430 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15 



possibly 75 years old, a few days ago said to 

 me that if the farmers would stop sowing 

 alsike clover he would stop keeping bees, as 

 he was never so sure of a crop from red clo- 

 ver as from alsike, and when he did have a 

 crop it was not as large as now. 



The seed-dealers here are practically all 

 pushing the sale of alsike seed to the exclu- 

 sion of red clover. Some farmers are trying 

 alfalfa, but are having great difficulty in get- 

 ting it established. 



Ronks, Pa. 



♦ ■ ^ ---*- 



WHITE-NOSED COLTS AFFECTED BY 

 ALSIKE. 



BY GRANT McCORMACK. 



I have had some experience with alsike 

 pasture. Four years ago I had 15 acres of 

 it, which my horses and cattle ran on at will, 

 and about the time seed started to form I 

 noticed one of my colts had a sore nose. 

 I thought nothing of it, and a few days later 

 I noticed it was getting worse. A little later 

 another colt had the same thing, and still 

 anotker of them got it. These colts were 

 each two years old, and they all had "blazed 

 faces" with pink on the nose — pink flesh, I 

 mean. I called in a veterinary, and he pre- 

 scribed for it, but didn't know what it was, 

 nor did his prescription do any good. I cut 

 the hay and put it in, as it was over a foot 

 high, and the stock still ran on it. Those 

 colts got better at once, and in three weeks 

 were well, although one was the worst case 

 I ever saw. The skin peeled off; it became 

 raw by its rubbing the nose on fences; even 

 its eyes were swelled shut. Another one 

 had its feet affected. 



This year I have some more alsike pasture, 

 and the colt that was worst the first time 

 had it again. I took her from the pasture, 

 and now the sores are healed, 12 days from 

 the time the sore started. It seems that the 

 only time it is harmful is in the first crop, in 

 which the seed is. I have put it up for hay, 

 and never had any trouble at all. My eleven 

 other horses, which do not have white noses, 

 are not affected. This has convinced me 

 that alsike pasture affects only horses with 

 white noses. 



Pontiac, 111., June 20. 



[See the article by Mr. Case, p. 42-J.— Ed.] 



AN OPINION FROM A VETERINARY 

 SURGEON ON ALSIKE. 



BY J. AIKEN HEAD. 



I have been practicing the veterinary pro- 

 fession since .874 — eighteen years in Ontario, 

 and since that in Maryland, and I have nev- 

 er seen a case of poisoning from alsike clo- 

 ver. I have been called to see many cases 

 supposed to be the result of poisoning from 

 alsike pasture-fields, but have had dozens 

 of the same kind of cases on pastures that 

 never had alsike clover on them. Now, I 

 have had many patients which, when green 

 food was cut for them, would eat the alsike 



clover first, showing they preferred it to 

 other kinds of grass. _ I find from my expe- 

 rience that alsike clover makes the best kmd 

 of pasture for all kinds of stock, and ranks 

 next to alfalfa for hay. 

 Easton, Md. 



ALSIKE FOR SHEEP. 



We have 50 black-top sheep which were 

 fed on alsike clover all of last winter. They 

 had bean-pods for a change, but they were 

 fed no grain, and the flock has never come 

 out in such a healthy condition as this spring. 

 They sheared 13 lbs. per head. I put in a 

 strong plea for the farmers to raise alsike 

 clover, and especially those who have any 

 colonies of bees. My bees were seen in the 

 barn this spring carrying off the hay for pol- 

 len. I think this speaks well for alsike. 



Mason, Mich. W. L. Cheney. 



[We shall be pleased to have this subject 

 discussed still further. Alsike clover is 

 spreading with amazing rapidity all over the 

 United States. We have been studying this 

 question not a little, and to that end have 

 made some long trips with an automobile, 

 starting up in the vicinity of Lansing, Mich- 

 igan, and going on south through Ohio. We 

 have inspected fields and made general in- 

 quiries, and we find that the acreage of al- 

 sike is being increased enormously, largely 

 for two reasons: First, the stock take well to 

 it; second, it is an easy grower as compared 

 with ordinary peavine or red clover. In 

 some soils, where either of the latter will 

 not grow at all, alsike takes hold readily. 



If we may judge by observations made 

 some ten years ago in a similar trip over the 

 country on a bicycle, we should say that the 

 acreage of alsike had been increased ten and 

 twenty fold. In perhaps 50 per cent of the 

 fields we find alsike and timothy mixed; in 

 2a per cent red clover and alsike; and in the 

 rest, alsike pure and simple. Apparently, 

 the best results are secured when it is mixed 

 with some other hay. 



The further fact that alsike-clover seed 

 commands such a high price goes to show 

 that there must be a tremendous demand for 

 it, and this demand could hardly be so strong 

 if alsike, either as a pure or mixed hay, were 

 responsible for the so-called poisoning of the 

 stock. 



In the symposium mentioned above, it will 

 be noticed that veterinarian Dr. J. Aikenhead 

 says he has been practicing the profession 

 since 1874, and that during all this time he 

 has not seen a case of poisoning from alsike; 

 that he had been called to see many cases 

 supposed to be alsike poisoning, but that he 

 has had dozens of the same kind of cases in 

 pastures that have never had alsike clover. 



We ftel quite firmly convinced that, when 

 all the facts are known, it will be shown that 

 this poisoning is due to some other causes; 

 for if in 75 per cent of the localities where 

 alsike is grown very largely there is no poi- 

 soning reported, that stock thrive on it, it 

 would be a natural inference that the trouble 

 is due to a local plant or local condition. 

 —Ed.] 



