A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to tl^e Interests of Hor[eL) Producers. 



$L00 A YEAR. 



W. Z. HnTCHiNSON, Editor and Proprietor, 



VOL. Xi, FLINT. MICHiGAN, APRIL 10, 1898, 



NO 4, 



SWEET CLOVER, OR MELILOTUS. 



Why it Sometimes Fails to Cirow; A Success 

 on Lime Soils; How it Fertilizes the Soil. 



M. M. BAI,DRIDGK. 



"ra'WEET clover 



>^ is an excel- 



y ( lent honey-plant. 



K The amount and 



quahty of honey 



from it is rarely 



surpassed. I have 



thrown the plant 



in Michigan for 



bee-feed foryears; 



but I have never 



been able to get 



my cows or horses to eat it. r think the 



plant is worthless except for bees." — 



Prof. Cook. 



Several of my correspondents have 

 written me that sweet clover does not grow 

 very well in their locality; or upon certain 

 kinds of soil. They do not know why 

 this should be the case. But others write 

 me that they have discovered the reason 

 why. I think Mr. Heddon once wrote me 

 that the Dlant with him does not make a 

 satisfactory growth — especially on sandy 



soil.' Well, one of the objects of this 

 article is to throw more or less light 

 on the subject as to the reason why. 



Jeff Welborn, a well known writer on 

 argicultural topics in the South, and now 

 a resident of .^rkan.sas, wrote me in Feb- 

 ruary, 1896, substantially as follows: 



" Sweet clover failed to grow on the 

 sandy soil of east Texas where I lived for 

 a number of years. It also failed to grow 

 here in Lonoke county on the swamp 

 lands last year. This is without doubt 

 owing to lack of lime in the soil. It grows 

 with success and is a grand plant on all 

 the lime lands of the South. There is no 

 doubt of the great value of the plant on 

 the proper kind of soil. It is a wonderful 

 plant for enriching the soil; and this is 

 mainly owing to its dense shade." 



I must differ from the scientists and 

 many others as to where the fertilizing 

 from sweet clover and other leguminous 

 plants comes from. Many think, as all 

 scientific men teach us, that the roots of 

 these plants do all the work. I say it is 

 mainly the dense shade through the sum- 

 mer. Like alfalfa, sweet clover has the 

 propensity of stooling; and this enables 

 the plant to shade the surface very quick- 

 ly in the spring, or after cutting. This 

 shade protects the earth from the sun's 

 heat, and attracts moisture which, by 



