■Al-l 



GI>KANINGS IN BEE OUT. TURE 



June, 1921 



picture I reached in tlie clump and drew 

 out a dasheen about the size of a quart 

 fruit -jar. The women folks made a dasheen 

 soup of the stalks and leaves from this 

 tuber, -and then they pared the tuber by 

 some little work; and the paring, the cooks 

 claim, is one objection to the dasheen. This 

 big tuber was baked whole, keeping it in 

 the oven a long time, and I had a slice of it 

 for my dinner. I pronounced it away ahead 

 of any Irish or sweet potatoes. In fact, it 

 was more like a roasted chestnut than any- 

 thing else I know of. It was not only the 

 most delicious and nourishing of anything 

 in the potato line, but I believe it was al- 

 most as delicious and appetizing as anything 

 that God in his great goodness, to the chil- 

 dren he loves, has furnished us for "our 

 (hiily bread." 



THE NEW ANNUxVL SWEET CLOVER. 

 I have been thinking for some time that 

 we need a shorter name for this new clover; 

 and I was much pleased when I found that 

 a new name had been adopted — ' ' hubam. ' ' 

 The "hu" comes Prof. Hughes, and the 

 * ' bam ' ' from Alabama, the place where it 

 was first found. Well, just now a new fea- 

 ture of this new annual is being rej)orted 

 from different parts of the United States — 

 mostly but not altogether from the States 

 further south. If sown late in the season, 

 and especially where the winter is mild, it 

 will start up again in the spring. I kept 

 sowing seed occasionally Last summer — per- 

 haps as late as Jvily; and among the late- 





A chimp of "Hubam" clover that started up in the 

 spring. Photographed May 9.* 



sown plants about a dozen have started up 

 this spring. I give you a picture of one of 

 them. Some of the plants that have started 

 up show plainly there is no mistake about 

 it, for the old stalks, sometimes nearly as 

 large as a hoe-handle close to the ground, 

 still have the hard dry woody stalk in the 

 center of the clump. The mild winter here 



in Ohio probably has had something to do 

 with it. But here is another thing: 



Burbank and others have suggested that 

 the plant shows a great disposition to sport. 

 While some plants shoot straight up, others 

 spread over the ground like a vine, and still 

 others have peculiar characteristics. Bur- 

 bank suggests that much can be done, prob- 

 ably, by developing special plants. 



Below is a clipping indicating the great 

 height and tremendous spread of a single 

 plant that this clover may make. 



HAS CLOVER that's nine feet high. 



Ame*;, Iowa. — Clover 10 feet high has been grown 

 by 0. E. Honkomp of x\sliton, Iowa, from seed dis- 

 covered by accident by the Iowa State Agriculture 

 College in 1916 and developed there for distribu- 

 tion. Another lowan who grew clover from the 

 same seed had stalks 9 feet tall, that had to be 

 propped up to keep them from breaking with the 

 weight of blossoms and bees. 



Just think of it! one little clover need in 

 three or four months will produce a clover 

 like the above. Now if the plant from one 

 little seed will do so much, what may be 

 expected from a plant, such as I have pic- 

 tured, in place of the tiny seedling? I can 

 not give credit to the source of the clipping, 

 for none was given me. 



By the way, we still have seed to give 

 away to our subscribers; and I am glad to 

 tell you we have a better supply than we 

 have had heretofore, so we can give you a 

 little more than the small pinch we have 

 been sending out. 



If you want a larger quantity of the seed, 

 see advertisement of the Fields Seed Co., 

 page 890. 



*.\nother picture in next issue will show growth 

 the plant makes in 30 days. 



THE ANNUAL SWEET CLOVER. 



My first experience with growing the annual 

 sweet clover began last April, when I purchased a 

 package of seed from A. A. Berry's Seed Co., Cla- 

 rinda, Iowa, from which the plant described a 

 few lines below was raised. I mixed the seed 

 with biennial sweet clover seed, and sowed in 

 black waxy soil in the latter half of April. For 

 .some weeks after the seed came up I could not see 

 any difference in tRei growth. But later the annual 

 liegan to shoot up and make rapid growth over the 

 biennial. One plant started blooming about Sept. 

 1, when it was 7 feeit in height. On Sept. 13 I meas- 

 ured it again, and its height was 8 V2 feet. No 

 manure or fertilizer was applied to the soil except 

 a little lime. Oct. 18 I commenced clipping off the 

 seed stems as they ripened ; they averaged 6 to 9 

 inches in length. From Sept. 13 to Oct. 24 it was 

 extremely dry ; as a result the plant made very 

 little growth, but had some bloom at this date, when 

 I took some measurements of main stock and 

 branches. The stock was 9 feet high, 1% inches 

 iu diameter at base of plant. It gave off 12 branches, 

 the first at 4 feet 6 inches and the twelfth at 5 

 feet 10 inches. Every seed stem was well filled. It 

 is a wonderful plant for hay pasture as well as for 

 enriching the soil, by plowing under in July. But 

 its greatest value to the beekeeper is in the late 

 bee pasture. It is better than buckwheat, as it lasts 

 longer and produces better honey. The bloom of 

 the biennial is practically past before it begins, but 

 its last bloom is a feast for the bees up to freezing 

 weather. H. Zinn. 



Pataskala, O., Nov. 15, 1920. 



