1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



429 



— a name quite appropriate to his box, but 

 not to the box as now used. I. A. King. 

 Derby, Texas, Dec. 28. 



SYMPOSIUM ON ALSIKE CLOVER. 



Does It Cause Poisoning or Scrofula in 

 Stock that Eat Largely of it ? Are W hlte- 

 nosed Horses More Easily Affected ? 



BY VV. W. CASE. 



!In our issue for June 15, p. 3fi9. one of our Canadian 

 correspondents, Mr. J. L. Byer. of Mt. Joy. Ontario, 

 Canada, while asserlintr that he was a champion of al- 

 sike clover as a honey-plant, yet retrretted to observe 

 that, in his locality, it was decidedly objected to for 

 pasture for ordinary stock, the claim being made by 

 the farmers that it poisoned the animals, causing a 

 species of scrofula with runningr sores. He furtlier 

 St Ued that he was forced to admit that he had seen a 

 number of such cases, a few of which ended fatally, 

 and that in each case the veterinarian diagnosed the 

 trouble as "alsike poisoning." "It is conceded," he 

 went on to say, that " white-nof ed horses are more 

 susceptible to this poisoning than other animals wiih- 

 out this facial mark." In relation to this, see what W. 

 \V. Case has to siy herewith. 



In our footnote we took occasion to say, in repl>' to 

 the article mentioned above, that alsike was grown 

 very largely in our locality, and that the farmers were 

 so well pleased with it that they were putting in more 

 and more of it, substiiuting alsike in place oi the red 

 clover, as the latter .'^eemed dirticult io grow in many 

 cises, and in some instance^ the soil seemed to be 

 "clover sick;" that we wi-re inclined to believe ihat 

 the farmers in Mr. Byer's locality had notions that 

 lacked actual proof, and we therefore asked to have the 

 subject aired, letting the truth hit where it might. 



In response to this the following articles have been 

 received in ihe last few days. Apparently it would 

 seem that the stock in the vicinity of Mt. Joy, Ontario, 

 Canada, may be poisoned by something else. How- 

 ever that may be, the following articles will bear care- 

 ful reading. — ED. 



I have read, with interest, J. L. Byer's ar- 

 ticle, page 3ul3, June 15, on alsike clover. 

 We introduced alsike clover into this section 

 some thirty years ago; and while the clover 

 has become thoroughly naturalized, almost 

 as much so as the white clover, we have yet 

 to learn of ill effects in its use as hay or for- 

 age. In fact, we know of no farmers what- 

 ever who do not add it to their ordinary red 

 clover in seeding, and consider it the most 

 valuable part of their hay crop Compared 

 with red clover, which is covered thickly 

 with fine pubescence, it is much less dusty, 

 and agrees well with "heavey" horses, and 

 is considered valuable for dairy cattle. Here, 

 at least, the bitterness is so slight as to be 

 scarcely noticeable in fact, it can scarcely 

 be recognized, even when the attention is 

 called to it. 



Now, I think friend Byer's statement, that 

 "it is much more injurious to white-nosed 

 horses than others," will eventually clear up 

 the mystery of its hurtfulness to horses. 

 White spots on horses are abnormal, and 

 such spots are always found deficient in 

 nerve power. Horses always distinguish 

 between wholesome and unwholesome food 

 by nose touch. White-nosed horses are 

 frequently poisoned by eating poisonous 

 plants that a normal-nosed horse at once re- 

 jects as unwholesome. It is never safe to 

 turn white-nosed horses into fields contain- 

 ing plants of the Saint ^.ohn's-wort family, 

 as such horses eat it and die, while other 



horses, through "lip touch," reject it as 

 deadly. Now, I think a competent botanist 

 would soon be able to ferret out the cause 

 of poisoning; and when he is through, his 

 report would relieve alsike from all blame 

 in the matter. He would either find a poi- 

 sonous weed ubiquitous with the clover, or 

 perhaps a parasite that does the mischief. 

 Whatever the cause, it is quite evident that 

 the normal horse rejects it, for any poison 

 that will kill a white-nosed horse will kill a 

 horse with a nose of any color if he will eat 

 it, which he very rarely if ever will do; 

 hence if alsike clover will kill a white-nosed 

 horse it will also kill any other horse* that 

 eats it. I will say here that one of the 

 horses fed the past year on alsike was a 

 "whiteface," and he showed no bad symp- 

 toms. 



Quite possibly and probably, alsike-fields 

 will be found infested with St. John's-wort 

 of some variety, or possibly a member of the 

 crotallaria (pulse family), a near relative of 

 the clover. Not being acquainted with the 

 flora of Ontario, any attempt to name the 

 poison, at this distance, would be a mere 

 guess; but we have no doubt whatever that 

 the alsike will be eventually cleared of all 

 suspicion. 



Why not get the Ontario Bee-keepers' As- 

 sociation to get the Department of Agricul- 

 ture of the Canadian government to take up 

 the whole question and make a thorough in- 

 vestigation of the subject ? 



Frenchtown, N. J. 



ALSIKE CLOVER THE FARMER'S FRIEND 

 IN LANCASTER CO., PA. 



Alsike Displacing Red Clover. 



BY ELMER J. WEAVER. 



There must be a great difference, either 

 in soil or climate, between Canada and Lan- 

 caster Co., Pa., as the experience of farmers 

 in Mr. Byer s vicinity is just the opposite of 

 this section. Never have 1 heard of stock 

 being poisoned, either by the hay or pasture 

 of alsike. 



Each season it is winning new friends as 

 well as holding all friends of past seasons. 

 The farmers, one and all, with a very few 

 exceptions, say it makes a quality of hay 

 that IS fine-grained, and greatly liked by all 

 stock. 



About eight or ten years ago red clover 

 formed the principal hay crop of this coun- 

 ty in mixture with timothy. Now nearly 

 three-fourths is alsike, as it is almost impos- 

 sible to get red clover to make a stand. No 

 one seems to have a solution for the trouble 

 with red, so more alsike is being sown each 

 season. 



Bee-keeping is greatly benefited by the 

 change, as we have only a short season of 

 fruit-bloom, and what few weeds escape the 

 farmer's cultivators, to depend on besides 

 clover, there being no forest trees, neither 

 elm, linden, nor any fall flow to depend on, 

 as a'l Ian ! is c.iltiva'el An old boc-ke."'pe.'. 



