592 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



another around your wrists and backs of 

 your hands, and the sandflies will bid you 

 good-by. Sometimes in the evening, when 1 

 want to work in the garden I should really 

 have to give it up if were not possible to go 

 to my bottle of citronella. After applying 

 that as directed above, I can go on and work 

 in peace and ciuietness. Citronella is used, 

 I am told, largely by hunters and fishermen, 

 and it seems to be a perfect remedy for al- 

 most all sorts of insect pests. In fact, it 

 keeps off the redbugs I spoke of very well 

 if you nab some of it around j^our ankles 

 and the tops of your shoes before you go 

 out to work in the fields. 



I forgot to say in the proper place that 

 mosquitoes are very annoying to babies un- 

 less the house is screened and protected, 

 so that you can keep them out. A great 

 many people come into Florida to spend the 

 winter. To save the expense of renting, they 

 build little cheap houses. In fact, there is 

 no end to the cabins and houses, all the way 

 from almost nothing up to the fine houses 

 that we find here. The people who bring 

 babies into these little houses, where there 

 is no way of fencing off the insect pests, 

 often find themselves in serious trouble, or 

 at least the babies do, and some of the poor 

 little innocents have their little lives almost 

 woi-ried out by these insect pests if some 

 means is not taken to keep them away. 



SWEET clover; HOW THE " KOXIOUS WEED ' 

 IS COMING TO ITS OWN. 



We copy the following from a little post- 

 er mailed us by our good friend Frank Cov- 

 erdale : 



SWEET-CLOVER I'lCXIC. 



Have you seen a sweet-clover pasture ? Have you 

 seen sweet-clover hay? Have you seen washouts held 

 by sweet-clover roots ? Have you seen the effect of 

 ground limestone on sour soil? Are you interested in 

 these things? If you are interested, come to the 

 farm of Frank Coverdale, four miles southwest of 

 Delmar, on Tuesday, July 29, 1913. 



Bring your family and a picnic dinner. We will 

 meet at eleven o'clock, have a picnic dinner in the 

 woods, listen to a short program, and then spend the 

 afternoon seeing the one hundred or more acres of 

 sweet clover on this farm, which has become known 

 all over the United States. Sweet clover is being 

 used on this farm as a pasture, and a hay and seed 

 crop. Mr. Coverdale has some small test plots which 

 show very plainly the value of ground limestone in 

 sweetening the soil and making crops grow better. 

 No one has a better opportunity than the Clinton 

 County people to see just what the sweet clover is 

 good for. Don't take anybody's word for it. Come 

 and see. 



Bureau of Plant Industry of U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, Iowa State College of Agriculture, Agri- 

 cultural Committee of Clinton Commercial Club, co- 

 operating. 



Of course the date, July 29, has gone by; 

 but we give the contents of the above poster 

 to let you see how the Department of Agri- 

 culture, Washington, as well as the Iowa 



State Agricultural College, recognizes the 

 value of sweet clover to the nation at large. 

 A full report of the proceedings of this 

 sweet-clover picnic will be found in the new 

 edition of our little book, now in press, 

 •' The Truth about Sweet Clover." 



SWEET CLOVER; CHICKENS CATCHINa DRONES, ETC. 



Find enclosed a stamp for which please mail me 

 any literature that you have regarding sweet clover. 

 I believe you had a book entitled " The Truth about 

 Sweet Clover." I met a very intelligent farmer here 

 who wishes to find out something regarding it with a 

 view to sowing, but he had been told that he could 

 never get it ofif his farm if he got it on. 



I have read in Gleanings several times about 

 chickens eating bees. I have some chickens about a 

 month old that are smarter than any I have read 

 about. A few days ago there was a scarcity of hon- 

 ey ; and the bees, being in bo.x hives that I had not 

 jet transferred, had lots of drones, and those chick- 

 ens would wait until they saw a worker bring out 

 a di'one, and then they would grab the drone. They 

 could also tell the drones on the wing. I watched 

 them do this two different times. There appeared to 

 be only two chickens that bothered them, and in no 

 case did I see them touch a worker ; but they seem- 

 ed to be afraid of them. 



So far I think the honey-flow very light here; but 

 as to what is to come I know nothing, as this is my 

 first year here. 



Vivian, La., June 25. C. E. Hammond. 



We are sorry to tell you that our little 

 book on sweet clover is out of print ; but 

 we are working on a new edition, and will 

 get it in the hands of our friends as soon 

 as possible. 



Tell that " intelligent farmer " that he is 

 certainly behind the times in one respect. 

 It is true that sweet clover was once called 

 by some people a noxious weed, but that 

 time is past. Consult your experiment sta- 

 tions or almost any agTicultural paper 

 printed, and they will tell you that sweet 

 clover is now recognized as being next to 

 alfalfa. In fact, it prepares the soil for 

 growing alfalfa better than any thing else 

 in the world. Because domestic animals 

 have to be taught to eat sweet clover at first 

 has given gTound to this notion. After they 

 once get a taste for it they prefer it to any 

 other clover; and the best thing about it is 

 that it will gTow on ground where no other 

 clover will grow, and, in fact, where noth- 

 ing else will grow ; and after having grown 

 it inoculates the soil with nitrogen bacteria 

 so that almost any other crop can be grown 

 profitably. It is now being recognized and 

 grown all over the world. 



As long as you can keep the two chickens 

 that take the drones but not the workers 

 they will be a valuable asset, and you had 

 better hold on to them. 



18,000 saloons OUT OF BUSINESS IN ONE YEAR. 



That the drj' movement in America is gaining 

 ground is shown in the annual report of the Internal 

 Revenue Department at Washington, for the fiscal 

 year ending June 30. It shows that 18,000 saloons 

 suspended business during the year. — Wheeling Ad- 

 vance. 



