereafter. 



PASTURING ALSIKE SO AS TO MAKE IT BLOSSO.M 

 I.N AUGUST. 



Knowing its peculiarity of not growing a seccnid 

 crop if the seed-stalk was allowed to form, I pas- 

 tured it close. I know it has been stated, that if it- 

 was cut in June, just as it was coming into blossom, 

 that it would blossom again in August. This is a 

 mistake. In our latitude the seed-stalk must not be 

 allowed to form. My object was to have it come in 

 blossom about July 20. In this I failed. It com- 

 menced to blossom July 8th, when it was about 4 

 inches high; and by the l.")th, 40 rods away, it looked 

 like a field of snow, and the aroma of the blossoms 

 could be smelled very plainlv that distance. The 

 bees commenced to work on it with the first blos- 

 soms, and continued to work until Aug. 1, for two 

 weeks of the time with a perfect roar. 



My failure to have it come in blossom at the close 

 of basswood bloom, as the season turned out was 

 just what I wanted, for basswood failed to furnish 

 any honey; and had it not been for this I should 

 have had no white honey to speak of. The last of 

 August the seed crop was ready to cut, having at- 

 tained a height of about one foot. I secured the 

 crop by cutting and curing, the same as though it 

 were hay. I thri'.shed it in November, and got 540^1 

 lbs. of seed, cleaned ready for market. 



AS A FORAGE-PLANT 



It has no superior, producing a large How of very 

 rich milk. June l.'ith, when I shut the stock out of 

 the alsike, r allowed them to run in a field of red 

 clover tlnit was just coming into blossom, and at 

 the end of the third day the five cows had shrunk 

 their milk to the anu)unt of it quarts to the milking. 

 Again, in October, to test it further for feed, as 

 there was quite a growth of leaves on the ground I 

 : again allowed the cows in the field. You may judge 

 I of my surprise when I found, at the end of a week, 

 they had made a gain of 10 quarts to the milking. 



I had, July 1st, 20 swarms of bees that I was work- 

 ing for comb honey, and from the alsike blossom I 

 obtained 20 lbs. per colony of very nice white honey 

 in one and two pound sections. As a result I have 

 sold quite an amoimt of seed to my neighbors, and 

 1 shall sow five acres to clear alsike, and about one 

 pound to the acre on ten acres, with other seed, this 

 com ng spring. 

 I would recommend all bee-keepers to get it intro- 

 ' dueed in their vicinity as a paying crop for the far- 

 mer, and a never-failing source of honey for them- 

 selves. 



The seed is the cheapest now I ever have known 

 it to be. A. I. Koot, of Medina, Ohio, is selling it for 

 20 ets. a pound, or f 10.00 a bushel, so that, liy sowing 

 four pounds to the acre, which is a great plenty, the 

 cost will be but 80 cts. 



