G L E A KINGS I X P^ K E G U 1- T U K E 



Sr:i'TE.MB6;R, 1921 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH ^ 



many know, I have never been a sv.-eet 

 clover booster and, notwithstanding the 

 fact tliat wo have secured a lot of honey 

 from this plant during last year or two, 

 our attitude towards this plant has changed 

 but little. I believe sweet clover has its 

 place as a pasture plant, and particularly' 

 (m light poor soil it is a great thing for en- 

 riching the land. But wc live in a locality 

 that has been noted as a grower of pure al- 

 sike seed, and from the time the farmers 

 started to grow sweet clover I i)redicted 

 that the alsike industry would be about 

 ruined. Many who disagreed with me have 

 now changed their minds. This year it was 

 a rare thing to see a field of alsike or red 

 (dover that was not badly mixed with sweet 

 clover; and sweet clover, no matter how 

 valuable by itself, will certainly knock out 

 the value of other clovers when mixed Avith 

 them. 



But I started (lut to tell of my limited 

 experience with the annual and biennial 

 varieties. This past spring I sowed some 

 sweet clover broadcast on a very thin mead- 

 ow in the first week in April on the bare 

 stubble land, with no work following the 

 seeiling. The spring was phenomenal for 

 growth, and in three months this biennial 

 sweet clover had reached an average height 

 of about three feet among the other grasses. 

 It was cut in early July, sonie stocks by 

 actual measur(>ments showing a growth of 

 44 inches in the three months- Early iu 

 sjiring some friends in Alabama sent me a 

 l)ackage of .-innual sweet clover seed, ask- 

 ing )ne to try it out. It was sown iu the 

 garden in drills, and yet at three months it 

 was not nearly as high as the biennial va- 

 riety. The only difference uoticed, aside 

 from the growth of the biennial variety, 

 was that the annual " Hubam " was much 

 finer in the stem and was blossoming quite 

 a lot in three months, the biennial then 

 showing no signs of bloom. At this date the 

 annual is about four feet high and a mass 

 of bloom. But I feel sure that, if the bien- 

 nial had not been cut, it wouhl be much 

 higher than the annual is at present, as the 

 former started a second growth after being 

 cut for hay and is now a foot high- This 

 is an exceptional year for growth, and an- 

 other season might tell a different story. 



Another matter in connection with sweet 

 clover is that the honey is not as good as 

 that from alsike. Some may dispute this, 

 but 75 per cent of the users will stay with 

 the alsike or white clover honey and tire of 

 the sweet clover. The honey from sweet 

 clover has a peculiar flavor, which many 

 liken to cinnamon, and while most people 

 like it at first taste, they soon get tired of 

 it. Pure sweet clover is a fine bottling hon- 

 ey so far as color goes, and for that reason 

 I think that it will sell right along, color 



hax'ing a great deal to <lo with the selling 

 of honey with a great many customers. 



At this date we are surrounded with the 

 greatest acreage of buckwheat that we have 

 ever had in the honu' district, and yet 

 scarcely any honey is coming in. Follow- 

 ing much wet weather iu July, we now 

 have dry weather and cool nights, accom- 

 panied by cool days as well. Buckwheat le- 

 cjuires heat and moisture to yield well, and 

 unless the weatlier soon (dianges the croj) 

 will be light in this locality. CJonsiderable 

 sweet clover is still coming in here, but 

 enough buckwheat is also coming in to 

 make the grade go as ''buckwheat,'' e\en 

 if it is 75 per cent or nujre sweet clo\-cr. 



Colonies should go into winter (juarters in 

 good condition so far as young l)ees are con- 

 cerned, as there has been a continual light 

 flow in nearly all localities and queens are 

 laying right along- There is more hoiu\v 

 than usual in the brood-nests, so feeding 

 will likely be a lighter joli than is usually 

 the case. J. L. Byer. 



Markham, Onf- 



In Michigan.— Ti'^' i«^-'*i v(''-^' "f ''<J'''^'.v 



o seems to be whatever 



the buyei' and seller can agree upon. The 

 State Fair management recently asked for 

 prices on 10,000 pounds of extracted honey. 

 In the replies i)rices on extracted hoiu'y 

 were quoted all the way from 12 cents to 

 25 cents pn- ])ound. This shows the diver- 

 sity of opinion as to what the ]irice is to 

 be this year. 



Prospects foi' a fall crop seem to be uni- 

 formly good thruout the State. Recent 

 rains have helped the goldenrod an<l buck- 

 wheat greatly. Goldenrod is now (Aug. 6) 

 yielding in the northern counties. The flow 

 is about two weeks earlier than normal. 



The summer convention of the State Bee- 

 keepers' Association was held at Alpena on 

 August 3 and 4. Beekeepers were present 

 from all parts of the State. The convention 

 indorsed the i)roposed tariff of 2i/^ cents 

 per pound, as written in the Fordney bill. 

 All members of the association and others 

 were urged to write to their congressman 

 and senators, asking them to support the 

 beekeepers in their fight for a higher duty. 



There will be three beekeejiing exhibits at 

 the State Fair at Detroit on September 2-11. 

 The extension department, under the man- 

 agement of Mr. Ewell, will be in the be.' 

 and honey building. The Agricultural Col- 

 lege will have an exhibit in the building de- 

 voted to college exhibits. Apiary inspection 

 will have an exhibit in the department of 

 agriculture exhibit. Surely. . one of these 

 exhibits should reach most of the Fair at- 

 tendants. B. F. Kindig. 



East Lansing, Mich. 



