302 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May, 1921 



any such good results as ]>y taking a bath 

 when the sweat-pores are al! wide open and 

 discharging "wickedness." And I am not 

 sure but there is much better chance of 

 making a man a Christian, by frequent bath- 

 ing such as I have described. While I do not 

 believe in divorces, I might almost say un- 

 der any circumstances, I do think the poor 

 woman mentioned at the head of this article 

 had almost as good a reason as any. 

 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!iiiiiiiiiiiiiiNiiiii!iiiniiiiiiiH:ii^ 



STILL ANOTHER NEW SWEET CLOVER. 



The letter below, with appended newspa- 

 per clipping, is a surprise to me; and if it 

 happens that it proves to be a paying invest- 

 ment just for the seed and nothimj else, I 

 think it is going to be one of the "happy 

 surprises" to all beekeepers. Where the 

 clover field is allowed to produce seed, of 

 course we should get honey — all there is of 

 it. As the names of parties and full particu- 

 lars are supplied, there is no question about 

 the exact truth of the statement. And we 

 owe our thanks to our good friend Ness for 

 giving to the beekeeping world what has al- 

 ready been done in the way of growing 

 sweet clover for seed. 



I herewith inclose a clipping from our local paper 

 about a new kind of sweet clover. 



Clifford Collins Farm is about 3 or 4 miles from 

 my place, and I know all about the sweet clover 

 which they grow. 



I have a yard of bees right is Collins' orchard 

 which does some good to the seed crop. 



Certainly this white sweet clover is the kind for 

 the farmer to grow. Another neighbor farmer got 

 3500 pounds of seed of this kind of sweet clover 

 from less than 4 acres. 



Those farmers are selling this seed for 30c and 32c 

 per pound, and there is a big demand for it. 



Morris, lU., Sept. 14, 1920. L. L. NESS. 



THIRTEEN BUSHELS TO A THE ACRE IS HIGH RECORD. 



F. E. LONGMIRE, 



Farm Adviser for Grundy County. 



Thirteen bushels of sweet clover seed per acre on 

 52 acres is the record on a large acreage so far re- 

 ported. The yield is reported the same on two dif- 

 ferent fields of 31 and 21 acres farmed by Asa Van 

 Zandt and Peter Breit, respectively, on the Clifford 

 Collins farms. This is not the common, large, coarse 

 sweet clover, but a new strain that has been re- 

 cently branded the Grundy County Sweet Clover. 

 The origin of this clover is not known. It was 

 bought for seeding by two individual farmers in this 

 county five years ago and was not known to be dif- 

 ferent kind until it produced seed. 



It has several distinct characteristics, that are 

 noticeable. It is smaller than the large kind, the 

 average height being around four feet; it is more 

 uniform in size and in ripening seed; it is a heavy 

 seed producer and ripens seed three weefes ahead 

 of the large sweet clover. July 15 was the date for 

 harvesting seed this year. This early ripening habit 

 makes it possible to harvest and hull it before 

 threshing the small grain. 



LEAVES ARE SMALLER. 



Another difference is that the leaves are smaller 

 and narrower and a slightly different green from 

 the large sweet clover. Being smaller and finer 

 stemmed it makes better hay than the large kind, 

 altho it is not as distinctly a hay crop as alfalfa. It 

 has practically the same habits of growth and soil 

 requirements as the large kind and is a good soil 

 builder. 



It is not so good a i)asture i-iop us large sweet 

 clover as it matures earlier, but tor a seed-producing 

 crop used in regular rotation it has decidedly supe- 

 rior qualities. It does not require clipping, which 

 eliminates the hazard of killing at that time, and its 

 height and uniform ripening make it an easy crop 

 to harvest for seed. A great many farmers have 

 become interested in this new type of sweet clover 

 and are planning to seed some of it next year. 



■YIELD IS UNUSUAL. 



Thirteen-busliels yields are unusual ; however, five 

 and six bushels per acre are quite common. William 

 Hadden of Mazon harvested five bushels of excel- 

 lent seed per acre on 60 acres. Maurice Walsh of 

 Mazon harvested 6 Vz bushels on 40 acres. Robert 

 McLuckie, of Coal City and Alex Bell of Morris 

 have splendid fields that are expected to yield heav- 

 ily. 



Several different kinds of sweet clover that a few 

 years ago were classified as noxious weeds and were 

 the subject of much hard work in attempting to de- 

 stroy them, are now used as a regular crop and are 

 improving the soil and making money for those 

 growing them. 



TWO CROPS IN ONE SEASON IN TEXAS. 



In regard to the new annual sweet clover, we now 

 have the second crop matured on the same ground, 

 but the weather was so hot the second crop did not 

 do as well as the first. 



About Jan. 1st we transplanted some small vol- 

 unteer plants, which by March 15th were beginning 

 to bloom. Six weeks later these plants had reached 

 a height of nearly six feet, and, as much of the seed 

 had matured, we cut the ripest plants and re-seeded 

 the ground, using the new-crop seed. 



On account of extremely hot weather we did not 

 secure a good stand, neither did the plants grow so 

 thrifty as the first crop. They commenced blooming 

 when about 12 inches high and finally reached a 

 height of three feet, but the plants were spindling, 

 and many of the seed have not matured well. 



Bees worked the second crop fairly well, but noth- 

 ing like they did the first. 



From our experience, this season, I will say that 

 results do not justify the effort required to grow the 

 second crop. 



BLOOMS AND MATURES IN BERMUDA GRASS TURF. 



This is the hardiest clover I ever saw. Volunteer 

 plants thrive in a Bermuda grass turf, and bloom 

 and mature seed. No inoculation of soil is required 

 here. J. D. YANCEY. 



Bay City, Texas., Sept. 20, 1920. 



BERMUDA NEW POTATOES. 

 On page 235, April Gleanings, I mentioned 

 Bermuda potatoes, and took it for granted 

 that the Bermuda barrels held about 11 

 pecks (165 pounds) like our American bar- 

 rels; but, in Cleveland Plain Dealer for 

 March 15, I find "New Bermudas, $14.00 a 

 barrel of 100 pounds. ' ' The above price 

 for not quite seven pecks would be over 

 $8.00 a bushel. We can grow just as good 

 ones here, and you can do it rUjht off now 

 if you get at it as soon as you see this. 



"grow a VEGETABLE GARDEN," 



The above is the title of a very attractive little 

 pamphlet of 44 pages, most beautifully illustrated 

 on nearly every page. It is furnished by the Inter- 

 national Harvester Co., Chicago, 111. It will be sent 

 postpaid for the small sum of 5 cents. 



This same company furnishes also a most valu- 

 able pamphlet of 66 pages on sweet clover. The 

 price of the latter, however, is 10 cents instead of 

 5. .Vs tliis book was published in 1916 it does not 

 touch on the annual sweet clover; but the facts it 

 gives, especially in regard to nitrogen-gathering bac- 

 teria, with illustrations, are exceedingly valuable. 



