1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



427 



RED CLOVER COMING UP MTHERE AL- 

 SIKE HAS BEEN SOWN. 



FRIEND MUTH SUBMITS TO U^S SUMK COKBfiSPOND- 

 ENCE ON THE SUBJECT. 



fRlEND ROOT:— It happens once in a while in 

 business, that an unpleasant feature turns 

 up, even between two well-meaning men. A 

 hasty conclusion, to which all of us are sub- 

 ject, is often the sole reason for an ill feeling- 

 and an unpleasant controversy. The object of this 

 letter is to enlig-hten some of our friends on the 

 subject of alsike- clover seed. Wherever I am 

 wrong, I will stand corrected. 



A few years ago you sold to our friend Demaree 

 some alsike-clover seed, which, according to his 

 statement, turned out to be red clover. I believe 

 that every word friend D. said in the matter was 

 the whole truth and nothing but the truth, to the 

 best of his judgment. You claimed that the seed 

 sent was alsike. 1 can understand that your clerks 

 may have made a mistake, for mistakes are made 

 by the best of us, and why not by our clerks? But 

 I can not see why a farmer, being used to sowing 

 red-clover seed, would sow it for alsike, or vice versa, 

 without knowing the difference, as there is such a 

 great difference in the looks and the size of the 

 seed. 



Again, I can not comprehend why that farmer 

 should not remember, the following season, wheth- 

 er the seed in question had the appearance of red- 

 clover seed, or whether it had not. Yourself and 

 friend Demaree will find my article interesting, 1 

 believe, as I have just now a case exactly like yours, 

 with the only difference that 1 can prove my side of 

 the case. 



In February, 188.5, we sold to O. A. Cory, Frank- 

 fort, O., 1^4 bushels of alsike-clover seed. My son 

 put up the seed, and remembers exactly of putting 

 it up for friend (_'ory, because it was the rest of the 

 alsike seed we had purchased in the spring of IHHi. 

 We bad new seed in already, but closed out to our 

 friend Cory the tail end of the old seed. This fact 

 serves us now as the best reminder that we shipped, 

 to O. A. Cory, seed which we had bought and sold 

 for alsike, which looked like alsike seed, and which 

 we would hereafter buy again for alsike seed. 



.June2, IHS6, Mr. Cory wrote me that the seed 1 

 had sent him in the spring of 188.5 had proved to be 

 red-clover seed, that he had sown the seed himself 

 on the field of a neighbor- who had now a large field 

 thickly set with red clover, but that he (Cory) was 

 minus the value of his money sent me, and that I 

 should refund part of the money. 



Now, I will give you a copy of my letter, and his 

 reply: 



Friend Ciiry: — Your favor is at hand, and contents 

 noted. To-day's mail brings you two papers of clo- 

 ver seed. The paper I. contains alsike seed; II., 

 red-clover seed. The seeds are so different in ap- 

 pearance that no mistake should be made between 

 them. However, neither you nor I am as infallible 

 as the pope, but each one of us means fair business, 

 I believe. Now, as you sowed the seed yourself, 

 you can"t help but i-emember whether it resembled 

 the alsike or the red-clover seed, mailed and marked 

 for you to-day. If you say that the seed looked like 

 the sample mailed you in paper II., then one of our 

 young men made a mistake, for which I am liable, 

 and we shall credit your account with $6.00. 

 Waiting for your reply we are, etc., 

 June 12, 1886. Chas. P. Muth. 



COPY OF CORY'S REPLY. 



Dear Sir:— Yours of June 12th is at hand. In an- 

 swer to your questions, I will say, first, the seed 



was not a green nor a bright yellow, as your sample 

 of red clover sent me, but was quite dark, as if it 

 had lain on thf^ ground too long before thrashing, 

 and was about five-eighths the size of your sample, 

 and more than twice as large as the alsike got of 

 you this spring; second, the sample of clover sent 

 you is what grew from the seed you sent me, as 

 sure as there is day and night. I believe I make it 

 explicit this time. Remember, I don't question 

 your integrity. O. A. Cory. 



Frankfort, O., June 1.5, 1886. 



Vou will notice that our friend Cory does not an- 

 swer my questions as direct as would have been 

 desirable. He sent me afterward an order for some 

 goods, and stated that his clover measured .5 feet 3'/^ 

 inches. I wrote him, July 34, 1886, as follows: 



FrUnd Corj/-'— Inclosed find invoice and bill of 

 lading. I have seen, more than once, alsike 4'/^ ft. 

 high. It grows longer than "sapling" or "Eng- 

 lish " clover, but its stems are more slender. We 

 therefore recommend you to sow timothy with it.eo 

 as to have something to lean against. You never 

 saw red clover 4H to 5 feet high, as you now say 

 your alsike is (5 ft. 3'4 inches). Seed is taken from 

 the first crop. You can thrash it, and find the straw 

 as acceptable food to your stock as the first crop of 

 red clover. My son remembers most positively 

 that \hc seed we sent you finished our lot of alsike 

 of the previous season. So we are sure that it was 

 alsike seed we sent you. I am certain that you 

 would have told me, in reply to a former question, 

 "The seed I sowed looked like red-clover seed," if 

 such had been the case. Yo\i did not say so, because 

 you are an honest man, and you really thought that 

 yours was red clover. Alsike is a hybrid, and may 

 not grow every time alike. Our controvers.v throws 

 some light on an unpleasant experience between 

 two friends— brother Root and brother Demaree. 

 The latter had bought alsike seed of Root, and 

 claimed also that it was red-clover seed which grew 

 up. I shall accommodate both friends by writing 

 them our experience, and I really believe that Mr. 

 Root was no more to blame in theirs than 1 am in 

 our transaction. It is the h.\ brid in the clover 

 which causes the variety of growth. C. F. MuTii. 



Now I must let follow, for a better understanding, 

 friend Cory's letter of July ;{Oth, and a copy of my 

 reply. 



Mr. ('. F. Mntli :—\a.va surprised to find a man of 

 your intelligence and experience making the state- 

 ment that alsike clover is of much larger growth 

 than red or English. My father was one of the first 

 to introduce it in this country, about 25 .years ago, 

 and discarded it on account of the high price of 

 seed and its small growth, not being desirable for 

 any thing else than pasture for the fanner, of 

 A\'hich it makes abundance, if pastured judiciously, 

 which also improves its bloom. I am surprised, 

 also, that it so lately produces a large red bloom, 

 and that the stalks have reached the prodigious size 

 of a common pen-holder, for I had always looked at 

 it as possessing many of the characteristics of white 

 clover. If, from your statement, the largest clover 

 is the best proof of its being the genuine alsike, 

 then what you sold me for alsike two years ago was 

 no alsike, "and I was fooled again: but I must say 

 that is the way I want to be fooled, for it filled the 

 design for which its purchase was intended. Will 

 say, further, that its maximum growth did not ex- 

 ceed 15 inches, and the ground was of alluvial soil, 

 none better; and the stems were not so fine as 

 white clover, but not large like our common red. or 

 sapling either. But in reading your very e.xplicit 

 letter, I am reminded that the clover seed you sent 

 me was a "h.vbrid." Now, that makes all things 

 plain. Am I justified in buj'ing, and you in selling 

 me hybrid seed for pure alsike'r If you think it 

 just, then I prefer to purchase a cheaper kind, and 

 it may happen to prove as satisfactory for my pur- 

 pose as any — 1 am sure as well, or better, than the 

 pronounced hvbrid. O. A. Cory. 



Chillicothe, O., July 30, 188T. 



COPY OF my last LETTER TO CORY. 



Deitr .Si'r .-—Inclosed please find receipt. Accept 

 tlianks. 1 have read your letter, and am surprised 

 at the animus. I am positive in telling you that 

 the alsike seed we sent you looked like alsike ex- 

 actly, and not a bit like red-clover seed. I. shall buy 

 again for alsike seed such as we have sent you. 

 The difference in the looks of the seed is too great 



