Dbcembkr, 1920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



753 



was great fields of alfalfa and sweet clover 

 all over Michigan. We could not well tell 

 when riding rapidly thru the country which 

 was which — that is, if they had been just 

 freshly cut. Where the growth was high 

 enough to permit blossoms, the beautiful 

 blue of the alfalfa told the stor}'. Both 

 showed a beautiful bright green when 

 everything else seemed hurt by the drouth: 

 and a great part of the fields, at least 

 where the sweet clover grew, was, I suppose, 

 the biennial, for the annual has not as yet 

 gotten into the fields. 



TOBACCO AND THE WAR; FROM A riRUGGIST WHO 

 DOES XOT, NOW, SELL TOBACCO. 



Prifjid Mr. Root : — The cause of tobacco made 

 Kreat strides forward by the war. This is very dis- 

 courasinsr, but nevertheless it is so. It appears 

 that the habit of .smokin:? cisrarets in the army was 

 at a premium. I remember a solicitor called on me 

 in the interest of a donation in favor of the 

 " Knights of Columbus," and a folder was handed 

 to me. On it was a soldier represented as wounded 

 and receiving: aid from a worker in their cause. I 

 could not make out the illustration very well; so I 

 asked what it was that the worker was represeinted 

 as doing for the soldier. " Why," said the solici- 

 tor, " the worker is helping the poor man to a 

 cigaret." 



Tobacco is very poisonous to some, and kills 

 many who have a tobacco heart. It is the cause of 

 more stomach, digestive, and nervous troubles than 

 any other one thing, including whisky. The popu- 

 larity of cigarets during the war, in my opinion, 

 had the influence on our legislatiire to loo.sen the 

 cigaret law to allow them to be sold to people 21 

 years old. 



I contracted the tobacco habit thru the negli- 

 gence of my parents when I was less than 10 years 

 old, while in the inquisitive age, the time the youth 

 is ready to try anything once. The only thing that 

 made me e^er quit it was that it was ruining my 

 health; and about 15 years ago I quit and have 

 never used it since. After ceasing the use of to- 

 bacco, in about 18 months the nicotine leaves the 

 body, and the person is rarely troubled afterward, 

 with the craving for tobacco. Tobacco and whisky 

 go together, and I offer the following in proof. 

 About 20 years ago when the drug stores had the 

 lawful right to handle whisky I had some whisky 

 in Government bond in Kentucky. I released a bar- 

 reJ and when the barrel was empty I sawed it in 

 two for a couple of tubs. In each end on the heads 

 of the barrel, nailed to the inside of the heads was 

 a one-pound plug of "old honesty tobacco," for 

 each head. My opinion of the purity of " Ken- 

 tucky whisky " was somewhat shaken. 



(Not for print under my name.) 



iMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 



THE NBW SWEET CLOVER GROWING WILD IN 

 NEW CASTLE, DEL. 



I am eMclosing two samples of what I have gath- 

 ered for sweet clover, white and yellow variety (an- 

 nual). Will you kindly examine iind either confirm 

 or denv my judgment regarding the samples? 



H. E. WILLIAMS. 



Care Newlyn Hotel, New Castle, Del. 



On receipt of the above we sent for more 

 specimens of the new clover. I knew that 

 the height of the white variety depended on 

 whether it was really the new that is making 

 such a stir just now. And in reply he sent 

 us a photograph of one of the plants and a 

 letter, which we give below. 



Dear Mr. Root : 



In reply to your inquiry as to the height of bush 

 the specimen came from, I am sending you one of 

 three branches taken from a single root of the white 

 species. The yellow grew about 30 inches high, but 

 it was all gone by the second week of August. No 

 Cliristmas tree ever looked prettier to me than did 

 that stock of white sweet clover with its branches 

 filled with blossoms and seeds. When I stood it up 

 in my room the folks inquired what kind of a 

 "weed" that was, and when I told them it was the 

 bws' Christmas tree there was some mirth and 

 laughter. Then they told me, as they have many 

 times before, that I wa.s "bug-house and bee crazy;" 

 l)ut that did not hurt me, and I joined them in a 

 laugh at their ignorance for they call it "gummer" 

 and say it is a curse to tlie farmers "down the 

 State." 



HARRY E. WILLIAMS. 

 New Castle, Del., Oct. 19, 1920. 



Along with the cut giving the above he 

 sends us what he calls "one of the 

 branches." Well, this "branch" when 

 spread out on the floor is a trifle over 9 feet. 

 Now, if this plant pictured above grew from 

 the seed in the one season just past, it is 

 certainly the new variety. He furthermore 

 states in his letter that " more than half a 

 bushel of this white sweet clover seed has 

 been secured." 



NOT OXLV, A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND 

 HONEY;" BUT EGGS ALSO. 



Just now it would look as if nobody knows 

 what this new sweet clover may ultimately 

 amount to. Here in Medina I have been try- 

 ing to get the chickens to eat sweet clover; 

 but there is such a vast variety of green 

 stuff that they have not as yet "acquired the 

 appetite. ' ' Down in my Florida home chick- 

 ens eat everything green — even potatoes. 

 Unless they are carefully fenced off they 

 greedily grab every potato sprout as soon as 

 it is visible above ground. Now I have not 

 tried it yet, but I feel sure they will get a 

 large part of their rations from this new 

 sweet clover if permitted to do so. 



The letter below is what gives me faith: 



I am sending you some pictures and results of 

 an experiment with the annual sweet clover here in 

 British Columbia. I planted the seed in a chicken 

 run, and when the plants were three or four inches 

 tall chickens were turned in on the clover and kept 

 it cropped down close to the ground all summer. In 

 August I transplanted a few plants. 



(The picture! I am sending you is of one single 

 plant grown 46 inches tall in 80 days.) 



They came right on and came into bloom in a few 

 weeks' time and have been in bloom right up to 

 present date, Oct. 20, and look like remaining in 

 bloom for some weeks to come. The above results 

 will show that this clover will stand pasturing close, 

 and still thrive and produce a good crop in. the fall, 

 and also set seed if given a chance. Chickens are 

 very fond of it as a green food. The remainder of 

 the plants in the chicken run I am watching to see 

 if they will winter over and bloom early next year. 



It has been a very dry summer here, and this fall 

 has been very cold and wet. But this unfavorable 

 weather has not affected the growth of this clover 

 in the least. I will let you know later whether this 

 plant winters over here. W. P. LONG. 



1970 Kingsway, Vancouver, B. C, Oct. 20, 1920. 



