Oct. 25, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAl. 



679 



before ; we do cure sweet clover in our locality without 

 shade. We have cured it right in the sun this summer ; it 

 makes first-class hay. One of our large farmers, who never 

 knew it was good for anything until this summer, found it 

 out because he couldn't help himself; he had ten acres of 

 grass growing for the first season in many years in a field 

 just over the fence from my apiary ; he raised oats there 

 last season, and the sweet clover came up, but /didn't sow 

 it, and it was great big, nice, bunchy stuff, and his hired 

 help said to him, " What are you going to do with this 

 stuff?" He replied, "Rake it all up together." From the 

 first load he took home he fed some to the horses, and they 

 cleaned up the sweet clover before they ate the hay. He 

 has a pasture of about 30 acres by the side of this meadow, 

 with lots of sweet clover, but the horses and cattle keep it 

 eaten close to the ground. A lady had the effrontery last 

 week to tell me there would nothing on earth eat sweet 

 clover. I took her over to the pasture fence, and I said, 

 " Show me any sweet clover unless it is some where the 

 cattle and horses can't get at it. 



Mr. Abbott — Post the farm papers about this, and there 

 is no danger of passing a law against it. 



Dr. Mason — Dr. Besse, a bee-keeper in Delaware Co.. 

 Ohio, had several acres, and the township trustees cut it 

 down, and he had a lawsuit with them, and was beaten. 

 This Association helpt the Doctor run the suit. 



Mr. Kretchmer — How does the bee-pasture come in 

 when the cows eat it down ? 



Dr. Mason — Bee-pasture isn't worth as much as cow- 

 pasture, but the sweet clover lasts only one year as pasture 

 for stock. 



A Member — I would like to ask Mr. Abbott at what 

 stage he cuts sweet clover for hay ? 



Mr. Abbott — As it is coming into bloom. Without any 

 joking about shade, you know the ordinary way is to spread 

 hay out. The way to put it up is to put it in cocks imme- 

 diately ; as it is cockt, lay it up so the winds will blow thru 

 it. They say down our way I am a city farmer ; but there 

 is a difference between cocking hay and spreading it out 

 thin. 



Mr. Kretchmer — In the city a pasture for the cows is 

 more valuable than anything else. I sowed some sweet 

 clover, alfalfa, and red clover, expecting the red clover 

 would be eaten by the cows. The cows kept the sweet 

 clover down to the ground, the alfalfa was next to the 

 sweet clover, and the red clover was the only one that went 

 to bloom. The sweet clover was eaten so much it never got 

 over two inches high. 



Dr. Mason — There isn't a better way to cure sweet 

 clover for hay than Mr. Abbott has given us — pile it up. 



Mr. Taylor — You never farmed it, did you Mason ? 



Dr. Mason — What do you know about it? }'es, sir; I was 

 born and lived on a farm till I was 25 years old, and I have 

 farmed it a good deal since then. 



Mr. Taylor — I know from the way you say to cure hay. 

 What struck me is how you are going to put it up light 

 when it is green — you can't do it ; I have cured a good deal 

 of clover hay. I suppose you want to cure sweet cldver hay 

 the same as you would red clover. The right way to do it 

 is to let it wilt ; don't let the sun burn it up and let some of 

 the moisture out ; cock it up and get it as dry as you can 

 without the leaves breaking at all or getting bitter ; let it 

 sweat. If it gets moist you have to turn it over to make 

 real good hay. 



Dr. Mason — Not in our locality. It wilts almost as 

 soon as cut, and bj' the time a field is cut, what was first 

 cut is ready to cock up. 



M. M. Baldridge — I wish to say in regard to curing 

 sweet clover for hay, that there is another plan they prac- 

 tice in Mississippi extensively. Sweet clover there is a 

 farm crop, the same as oats or wheat, and is grown by peo- 

 ple who do not keep any bees at all, from 50 to 100 acres on 

 a farm. I have seen 75 acres on a single farm, and the way 

 they cure sweet clover hay is this : They cut it, say to- 

 day, and let it wilt until to-morjow, then put it into an air- 

 tight barn and let it cure itself ; let no air to it whatever ; 

 it will cure itself, and in the winter they have the finest 

 hay for cows and milk that can be produced. The idea that 

 it is clast as a noxious weed in the North is considered non- 

 sensical by those farmers of the South. 

 (Continued next week.) 



Queen-Rearing; is a very interesting part of bee-keeping. 

 Mr. Doolittle's book tells practically all about the subject. 

 See the offer we make on the second page of this number. 



Contributed Articles, i 



No. 3.— Interesting Notes on European Travel. 



BY C. 1'. IIADANT. 



On thb Atlantic, Sept. 24, 190f). 



FROM Macon my intention was to have gone direct to 

 Switzerland by way of Geneva, visit the most noted 

 resorts of Switzerland, thence come back to Nyon, 

 which, by the way, is not in France, as I see the dating of 

 my letters induced you to believe, for I did not mark the 

 name of the country from which I wrote. But Nyon is so 

 close to France that it matters but little. It is on the shores 

 of the Lake of Geneva, and about four miles from the 

 French frontier, and there, as in Geneva, the inhabitants 

 all speak the French language. 



Having received" an invitation to visit some of our 

 American friends who live at Lyon, some of whom had 

 crost the Atlantic with us, we concluded to go there from 

 Macon for a couple of days, as Lyon is only about two hours' 

 ride from the latter place. 



The line follows the valley of the Saone which joins the 

 Rhone at Lyon. These two streams have long been cele- 

 brated for the great contrast between them, and they have 

 often been represented and pictured by poets, painters and 

 sculptors as two human beings — man and woman. This 

 comparison is very forcible, for the smaller stream — the 

 Saone — is clear, quiet and pretty, running smoothly and 

 noiselessly among vineyards in a beautiful valley, while 

 the other — the Rhone — roars boisterously, swift and muddy 

 between steep hills, among rocks and cliffs, tumbling along 

 in apparent recklessness, and the union of the two, just at 

 the lower end of the city, is a very pretty symbol of a human 

 wedding. 



At Lyon we admired the numerous monuments, con- 

 spicuous among which is the monumental fountain repre- 

 senting a woman driving four horses who throw a spray, 

 or rather a mist, thru their nostrils. This gives them a 

 wonderful appearance of life. We saw the new Catholic 

 church, located on a hight 600 feet above the city, costing 

 already some 50,000,000 francs, altho it is far from being 

 completed. It will make a fine monument. We also visited 

 the silk museum, whic;h contains specimens of the best silk 

 fabrics of all ages. Lyon is the city of silk, par excellence, 

 and we were induced to make a visit among the looms, and 

 admired the patience with which the finest patterns are 

 woven. 



Another of the curiosities of Lyon is the " GrosCaillou" 

 (The Big Pebble). It is only a large piece of granite weigh- 

 ing perhaps 15 or 20 tons, but which had been brought on 

 top of the highest hill, it is said, by the waters and floating 

 ice of the glacial period. A public park has been made 

 around it, and an inscription put on the stone, and the 

 Lyonnese are exceedingly proud of their " pebble." 



After two days at Lyon we reacht Geneva by the valley 

 of Rhone, following the banks of the stream which foams 

 between two hills, and at times appears as if it might be a 

 full half mile beneath our feet. We now arrive in Switzer- 

 land, and as we pass thru the custom-house we notice that 

 it becomes necessary again to change our watches, which 

 we have already set forward a little over six hours in the 

 trip between Illinois and France. The change between 

 France and Switzerland, or, as they call it, between West- 

 ern and Central European time, is 55 minutes. So we are 

 now seven hours ahead of home time ; that is, while we are 

 eating dinner they are just waking up at home, for altho it 

 is noon in Switzerland it is only 5 o'clock in Illinois. 



Geneva is a beautiful place, half hotels, and the other 

 half — boarding-houses. Perhaps I am overstating it, but it 

 lookt to me as if not only in Geneva, but in many of the 

 Swiss cities, the main business was taking care of the vis- 

 itors. Geneva is renowned for its watch-making and jew- 

 elry industry, but it is specially known for its beautiful 

 location, its fine lake, pleasant climate, and its view of 

 Mont Blanc, which looks the more attractive because it is 

 so far away, some 60 miles, I believe. 



We remained in Geneva but a short time, and started 

 out on our tour with the intention of running about for a 

 week, so we left our trunk at the hotel and carried with us 

 only a small satchel each. The smoking-car is most con- 

 spicuous in Switzerland, or rather the smoking compart- 



