512 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



can do. The Spring birds have come, so 

 the woods are ringing with their sweet 

 voices. Farmers are busy planting corn 

 — some few have corn up, and it looks 

 well. 

 Lexington, Tex., March 6, 1892. 



Alsik Cloyer— How to drow It 



EMILY E. WEST. 



The value of Alsike to the bee-keeper 

 makes it worth his while to extend its 

 culture in every way possible. In in- 

 ducing his farmer neighbors to grow it, 

 he not only benefits himself, but also his 



Alsike Clover. 



neighbors as well. Few appreciate its 

 value. Rightly managed it may be made 

 to yield three products — honey, hay and 

 seed, which, in a little more than a year, 

 are equal in value to the land on which 

 it grows. 



With suitable soil, and in competent 

 hands, ten bushels of seed to the acre is 

 a possible yield, which, at the present 

 prices, $7.50 to $9.00, will purchase 

 an acre of good farming land almost 

 anywhere. There are, besides, the hay 

 and honey. 



When the cultivation of Alsike is 

 recommended to farmers, one or more of 

 the following objections are usually of- 

 fered : 1. It does not germinate well. 

 2. It does not produce a paying crop of 



seed. 3. It does not produce as much 

 hay as red clover. 4. The hay is of in- 

 ferior quality. 5. If fed to milch cows, 

 the butter produced is white. 



In the first case, either the seed was 

 poor, or the ground was not in proper 

 condition. 



In the second case, a short crop of 

 seed is generally due to a lack of judg- 

 ment at to the right time for cutting, 

 and to improper handling afterward. 



In answer to the third objection, it' 

 may be stated that, though the yield of 

 hay may not be as great, the value of 

 the whole product is greater. 



Finally, the hay is better than red 

 clover hay, the stems being less woody, 

 and devoid of the tine hairs which render 

 red clover hay "dusty." In this market, 

 timothy mixed with Alsike is beginning 

 to be rated No. 1, while timothy mixed 

 with red clover is No. 2. 



As to its effect on butter, a few roots, 

 carrots or the like, fed to cows will 

 remedy that. Often failure is the result 

 of making a trial on so small a scale 

 that the crop is neglected ; then the 

 grower thinks, of course, it is " no 

 good." 



A neighbor, Mr. McCall, has given to 

 the Alsike clover plant the same kind of 

 intelligent and careful study that Mr. 

 Terry has given to the potato, with 

 equally satisfactory financial results. 

 Mr. McCall is too busy "compelling 

 success " to write of his methods for the 

 benefit of others ; so, believing that 

 they would be interesting and profitable 

 to many, I interviewed him one evening. 

 The following are the facts .brought 

 out: 



Mr. McCall raises Alsike for the seed, 

 so his methods accord with his aim. 



The most suitable soil is a clay loam, 

 with a good proportion of the vegetable 

 matter ; but it may be grown on almost 

 any kind of land. 



The land, having been deeply plowed 

 and thoroughly pulverized the previous 

 Autumn, and sown to wheat, is har- 

 rowed in the Spring with a fine-toothed 

 harrow — an operation greatly benefiting 

 the growing wheat. The clover seed is 

 then sown at the rate of 8 to 10 pounds 

 to the acre. A lighter seeding is often 

 recommended, but Mr. M. believes that 

 better results, on the whole, are ob- 

 tained by a morS generous seeding. 



The sowing should be done as early 

 as possible, so that the seed may 

 catch some of the Spring rains. Here, 

 the first of April is about right. It is 

 important that the seeding be even. 

 Bare spaces certainly lessen the crop, 



