VM) 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



685 



ultouether satisfactory. Of course, they have the run 

 of the barn to scratch in duriny the day in winter as 

 well as summer. We make it a rule to move it every 

 day or two, and that is much easier and cleaner than 

 the bother of cleaning out an ordinary hen-house. Of 

 course, when the irround is covered with snow we can 

 not do that; but such times are infrequent for many 

 days at a time in this locality. The door should be 

 covered with a canvas curtain to keep out the wind in 

 cold weather. 1 believe that the inexpensive utilities 

 are best in poultry culture. I get good results in etrus, 

 but have never been very successful in raisiny small 

 chickens. Fr.\NK C. Pei.lett. 



Atlantic, Iowa, Sept. 21. 



The above report not only indicates that a 

 cheap house may give as good results as a 

 high-priced one, but may do even better. It 

 may be the hens stopped laying because they 

 were taken away from the place where they 

 had been raised; but it may be also true 

 that the cheap house gave them ventilation 

 more to their notion. Please notice the di- 

 mensions of this house are exactly the same 

 as the one Philo recommends. Now all that 

 is necessary to have a successful egg-farm is 

 to cover the farm with just sucli houses 

 placed at proper distances apart. 



THE "WHITE PLAGUE" OF THE "CHICKEN BUSINESS." 



In your July 1st issue you have an article on the 

 dreaded "white plague" in our young chickens. 

 Many years ago I used to be troubled a great deal with 

 it. and lost many little chickens by this intestinal 

 trouble. I tried almost every thing I could think of or 

 hear of; but none did the work I expected of them. 

 I'inally, almost in despair I thought of lime water. 

 Knowing our doctors give it to human beings for 

 stomach troubles I thought to fix up some of it. I put 

 a chunk as large as my list into a two-gallon jar, and 

 covered it with hot water. When it had thoroughly 

 slaked I filled the jar with water that had been boiled, 

 and then diluted it a half with boiled water and gave 

 it. That stopped > almost i the whole entire trouble. 

 Then I did just what you say our friend Kellerstrass 

 did in his yards. I tore out half of the floors in those 

 small coops, 3x6 ft., and gave them fresh sods once a 

 week. That seemed to remedy the whole trouble com- 

 pletely. I never have had any white plague when we 

 have supplied our coops with these two it^ms. I never 

 tried sods alone. My success is such that we rarely 

 lose a chick if it is strong and all right when hatched. 



Lodi, Wis., July 10. J. M. PRUYN. 



HIGH-PRESSURE 

 GARDENING 



By A. I. Root 



SWEET CLOVER AS AN INOCULATOR FOR THE 

 INTRODUCTION OF ALFALFA. 



The following, from a late issue of the 

 Farm and Fireside, strikes so many important 

 points that we take pleasure in giving it a 

 place here. Please notice, "Sweet clover 

 aoes not depend on artificial inoculation." 

 Again, "Sweet clover yields as much forage, 

 if not more, than alfalfa." Several have 

 written, asking about the value of sweet clo- 

 ver for hogs. This writer says they get so 

 fond of it that they even dig up the roots 

 and thus kill it off. Last, but not least, there 

 is no trouble in regard to bloating from sweet 

 clover. Of course, the article was written 

 for the latitude of Kentucky. 



I am so well pleased with experimenting with sweet 

 clover as a soil-restorer and a forage for live stock that 

 I will endeavor to give a few points on its management. 



Sweet clover belongs to the family of leguminous 



plants. The same bacteria live on its roots that live 

 on the roots of the alfalfa-plant. Some people will say, 

 "If alfalfa is so much better than sweet clover why not 

 plant it?" How do they know if they have never tried 

 it? 



I first used sweet clover as an inoculator for alfalfa. 

 The bacteria developed much more rapidly in the soil 

 sown to sweet clover than in that sown to alfalfa. The 

 plant of sweet clover does not depend on artificial in- 

 oculation or fertilization as does the alfalfa-plant. 



Another advantage is that the seeding does not have 

 to be done so early. The seed of alfalfa should be 

 sown from the fifteenth of August to the first of Sep- 

 tember, if best results are expected. The seeding of 

 sweet clover should be done about the first of October. 

 Four to six weeks are gained for the maturing of crops 

 growing on the land to be sown to sweet clover, which 

 may be corn, tobacco, tomatoes, or other farm and gar- 

 den crops, while the land to be sown to alfalfa should 

 be broken and thoroughly cultivated before seeding, 

 which requires about four weeks. 



The sweet clover yields as much forage as alfalfa if 

 not more. From analysis, the sweet clover contains 

 the following composition: 



Water, 6.86 per cent; protein, 22.55 per cent; crude 

 fiber, 23.49 per cent; carbohydrate, 32.61 per cent; fat, 

 3.91 per cent; ash, 10.05 per cent, making its feeding 

 value as a forage crop high. Its value as a fertilizing 

 agent in gathering nitrogen can hardly be realized. 

 It has the ability to thrive splendidly on the poorest 

 sandy soil, and on dry and badly washed hillsides 

 where the other clover would never start. 



The seed of sweet clover should be sown thin on old 

 worn fields, then the stalks will be large and heavily 

 branched, producing a great amount of seed. About 

 the first of September the stalks should be cut and plac- 

 ed in the ruts and washes. Then the seed will be scat- 

 tered sufficiently to set a heavy sod, and will prodiice 

 a fine pasture the next season. The second or third 

 year after sowing, blue grass will take in this locality 

 and soon be a solid set. 



A description of the sweet-clover roots will show 

 that they are a high-class fertilizer. Unlike other 

 legumes, the roots are somewhat fleshy and not fibrous. 

 During the first year these roots reach far into the 

 ground and draw up from considerable depth an abun- 

 dance of plant food which they store up for the second 

 years's growth. On the death of the plant, at the close 

 of the second year, the fleshy roots decay more rapid- 

 ly than fibrous roots, and their nitrogen becomes more 

 (luickly available for other crops. 



My experiments cover the use of the following crops 

 after sweet clover: beets, beans, onions, parsnips, cau- 

 liflower, celery, melons, raspberries, and strawberries. 

 All show a marked advantage on the part where sweet 

 clover was turned under after a growth of two seasons. 

 The color and size of plants, as well as the amount and 

 iiuality of fruit, were noticeable. 



PREPARES LAND FOR ALFALFA. 



I think sweet clover is one of the finest things in use 

 to prepare land for alfalfa. Sow to sweet clover for 

 one year; break the land, turning under the young 

 growth the second spring about the first of June, and 

 cultivate until ready to seed to alfalfa. The germs of 

 bacteria will increase rapidly, and the soil will be fill- 

 ed so full that the alfalfa-plants will grow right off and 

 make two or more good crops the first season after 

 sowing in the early fall. 



As a soiling crop it is right up to the front. Combin- 

 ed with blue grass it makes one of the finest pastures 

 known to stockmen. Unlike alfalfa, it improves by 

 being pastured; yet again, like alfalfa, the stock have 

 to become accustomed to it before they will eat it with 

 a relish. But when once they have learned to eat it 

 they prefer it to all other grasses. 



As a pasture for hogs, the chief difficulty lies in the 

 fact that the hogs want the roots as well as the tops. 

 They eat the grass readily from the first, seeming to 

 like its peculiar flavor, and are also fond of the hay, 

 eating it more readily than that of red clover. 



Another one of its many good qualities is that cattle 

 may be fed exclusively on sweet clover, and under the 

 conditions most favorable to bloating, without any 

 danger from this trouble. Coumarin, one of its con- 

 stituents, the principle which gives it its bitter taste, 

 effectually prevents the fermentation that results in 

 bloating. J. W. Griffin. 



Kentucky. 



SWEET CLOVER— STILL MORE ABOUT IT. 



The report below comes from a man who 

 purchased his seed of us. It seems a httle 

 funny that we should keep getting such re- 



