836 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1. 



seed has fully matured, so it does not require 

 harvesting "just at the right time," as is the 

 case with other varieties. 



As to its feeding value, I think it superior 

 to any other kind, and my neighbors all agree 

 with me on this point. The stalks, not being 

 coarse and woody, it is eaten absolutely clean 

 by all kinds of stock — no waste. 



Some farmers claim it does not make as 

 good an after-growth as the red during dry 

 seasons ; but I can see no great difference in 

 this respect. The dairy farmers in some parts 

 of this State prefer to mix the seed in equal 

 portions, claiming the best results in this way. 



The seed may be sown on spring grain. 

 This gives best results in our part of the State 

 with all varieties of clover. Good catches are 

 also usually had by sowing on winter rye or 

 wheat in early spring before the frost is all 

 out. We also sometimes sow on old timothy 

 meadows with good results in early spring. 



Mixed with timothy, 4 pounds per acre of 

 the alsike issufificient ; alsike alone, 6 to 8 lbs. 

 per acre, or about half the amount usually 

 sown of other kinds. I have four acres, sown 

 two years ago, 6 lbs. to the acre, and the clo- 

 ver now stands a little thicker on the ground 

 than I like it. 



Those who will sow red clover should always 

 mix some alsike with it. The alsike, being 

 more hardy, occupies the spaces where the red 

 fails to grow. When we sow with timothy we 

 sow 2 qts. of aliike and 6 of timothy per acre. 



This season, up to June 27 we had the worst 

 drouth ever known in this part of the State. 

 Under these unfavorable conditions the alsike 

 made the best and largest hay crop of all our 

 grains. This, it seems to me, would indicate 

 it would do well in warmer climates than 

 ours. 



Alsike clover is the best honey-plant we 

 have in Northern Wisconsin. I have never 

 known it to fail to yield nectar abundantly 

 since it was first grown here, about ten years 

 ago. During our severe drouth last June it 

 was the only plant here our bees worked on, 

 white clover being an entire failure with us. 

 My 42 colonies stored 30 lbs. each from the 

 first crop. Since July 1 we have had abundant 

 rains and warm weather, and the bees have 

 been working on the after crop the past ten 

 days, and are still storing honey from the al- 

 sike. My plan has been to encourage my 

 neighbors to sow alsike by making a present 

 to each member of the family a nice section of 

 alsike honey, telling them that it was a small 

 portion of the honey my bees gathered from 

 their clover. All bee-keepers should so en- 

 courage their neighbors by giving them a taste 

 of honey or by donating at least seed to give 

 it a trial. 



Chapman, Wis., Aug. 11. 



GROWING CLOVER. 



Second Prize Article. 



BY WM. W. CASE. 



As the growing of clover in itself is one of 

 the most important elements in successful ag- 

 riculture, so, perhaps, is of like importance 



the best method of growing and propagating 

 the same. The ordinary red clover is all right 

 in itself when it takes and grows and does not 

 freeze to death the first winter ; but it is un- 

 certain, to say the least. The objections to 

 the mammoth are too well known to be enu- 

 merated here. In itself the alsike is much more 

 likely to take, being scarcely affected at all by 

 so-called " clover sick " soils; and owing to 

 its rooting qualities it is many times less liable 

 to damage from freezing out. It is, however, 

 open to the objection that, as usually cared 

 for, it gives no after-growth or second crop, 

 for the reason that it is not cut until after the 

 seed is produced, it being fully fertilized by 

 the honey-bee, while the red does not produce 

 seed until late in the season, as Dame Nature 

 has to take most of the season to raise the 

 proper number of suitable insects for its pol- 

 lination, when, like all' the clover family, it 

 does not again grow up. This disadvantage 

 may be overcome by cutting when about half 

 done blossoming, but this process ruins the 

 prospect for honey. 



The successful method of growing clover as 

 perfected in our county, mainly through my 

 own efforts and perseverance, is as follows : 



At the usual time of sowing clover in the 

 spring on wheat and rye, mix red and alsike 

 clover seed in the proportion of 2 Ihs. of red 

 to one of alsike, and apply with timothy, 2 

 lbs., at rate of not less than 6 quarts to the 

 acre, and as much more as experience with 

 your own peculiar soils shows will make a 

 heavy stand. Should the first trial prove a 

 failure, if necessary, furnish the farmers seed 

 at half cost for a second trial, and eventually 

 you will get an alsike convert who would not 

 do without it even if the seed cost .$30 per 

 bushel. In the following hay crop, without 

 interfering with the red crop in the least, it 

 will, on the average, add 40 per cent to the 

 yield of hay, while the sfcond crop of red will 

 follow as though no alsike had been grown. 

 I have frequently seen it grow to a height of 20 

 to 24 inches the first season after removal of 

 the wheat or rye. 



Fully three-fourths of the clover sown 

 throughout this section of country contains 

 its proper share of alsike ; and as practically 

 all the red clover froze to death last winter, 

 and scarcely none of the alsike, next spring 

 will see a far higher per cent of alsike sown 

 than in the past. 



I have two neighbors, one on either side of 

 me. One said at last haying, " I gained fully 

 half of my hay crop from the alsike ; " said 

 the other, " My hay crop was far short of what 

 it would have been had I sown alsike," he 

 thinking he had not time to drive ten miles 

 for the seed. Each said, "All my red clover 

 froze to death." 



As a stock feed, alsike clover has no supe- 

 rior, if any equal, in the country. The stem 

 is fine and entirely smooth, and is entirely 

 eaten by stock, while the red is frequently 

 coarse and dusty, and always highly pubes- 

 cent. As a nitrogen gatherer it is the equal 

 of any clover grown. As a honey-producer it 

 is the equal of any honey-plant in the north- 

 ern States ; while as a hay crop it is the supe- 



