3T0 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL^ 



noticing along some ditch banks, in com- 

 paratively poor soil, this plant growing 

 vigorously ; its deep, dark-green clover- 

 like leaves ahead of other vegetation was 

 specially noticeable. 



1 watched its growth and tried my 

 horse to see if he would eat it. Passing 

 along the same place again I observed 

 where my horse had eaten before it had 

 tillered out again with numerous vigor- 

 ous shoots. A rain coming on soon after- 

 wards, I sent ray wagoner with a box 

 and spade and had some dug up by the 

 roots and put out at home in a Bermuda 

 grass plat; and, although the tap-root 

 was cut, it grew finely and produced 

 seed abundantly. Some of it I cut and 

 fed to the different animals — horses, 

 cows, and hogs— I had then on my place ; 

 all seemed to eat it readily. (This, I am 

 satisfied, however, is an acquired taste, 

 for some stock will not eat it at first, 

 but become very fond of it when wilted.) 

 I cured some, and found that, like clover, 

 lucerne, and the pea-vine, it would read- 

 ily shed its green leaves in drying, hence 

 it^ should be put away when partially 

 dry only. 



Stock seem to be very fond of it, and 

 when cured will eat the very stalks with 

 a relish, notwithstanding they appear so 

 hard and uninviting. I presume it must 

 cure with a reserved amount of sugary 

 residue in the stalks and twigs, partic- 

 ularly if cut when just in bloom. The 

 odor of the leaves when drying and the 

 blooms are very sweet, and during this 

 blooming stage the tops smell like a 

 swarm of honey-bees. Considering it 

 allied to lucerne, of which so much was 

 written in the agricultural papers, I sent 

 some specimens of the plant to the "edi- 

 tors" of the Country Oentleman for ex- 

 amination. 



We have also growing with us during 

 the winter and early spring another 

 species of this same plant, called also 

 sweet clover, Melilotus vulgaris, with a 

 yellow bloom and strictly an annual ; 

 whilst one great recommendation of the 

 plant Melilotus alba is its being a bien- 

 nial growth, and if not grazed or mowed 

 too closely and regularly, will reseed 

 itself every second year, allowing two 

 good cuttings of hay. I was for a long 

 time at a loss to discover its origin, but 

 meeting an old acquaintance, a former 

 owner of the plantation where it first ap- 

 peared, I was referred to Prof. H. Tut- 

 willer, of "(Treene Springs Academy. " 



Until the last six or eight years this 

 plant was treated as a worthless weed 

 l)y many of our fanners, and you well 

 know how 1 haveembi'ai'cd its cause! and 

 advocated its more general use against 



so much opposition : from a weed whose 

 seed was not worth the gathering to 

 many (though formerly I paid 25 cents 

 per bushel for it) it is now worth $2.50 

 to ^S per bushel, and valued even with 

 the oat crop. 



There are many other uses to which 

 this plant is applicable, not the least of 

 which is its great value as a fertilizer, 

 believed by some to be the equal if not 

 superior to our common field pea. I 

 could give many references of its value, 

 but this letter is even now too long. 

 Yours very truly, 



R. H. DuGGAR, M. D. 



Qiieeii-Bees SMppefl l)y Mail. 



Written far the uirnerican Bee Journal 



BY W. p. FAYLOR. 



In my last communication to the Bee 

 Journal I had something to say on the 

 above-named subject, which has awak- 

 ened considerable interest throughout 

 the country. Mrs. Atchley accuses me 

 of saying that "queens sent through the 

 ma'ils are no good." Now, I did not say 

 that queens sent by mail are worthless ; 

 but what I wanted to say is, that queen- 

 bees sent through the mails are not as 

 long-lived, on the average, as queens 

 that are not tossed about in Uncle Sam's 

 mail-bags. Because the writer never 

 received a queen through the mails that 

 exceeded seven months in age, is no rea- 

 son why some one else has not. 



Some years ago, like a good many 

 others, I caught the "yellow-bee fever," 

 or "color craze," but have happily re- 

 covered. It was then that 1 annually 

 ordered a light-colored queen from some 

 queen-breeder, and kept crossing strains 

 for several years. But to the subject. 



One summer I ordered a high-priced 

 breeder. When she came to hand with 

 her attendants I was highly delighted, 

 but when I discovered that she could lay 

 so very sparingly, I immediately wrote 

 the facts to the breeder. As the queen 

 had been reared late the previous au- 

 tumn, l' thought, perhaps, the cause of 

 her weakness was the unfavorable time 

 for rearing so as to mate with hand- 

 picked drones late in the fall might l)e 

 the cause of her impotence. He thought 

 I was mistaken. 



Next I examined the cage in which 

 she had been shipped, and found a sharp 

 little tack projecting into one of the 

 chambers, and iuiuiediately wrote the 

 facts to the sliippc^r. His reply was — 

 " Off again." He further stated she had 



