1()(5 



GLEANINGS IN KEE CULTURE. 



Mai:. 1. 



the ground was not in proper condition. A sam- 

 ple of seed should be tested before pui'chasing. 



In the second case, a short crop of seed is 

 generally due to a lack of judgment as to the 

 right time for cutting, and to improper han- 

 dling afterward. . 



In answer to the third objection, it way be 

 stated that, though the yield of hay may not be 

 as great, the value of the whole product is 

 greatei-. 



Finally, the hay is better than red-clover hay, 

 the steins beingless woody, and devoid of the 

 tine hairs which i-ender red clover hay "dusty." 

 In this market, timothy mixed with alsike is 

 beginning to be rated No. 1, while timothy mix- 

 ed with red clover is No. 2. As to its effect upon 

 butler, a few roots, carrots or the like, fed to 

 cows will I'emedy that. Often failure is the 

 ivsult 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. Mi'. McCall. has given to the al- 

 sike-clover plant the same kind of intelligent 

 and careful study that Mi'. 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 in- 

 teresting 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 hai'rowed in the spring 

 with a fine-toothed hari'ow — an opei-ation great- 

 ly 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 recom- 

 mended, but Mr. M. believes that better results 

 on the whole are obtained by a more 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, 

 while overcrowded ones do not increase it. It 

 is by attention to small details that success 

 is won in this as in any other undertaking. If 

 the seeding is done by hand, mixing the seed 

 thorowiJily with several times its bulk of sand 

 may aid in its even distribution. 



The s(^<'d may be sown with oats, if preferred, 

 provided the ground can be put into proper con- 

 dition early enough. 



Soon after the removal of the wheat from the 

 ground, the young clover-plants should cover 

 it. They often make such growth as to blos- 

 som and mature seed the first season. Possibly, 

 by sowing the seed alone, and under the most 

 favorable conditions, a fair crop of seed might 

 be obtained the first season: but the second 

 season is the one depended upon for the main 

 crop, under ordinary circumstances. In the au- 

 tumn and early spring the field may be lightly 

 pastured, preferably by sheep, but care should 

 be taken to remove the stock before damage is 

 don(>. By early .June the clover-field should be 

 a sheet of vivid green, with no earth visible. 

 Later, tlie pink and white lilossorns appear, 

 borne at the ends of llie main stalk and brancli- 

 es. 'I'his is the bloom which will furnish the 

 largest and best i)art of thi' seed crop. Keep 

 watch of them, for they soon disappear under a 

 set of somcnvhat smaller blossoms, which in 

 turn give way to another, the bloom continuing 

 several weeks. During this time tiie bee does 

 double duty in imi)roving the yield of seed by 



cross-fertilization and in gatiiering the nectar 

 with which the florets are abundantly stored. 

 Mr. M., realizing the value of its labors, pur- 

 chased ten colonies, and feels that they paid for 

 themselves in the first season by increasing the 

 yield of clover seed, to say nothing of their gath- 

 ering .300 lbs. of the finest honey in the world. 

 Had he been an experienced bee-keeper, instead 

 of the beginner that he was, the honey crop 

 would have been twice as great. A week or 

 more of bloom passed before the boxes were put 

 on at all. 



To go back to those first clover-blossoms — 

 they will have become a rich brown in color, 

 and nediiji dry. Now is the time to cut it. 

 Just here is where a day's delay means partial 

 ifnot total failure. Waiting for the later and 

 inferior heads to ripen, the earlier and more 

 valuable ones, becoming entirely dry. burst 

 their pods and scatter the seed upon the ground. 

 When cut at the proper stage, a large part of 

 the foliage is green and tender, and, with the 

 immature heads, furnishes a hay equal if not 

 superior to that from the fii'st growth of red 

 clover. 



After it is cut. moisture does not injure al- 

 sike as readily as it does other hay. To avoid 

 scattering the seed, the liay should be handled 

 as little as possible during the curing, and then 

 only when there is moisture enough in the at- 

 mosphere to keep the stems pliable — never in 

 the heat of the day. This is the second point 

 of extreme importance. Drawing should be 

 done during the earlier part of the day. after 

 the dew is off, and again in the latter part of 

 the afternoon. Subsequent operations need no 

 comment until the seed is ready for the clean- 

 ing process. In order to command the highest 

 price in the market, the seed must be perfectly 

 clean: but as it is so much smaller than any 

 other seed which a fanner handles, the fanning- 

 mill requires finer screens than those ordinarily 

 used, and the blast controlled so that seed is 

 not blown off in the chaff. Though it requires 

 skill and a good machine to perfectly clean 

 seed without waste, caie and ingenuity will 

 often accomplish the desired result with slight 

 expense, and add many dollars to the value of 

 the crop. 



The first seeding may lie allowed to remain 

 on the ground during the third and fourth sea- 

 sons, and possibly fair crops may be had; but. 

 on the whole, it is probably better to turn it 

 under after the first cutting, and use the ground 

 for some other crop— potatoes for instance. 



Tlie past season was an exceedingly poor one 

 for clover in this locality; but alsike yielded 

 double the amount of seed obtained from red 

 clover when the latter was worth the cutting. 

 Many did not cut it at all. 



P'lint. Mich.. FVb. l.'i. Emit.v E. Wkst. 



WAX FLOWERS. 



MKS. AXTELL TEI.I.S HOW TO MAKK THKM. 



As bee-keepers are the producers of wax. it is 

 very befitting that their homes be adorned with 

 wax flowers, which imitate the natural flower 

 more nearly than any thing else. Often, when 

 I have been making flowers, some one would 

 come in, not noticing the material and tools, 

 and remark. •• What pretty flowers I "" I would 

 hand them to them, and tell them lo smell of 

 them, \\hich they would do. thinking they were 

 natural flowers; but the smell of the wax would 

 reveal tlnur nature. 



To make a large wreath, a glass the size of 32x 

 "24, three packages of single white wax sheets, 

 one of double-strength white for pond-lily, one 

 of red. one of green, one of yellow, and one of or- 



