632 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct: 7, 



CBORGB -W. YORK, ■ BdltoF. 



PUBLISBT WEEKLY BY 



CEORCE W. YORK & COMPANY, 

 lis AficUg-an St., - CHICAGO, ILL. 



tl.OO a Year— Sample Copy Sent Free. 

 (Bntered at the Poat-Offlce at CtalcaKO as Second-Class Mall-Matter. 



United States Bee-Keepers' UniQji. 



Organized to advance the pursuit of Apiculture; to promote tlie interests 



of bee-keepers ; to protect its members ; to prevent the adulteration 



of honey; and to prosecute the dishonest iioney-commission men. 



Membership Fee-SI.OO Per Annum. 



Jijveout/ve Committee', 



President— George W. York. Vice-Pres.— W. Z. Hctchinson. 

 Secretary— Dr. A. B. Mason, Station B, Toledo, Ohio. 



Hoard of 7.Jirecf ors, 



E. R. Root. E. Whitcomb. E. T. Abbott. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. Dr. C. C. Miller. C. P. Dadant. 



GeiierQl Mana^Gr and Treasurer. 



Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



VoLfflVIl. CHICAGO, ILL, OCT, U897. No. 40, 



Editorial Con)tr)ct)i^^ 



marylaud Experiment Apiary.— Mr. C. H. 



Lake was appointed to take charge of an apiary at the Mary- 

 land Agricultural College and Experiment Station, eight miles 

 from Washington, D. C, on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. 

 An illustration of the apiary appeared recently in Gleanings. 

 We hope to hear of some valuable results from this new State 

 experiment apiary. 



S'weet Clover Again Abused.— In the Orange 

 Judd Farmer for Sept. 11, we find a short article with the 

 heading, " Sweet Clover a Pest at the North." It is by Prof. 

 L. H. Pammel, whom we had come to think of as a botanist 

 and general agricultural professor that was up to the times 

 on sweet clover, but we must confess when we read the 

 following from his pen, were greatly surprised : 



The specimen sent by T. C. Wood, of Coffeen, III., is sweet 

 clover, MeliloUis alba, also known as Bokahra clover. This is 

 an introduced weed, biennial and native of Europe. The claim 

 Is often made that it is a valuable forage-plant. Prof. Tracy, 

 of the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, says : 



" It will make an excellent growth in the rotten ' lime- 

 stone' hills which are so barren that they will sustain no other 

 plant, but Is almost of no value on the rich clay which con- 

 tains little lime. It is not generally liked by animals unac- 

 customed to its use, but It starts into growth very easily in 

 the spring when green forage is scarce, and if stock is turned 

 on It at that time they very soon acquire a taste for it, and 

 eat It through the remainder of the season." 



In the North this weed has become extremely abundant 

 throughout many parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Min- 

 nesota. Hon. .1. 11. Smart, of Humboldt, Iowa, says it is one 

 of the worst weeds in his locality. In many other portions of 

 Iowa 1 have seen this weed common In streets and door-yards 

 and along railroads. We must regard sweet clover as a weed 



in the North, but in the South the question Is an entirely dif- 

 ferent one, where forage of all kinds is a great desideratum, 

 but even there I must admit that it is chiefly valuable as a soil 

 renovator. It produces long taproots, which descend very 

 deeply into the soil. The young plants, when turned under 

 with the roots, will leave the soil much richer in available 

 plant food. In the wornout soil in certain portions of the 

 South it is a great blessing. It is to the South what the red 

 clover is to the North. L. H. Pammel. 



Certainly the foregoing is a surprise when considered In 

 the light of all the evidence we have publisht In these columns 

 concerning the value of sweet clover as a forage plant. We 

 hardly thought so usually reliable an agricultural journal 

 as the Orange Judd Farmer would give it space in its columns. 



The idea of calling sweet clover a " weed," and then ad- 

 mit that " stock eat it through the remainder of the season." 

 When we were on the farm, our stock never "acquired a 

 taste " for weeds ! 



Prof. Pammel says, "We must regard sweet clover as a 

 weed In the North." He should have used the personal pro- 

 noun " I " instead of " we," for those who know sweet clover 

 best don't "regard it as a weed " at all, so far as we are aware. 



We would suggest that Prof. Pammel study up more on 

 sweet clover, before again calling it a " weed " and a " pest." 

 And we hope the Orange Judd Farmer will now correct the 

 errors it has publisht about sweet clover. 



Later. — Since writing the foregoing, we noticed the fol- 

 lowing, taken from Bulletin 74, of the Ohio Experiment Sta- 

 tion, referring to sweet clover : 



"Sweet clover was formerly included among those weeds 

 whose destruction might be enforced under the statute. But 

 this sweet clover, especially the white sort, is rated by many 

 as a valuable forage-plant. In this respect, without discuss- 

 ing its merits, it properly takes rank with white clover and 

 other cultivated forage-plants. A bee-keeper of the State 

 had sown an area to white sweet clover (Meliloins alba) for 

 his bees to work upon. Under the statute, as enforced at that 

 place, the authorities, after notice, entered the premises and 

 cut down the plants. Sweet clover, and other plants of value 

 for cultivation, should not be included among the weeds to be 

 destroyed. There is now the best of opportunity, as well as 

 urgent demand, to put Ohio weed laws into adequate and 

 permanent form. Suggestions as to plants that should be in- 

 cluded will be given in the weed bulletin now in preparation." 



Mr. A. I. Root, commenting on the above paragraph in 

 Gleanings, said : 



" It is refreshing to know that our experiment station at 

 least recognizes the mistake it has made; and the bee-keeper 

 who had his sweet clover cut down on his own premises will 

 probably get the value of his crop paid back to him, without 

 question." 



In the same article, Mr. Root has this information about 



HOW TO GET RID OF SWEET CLOVER. 



In the first place, cut It down before it produces seed, the 

 same as you would any other plant. Second, turn on stock in 

 the spring If practicable, and put enough stock in the field so 

 they will eat up the sweet clover before it cau grow up to 

 seed. Third, plow it under before it produces seed. Some one 

 of the three aljove ways can almost always be found practi- 

 cable. The principal difficulty will bo in the fence-corners, 

 where no stock is kept, or on railway ground ; but as it has 

 never yet got over into cultivated fields adjoining railroad 

 ground and roadsides, on our premises, I cannot understand 

 how it should do any appreciable damage In any locality, 

 where confined to these waste places. I am continually 

 watching for it in my travels; and just as soon as I can find 

 a place where It is detrimental to growing crops, pasture 

 lands, or meadows, I will gladly report. 



A meddlesome CO'W, and what came of her Inves- 

 tigating turn of mind (and upturning of a bee-hive) Is told by 

 the Pittsburg Chroniclo-Tolegraph of July 30, 1SU7, in the 

 following amusing manner, tho greatly to be regretted : 



Several members of tho family of Benjamin Odell, a pros- 

 perous farmer of Vorplanck's Point, are under tho care of 



