1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



413 



The sweet clover harvester gathers the seed and leaves the straw on the land 



to see for ourselves whether there 

 was any easier way to harvest sweet- 

 clover seed than to beat it out with a 

 fork over a canvas cloth. It was in 

 October, too late for the seed crop 

 to be at its best, as much of it had 

 already shattered off. The machine 

 was at work on the farm of the Rice 

 Brothers, near Discus, 111., and sure 

 enough, it was getting the seed as it 

 went. There was forty acres in the 

 field and it was a wilderness of sweet 

 clover, much higher than a man's 

 head and so thick that one could 

 hardly walk through it. Instead of 

 the horses being hitched atiead of 

 the machine and pulling it, like a self- 

 binder, they were' hitched behind, 

 and pushed it. It was, in fact, a 

 case of "the cart before the horse." 

 The first picture will give a good 

 idea of the appearance of the ma- 

 chine as it came to the end of the 

 row. 



Four horses are used in reverse po- 

 sition ; two on each side of the 

 tongue, so, although they pull the 

 machine, it really precedes them. 

 Two wheels carry the machine 

 while the end of the tongue is sup- 

 ported by a caster wheel to facili- 

 tate turning at the corners. A chain 

 sprocket on the large axle drives an 

 overhead shaft bearing four large 

 paddle or threshing wheels at a 

 high speed. Parting guides tend to 

 compact the stalks as they are 

 drawn through a series of fin- 

 shaped paddles, some rigid, others 

 mounted on the sides of the thresh- 

 ing wheels. These notched paddles 

 mesh loosely. When the seed is ripe 

 the stalks are stiff, and being drawn 

 through are bent into a series of an- 

 gles which hold while the seed is 

 beaten off. A draft of air drops the 

 seed into conveyors that carry it 

 back to a bin, where it is screened 

 and sacked. 



Two men and four horses operate 

 the outfit. One man drives the team 

 and the other tends to the screening 

 and sacking. 



The machine is easily raised or 

 low-ered at will and takes a swath 9 

 feet wide. It runs easier and faster 

 than a binder, and when the field is 



finished both harvesting and thrash- 

 ing are done. 



The machine is the invention of 

 G. P. Leudke, of Springfield, III., who 

 has only placed a few of them on the 

 market as yet. A number of minor 

 details present themselves for im- 

 provement, but in the main he seems 

 to have hit upon a really practical 

 plan of harvesting sweet clover. An 

 economical method of harvesting the 

 seed seems to be all that remains in 

 the way of the rapid extension of the 

 acreage seeded to the best honey- 

 producing plant known to the Middle 

 West. After riding across the field 

 on top of the machine and watch- 

 ing the seed drop into the troughs 

 for its retention, the writer was con- 

 vinced that the trick is done and at 

 last a practical harvester is here. 

 Success to Mr. Luedke, the well- 

 wishing of all beekeepers are with 

 him. 



"SELFISHNESS" 



By E. G. LeStourgeon 

 Ever since men organized them- 

 selves to build the tower of Babel, 

 men have organized to protect their 

 assumed rights or trade interests. 

 Nations, empires, ententes, labor 

 unions, churches, lodges, farmers' 



and even beekeepers' organizations 

 are founded on this same desire. 

 Into each enters the idea of selfish- 

 ness, and the per cent of selfishness 

 has generally governed the length of 

 life of the organization. The big I 

 and the little you of our modern 

 slang, because I belong and you do 

 not, is responsible for the world- 

 wide unrest today. 



The ideal of the narrow, selfish or- 

 ganization is now fighting its last 

 stand. No group can exist apart, and 

 yet e.x-pcct to live from the common 

 source. 



From the organization of the first 

 beekeepers' association there has 

 been a line of this narrow self-inter- 

 est manifest. To be a member one 

 must not only be a beekeeper, but 

 also one that believes as we believe. 

 So strong was this sentiment that al- 

 most all of the older organizations 

 became mutual admiration societies, 

 took in no new members and died 

 with the last patriarch. 



Very naturally these societies did 

 little but defend the system of bee- 

 keeping advocated by its members. 

 Their discussions wer-.; mostly on 

 theoretical subjects and were settled 

 by debate rather than experiment. 



While the old associations were 

 dogmatically doing their best, a new 

 race of beekeepers was coming into 

 existence. In favored sections men 

 were building apiaries that num- 

 bered in hundreds instead of tens. 

 These men were devoting their whole 

 time to beekeeping and had to make 

 it pay. They cared little for theory 

 and developed practices of their own. 

 Their problems were disease, trans- 

 portation, markets and supplies. Con- 

 sequently there arose a second set 

 of beekeepers' associations. These 

 men were forced to band themselves 

 together for common protection. To 

 them the object of the association 

 meant bread and butter, dollars and 

 cents, not pleasure. By associating 

 they could put on disease control 

 measures ; they could buy supplies in 

 car lots; they could sell direct to 

 the wholesale dealer; and they could 

 get hearings from the Railroad Com- 

 mission relative to freight rates. 



But even these groups were too 



Side view of harvester, showing how horses are hitched 



