April 2, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



215 



Importance of Bacteria to Alfalfa. 



BV J. K. JOHNSON. 



FIRST, what are alfalfa bacteria ? They are not bugs of 

 the masculine gender, as Mr. Hasty seems to infer, on 

 page 824, but are little flowerless plants which feed upon 

 the roots of alfalfa, and gather nitrogen from the air, and 

 fix it in the plant alfalfa. They are so small, says Prof. 

 C. G. Hopkins, of the Illinois Agricultural College and Ex- 

 periment Station, that one little tubercle the size of a pin- 

 head may contain a million of these bacteria. As to their 

 originating without inoculation, I believe it is considered im- 

 possible, or at least not probable, but all alfalfa seed proba- 

 bly contain bacteria in the dust along with the seed, and 

 may contain some tubercles ; but as alfalfa seed is generally 

 pretty clean, the inoculation would be slight. Probably 

 several years would elapse before the field would be thor- 

 oughly inoculated, and much of the alfalfa would suffer for 

 want of available nitrogen, and be considered a failure and 

 plowed up. In the west where land is cheaper in price, and 

 the people more inclined to give it a chance, owing to non- 

 success with other forage-plants, the same fields were re- 

 seeded or let stand until the little plants called bacteria 

 multiplied and filled the soil with countless numbers, and 

 the alfalfa would then flourish and " the woodchuck would 

 be theirs." 



The difi'erent clovers must also have bacteria in order 

 to be grown successfully, but Prof. Hopkins says they are 

 of a different species, and that clover bacteria will not aid 

 alfalfa. Neither will the cow-pea bacteria aid soja-beans. 

 All have their own kind. 



Now let me say that 14 years ago I was in the West 

 (southern Kansas), and the farmers all claimed that clover 

 would not grow there, but by persistent efforts they have 

 finally succeeded, and now grow fine clover, and no doubt 

 the clover bacteria along with the seed continued to multiply 

 until the soil is now thoroughly inoculated. Even now 

 many in Oklahoma say clover will not do there ; but if they 

 will get say 100 pounds of soil from an Eastern clover-field, 

 in many now considered unfavorable localities clover may 

 do well. 



Prof. Hopkins says that the alfalfa bacteria have been 

 found in a few places in Illinois, and wherever a field of 

 alfalfa was found to have these tubercles the alfalfa did 

 well, but where they were not present it was a failure. He 

 advises farmers to sow alfalfa on hilly land or bottom land, 

 or on almost any soil except wet, low ground where water 

 will stand. Alfalfa grown on infected soil will do well al- 

 most anywhere in the United States ; where so grown, it will 

 yield 3 or 4 cuttings in Southern Illinois. Now as one little 

 tubercle will contain as high as 1,000,000 of these bacteria, 

 and one alfalfa plant will have 100 or more tubercles on its 

 roots, or 100,000,000 of these bacteria or microscopic plants 

 to aid it to be a flourishing alfalfa plant, can we justly ex- 

 pect it to yield honey when grown without these bacteria ? 

 They are a part of the plant, and the alfalfa is not complete 

 without them. 



Prof. Hopkins writes to me that he is told alfalfa does 

 yield honey in Illinois, but as in his experiments the alfalfa 

 is cut before it has a chance to bloom but very little (he ad- 

 vises early cutting), he has not been able to tell much about 

 the honey part of it. Possibly he did not even think about 

 that part of it, but I shall ask him, in behalf of the bee- 

 keepers of Illinois, to test the matter this season. 



In Dupage Co., 111., 21 tons of alfalfa hay was cut in 

 one season on two acres, or 10'2 tons per acre, and that in 

 1901. You all know that was a dry season in Illinois. Now 

 with such crops of hay as that, you may be sure the farmers 

 will soon embrace alfalfa culture, and when it is grown 

 properly, and not until then, can we expect it to yield honey. 

 It was through the enthusiastic efforts of Prof. Hopkins 

 that this matter has been fully tested, and we feel justly 

 proud of such men. The Illinois Experiment Station has 

 done much valuable work. Their bulletins are free. (Jet 

 them, and read them, especially Nos. 76 and 80; they are all 

 good. 



I think I am justified in saying- that alfalfa properly 

 grown in Illinois will yield honey just as well as it does in 

 the West, where it yields with or without irrigation. 



In conclusion, if we succeed in getting alfalfa success- 

 fully raised for both hay and pasture in the East, will the 

 farmers cut their hay too early to let it yield honey .' No. 

 There are many cattle-feeders in this vicinity, and they will 

 not cut even their clover until the heads turn brown, nor 

 their timothy until it begins to ripen, as they all agree that 

 when so fed in connection with corn it gives much Ijetter 



results than when cut green ; and so it is for horses that 

 work on the farm, or used as drivers on the roads, or in fact 

 anything except dairy cows. Here we raise corn and oats, 

 and with the ever-pressing work of plowing corn and har- 

 vesting and threshing, alfalfa would have to wait. 



I think alfalfa will play a very important part in the 

 future, both as to forage and honey in Illinois. 



Prof. Hopkins, of the Experiment Station at Urbana, 

 111., has agreed to furnish me with as much infected soil as 

 I want, at SO cents per 100 pound, which he says is for the 

 expense of handling, drying and racking. He says that in 

 a thoroughly inoculated alfalfa field nearly every particle of 

 dust would contain these germs, so you may see that 100 

 pounds would soon inoculate an acre ; then that acre could 

 be the means of inoculating the soil of a whole neighbor- 

 hood. I think he is making efforts to supply all who wish 

 with infected soil, at least all who live in Illinois, and 

 maybe others, I don't know. 



In three separate tests at the Experiment Station with 

 inoculated and uninoculated soil, the average of nitrogen 

 gatered by the bacteria, and fixed in the plants, alfalfa was 

 grown at the rate of $5.25 per acre. The weight of free 

 nitrogen in the atmosphere is equal to a bout 12 pounds each 

 square inch of the earth's surface, so the supply is inex- 

 haustible, and so may enrich our land from the air instead 

 of hauling manure. However, the ground should be pretty 

 rich to begin with, and the application of lime to the soil is 

 beneficial, especially to upland. Knox Co., 111. 



Joining the National— Other Matters. 



BY J. M. YOUNG. 



DO you belong to the National Bee-Keepers' Association ? 

 and have you paid your dues? If you don't belong 

 you can't be an up-to-date beekeeper. The Associa- 

 tion needs your dollar, anyhow, and you might need some 

 help from it. If nothing more, I would belong to get all 

 the proceedings and reports that come up from time to time. 

 By all means you should be a member to ask your neigh- 

 bor to join with you. It is a dollar well spent, and you will 

 not miss it. 



USE OF BEK-VEILS AND BEE-SMOKERS. 



Bee-veils are a good thing in their place, and are all 

 right to have around when visitors are looking at the bees, 

 but to see a bee-keeper wear one makes me feel as if he was 

 not a good, genuine bee-keeper, and is afraid of bees. I 

 seldom have one on, only in extreme cases, but I always 

 have a lighted smoker and use smoke plentifully. I have 

 had as cross bees as they generally get, and have had as 

 many as 100 colonies in one apiary. I seldom open a hive 

 unless I have a smoker, all in good trim (although it is not 

 needed at all times) sitting close by in case of an attack. 



GETTING KNOWN IN THE BEE-KEEPING WORLD. 



Does everybody know you around home ? and are you 

 generally known among the editors of the different bee- 

 papers as a bee-keeper, and that you have been in the busi- 

 ness? If not, you would better get your name out among 

 the bee-keeping fraternity in some way or other. It is a 

 good idea, if you have anything to sell, and to make bee- 

 keeping a success financially, a person must be generally 

 known throughout the country. This can be done by judi- 

 cious advertising through the leading bee-papers, telling 

 them what you know, and what you don't know, through 

 the press. 



GET A RUBBER STAMP WITH NAME AND ADDRESS. 



Every bee-keeper should have a small stamp, then 

 stamp all his stationery and everything he sends out by 

 mail. On every bit of matter sent through the mail put 

 your name and address, for it will save your customers, and 

 people who do business with you, a world of trouble. Again, 

 it prevents mistakes in many instances. I put my name and 

 address on every section t use on the hives, or that the 

 honey is built in, and I also use it on every bos I send out 

 by express or freight ; the latter stamp, of course, must be 

 a larger one, for shipping by freight or express. 



SLOPING BOTTOM-BOARDS. 



I like sloping bottom-boards. Years ago, when I 

 first began bee-keeping I used the American hive, made by 

 H. A. King I'v: Co. They were made, (as the old bee-keepers 

 will remember) with the sloping bottoms. I liked the idea 

 then, and always found them ta be a big advantage over 



