1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



503 



[Well, well, friend Dibbern, you have given 

 us something refreshing in several ways. Since 

 you speak of it, I can readily imagine that 

 sweet clover is just the thing. We have places 

 in our neighborhood where it grows higher 

 than the fences, and clear from the wagon- 

 track clear up to the fences. Then to think of 

 sweet clover being ruled out as a noxious 

 weed ! As jou say, it seems a little funny to 

 think so many have been making war on their 

 best friend ; and recent communications on 

 the subject remind us how many different 

 uses we can find for things that are scattered 

 all about us — even the weeds in the fence- 

 corners if we all set about looking the matter 

 up. I will forward a copy of this to the I_. A. 

 W. Good Roads Bulletin.— A. I. R.] 



ALS1KE CLOVER FOR BEES AND STOCK. 



BY F. A. SNELL. 



There is no crop I think that will, in the 

 Northern States, pay the bee-keeper or farmer 

 better to raise than does alsike clover. It 

 blooms profusely, and the blossoms are rich 

 in the secretion of honey — just what the 

 apiarist most desires. The period for the 

 building-up of colonies and their increase in 

 numbers also comes at the time this plant 

 blooms. With frequent rains this bloom will 

 yield honey for six weeks, and a heavy flow 

 for a full month when all conditions are favor- 

 able. It is a heavy bloom of honey-yielding 

 plants that gives a big crop of surplus. It 

 matters not if there is a good deal of white 

 clover growing. The farmer bee - keeper 

 should grow this clover so far as he can rea- 

 sonably do so. More surplus honey will be 

 secured in one month with a heavy bloom 

 than in three or four months with only a fair 

 bloom, other things being equal. I have 

 many times found this proven true as stated 

 above. There is never too good a bloom 

 when we do our best to secure it by generous 

 sowing of seeds producing honey ; hence we 

 should sow the alsike, and then with white 

 clover we may have a generous honey harvest 

 from the clovers, which is of finest quality. 



As a crop for stock, after an experience of 

 over thirty years I can say that the hay from 

 alsike is much superior to that from any other 

 clover I know of, and, of course, is far ahead of 

 timothy hay. The quality is very high. Stock 

 prefer the alsike for pasture or hay to any 

 thing else in the line of hay. The stalks are 

 fine, and the hay is all eaten — no woody stubs 

 left, as with the coarser clovers. If not want- 

 ed for seed it is well to sow a little timothy 

 with it, as it then stands up better. Under 

 favorable conditions, with rich land I have 

 had it grow four feet in length of stalk — usu- 

 ally two to three feet. Its hardiness is a 

 strong feature in its favor. It has with me 

 repeatedly wintered well, when red clover has 

 been killed out almost entirely. I have never 

 known it to winter-kill. It has proven to be 

 entirely reliable. 



This clover seeds at the first blooming. It 

 may be cut when just nicely in bloom, and 



then it will bloom later on in the season, giv- 

 ing nice fall feed for stock and bees. 



Alsike will thrive on land quite moist, and 

 give good crops, where the red clovers will 

 not grow. If this clover is cut and cured a 

 little early, or when nicely out in bloom, it is 

 much relished by hogs ; and when fed in win- 

 ter, in addition to other foods, it contributes 

 materially to the health of the animals, which 

 is a- matter that receives far too little attention 

 from farmers in general. The farmer who 

 keeps both bees and stock has a double inter- 

 est in the matter of growing alsike clover — for 

 the honey and for good feed for the stock 

 upon his farm. 



I have secured a good stand of this clover 

 by sowing the seed on the grain stubble soon 

 after harvest, when we had seasonable rains 

 that would start its growing. A few acres 

 should be at least tried on every farm. I do 

 not know how far south it will do well; but in 

 Northern Illinois, and north of that, it does 

 well, and is much grown in some sections. 



Milledgeville, 111. 



CUBA. 



Some Plain Facts about Havana ; Something of 

 Interest to Bee-keepers. 



BY THE AMERICAN TRAMP. 



I am in a liberal mood to-day; so to those 

 who have an eye on Cuba, I will give advice 

 and what I see here free of all charges. This 

 is more than others will do. Here in Cuba 

 the rule is, charge everybody for any thing 

 and every thing possible. I've been living in 

 Havana the last six weeks, so will tell you of 

 some of the differences between a Cuban city 

 and a northern one. In the first place, I 

 would advise all those who intend coming 

 here to practice rigorously tight-rope walking 

 for a few months in order to be able to keep 

 on the sidewalks of a Cuban city. On the 

 Broadway of Havana (Obispo St.) the side- 

 walks run from ten to thirty inches in width. 

 At certain intervals some benighted Spaniard 

 of the 14th century has a small awning stuck 

 out from his shop window, just high enough 

 to catch one in the neck while balancing along 

 on the curbstone. The only wav to get along 

 with the sidewalks here is to walk in the gut- 

 ter. S 



The outside appearance of the houses here 

 is very poor, while the inside forms quite a 

 contrast, being gotten up quite gaudily with 

 colored glass, fancy tiling, marble, etc. The 

 houses being built of mortar, stone, and ce- 

 ment, with very thick walls and high ceilings, 

 it makes it very cool and comfortable inside. 

 The outside doors are all built thick and solid, 

 while the windows, in place of glass, have 

 iron bars with solid inside blinds. To a stran- 

 ger the houses, with their iron gratings, ap- 

 pear like so many prisons; and the people 

 looking out of them are like so many prison- 

 ers. Then, again, the houses here are not lo- 

 cated, as with us up north, a certain class to 

 each neighborhood. Here you look into one 

 house. There lives a rich Spaniard. Every 



