236 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1920 



great, strong, thrifty plants, with bushy 

 roots and some of the rich soil adhering, 

 get the potatoes three or even four weeks 

 ahead of any body else's. I asked this 

 same grocer today if he knew of any one 

 else in Manatee County who had new po- 

 tatoes, and he said he did not. I have had 

 exclusive control of the market in this same 

 way winter after winter, and yet no one 

 else seems to " catch on." Even our ex- 

 periment stations seem to think it " too 

 much fuss and bother," when I tiy to ex- 

 plain it to them. Now then, you good peo- 

 ple up North! This will probably reach 

 your eyes just at the proper time to start 

 your potatoes in a hot bed or cold frame. 

 Cut them to one eye or as near as you can, 

 and make that one eye send out a good, 

 strong, thrifty plant with roots and leaves 

 by the time they can be set outdoors. When 

 weeds start, the potatoes are so much ahead 

 of them, they (the weeds) get " discourag- 

 ed " and give up and there are no missing 

 hills. I said a while ago, the way to make 

 hens lay was to " love them." Well, that 

 is exactly the way to make potatoes " as- 

 tonish the natives." Wlien I attempt to 

 unload, the women folks on the walk crowd 

 up and want to buy " those beautiful po- 

 tatoes." I tell them they are all sold, and 

 indeed such has been tlae ease for the last 

 three weeks, every single trip. 



From a bed of four rows of potatoes 120 

 feet long, I received $25.00. As I deal with 

 " cash and carry " grocers, I get my pay 

 at evei'y delivery. In this same bed I have 

 grown potatoes year after year for nearly 

 10 years past. My crop is cleaner and 

 handsomer this year than ever before. If 

 you want further particulars as to how I 

 do it, see your back journals of about a 

 year ago. The two windmills, that supply 

 the current for the beautiful Nitrogen 

 lamp that enables me to do this writing, 

 are still working together like a couple of 

 brothers. 



THE NEW ANNUAL WHITE SWEET CLOVER. 



We take it for granted that our readers, 

 at least most of them, read what has been 

 told in Gleanings about this new leg-ume. 

 A thousand persons, more or less, have sent 

 for our little trial package of seeds. After 

 this send all applications for free samples, 

 as above, to Medina, 0., instead of here. 

 Below is a sort of '' summing up," which 

 we clip from the Ohio Farmer- of Mar. 6. 

 With the article the Farmer gave a picture 

 of plants "six feet high, 4^/2 months from 

 planting." 



VALUABLE NEW CLOVER. 



From the Iowa Experiment Station comes tlie 

 annonncoiment of a variety of white sweet clover 

 which develops in one year instead of two, as with 



the common kind. Plants of this new variety have 

 been grown in all parts of the United States and 

 in many foreign countries with almost uniform suc- 

 cess. In some comparative plantings the nerw an- 

 nual sweet clover grew to a height of 4V^ feet, 

 while the ordinary or biennial kind made a growth 

 of 12 to 14 inches. When sown the same season, 

 under as near identical conditions as possible, me- 

 dium red clover made a growth of three to five 

 inches while the annual white sweet clover grew to 

 a height of three to 4 Vz feet. This is a wonderful 

 growth of forage in so short a time. The new crop 

 will soon find a place in restoring humus to worn 

 lands. It furnishes a tremendous growth of valua- 

 ble forage and is a great honey producer. The dis- 

 covery and development of this annual variety of 

 sweet clover is a creditable piece of constructive 

 work by our experiment stations. While the vari- 

 ety was discovered at the Iowa station, it is thought 

 to have originated in Alabama, from which State 

 came some of the seed that was under observation 

 at Ames. In the development and testing out of the 

 new variety practically all of our experiment sta- 

 tions and many leading seedsmen have co-operated. 

 At the Ohio Experiment Station the plants ranged 

 from 15 to 60 inches in height, and ripened seed. 

 In a few years the seed will be on the general seed 

 market, but at this time it is available only in small 

 quantities for testing and developing. 



DEMANDS FOR SEED COME FROM AROUND THE WORLD. 



Following the first trials made with this clover, 

 unheard of prices were offered from Denmark, Aus- 

 tralia, Canada, England, and the far islands of the 

 sea. But no seed was for sale for general distribu- 

 tion. The Iowa station had determined to wait for 

 another year's reports, for additional tests and for 

 further increase of seed before making further dis- 

 persals. 



The reports from another year's trials are all in 

 now, and the Iowa station knows pretty definitely 

 what this clover will do under a great variety of 

 conditions. Its estimate of the probable future of 

 the plant is not based on its own trials alone, but 

 also on trials made by experiment stations, seed 

 companies, and farmers in all parts of the country. 

 Having this information the station is ready to 

 give a few seeds to any farmer who will send a 

 stamped addressed envelope to carry the seed to 

 him. Address Iowa Experiment Station, Ames, la. 



The Eural New Yorker for Mar. 13 con- 

 tains two lengthy articles on this new ac- 

 quisition to agriculture. The seed was first 

 given to the general world thru Gleanings 

 (see page 629, Oct. 1918). Will the friends 

 who received the "little pinch" of seed 

 take notice the seed is now worth more than 

 its weight in gold. 



Aside from the o&er of a few seeds free 

 from the Iowa Station, I know of but one 

 place in the whole wide world where seed 

 can be purchased. See page 110, February 

 issue. 



Special Notices by A. I. Root 



HELPS FOR DEAF PEOPLE. 



On page 744 of the November issue I gave my 

 experience with electric hearins devices. Since 

 then I have purchased a Port-O-Phone instrument 

 made by Tlie PortO-Phone Corporation, 1919-1929 

 Broadway, New York City, and, while it is not all 

 I could desire, it is so much better I have laid asidi? 

 the two other instruments mentioned in the article 

 referred to above. 



