1338 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



home, a nice patch, probably planted there by an old 

 settler. I now live just across the road from that or- 

 chard, and that patch is there yet. The land is farm- 

 ed all around that orchard, but not a plant of that 

 sweet clover can I find in the field ten steps away, 

 without any pains whatever to eradicate it except to 

 till the land as usual. 



A few years ago many of my neighbors were afraid 

 of it, but now they know better. One of them asked 

 me if I could sell him half a bushel of the seed last 

 fall, as he wished to seed a little patch of bottom 

 ground where the river had washed away the soil. 

 Several of my neighbors have begun to sow sweet clo- 

 ver on low ground where the river washes badly. 

 About two miles from here there is lots of sweet clo- 

 ver along the roadside. Near that place are 12 acres 

 of bottom land that was made almost worthless by 

 high water sweeping the soil off. An enterprising 

 young farmer bought this land at about half price, he 

 having noticed that the rains had washed the sweet- 

 clover seed from along the road above, down across 

 this field, and it had become thickly set to sweet clo- 

 ver. This field had lain idle for one year then; and as 

 the high water came down again the next spring this 

 sweet clover caught lots of the sediment, and sweet 

 clover and all was plowed under. That land is now 

 good for 60 to 75 bushels of corn every favorable year. 

 That one transaction did more to gain friends for 

 sweet clover than ever so many arguments. 



About eight years ago I lived in Henry Co., 111., and 

 I cut and put up a small stack of first year's growth 

 of sweet clover, and in the winter the cows seemed to 

 relish it as well as red clover, and much better than 

 timothy. 



This spring I tried a little experiment. I had dug a 

 well 57 feet deep. The last dirt was dumped in one 

 pile. This was blue clay and soapston"^. I then went 

 and dug up a plant of sweet clover and transplanted 

 on this pile. That plant grew as thrifty as any, and 

 blossomed, and bore an abundance of seed. Bees were 

 seen on the blossoms for several weeks. This proves 

 that sweet clover is one of the most wonderful nitro- 

 gen-gathering plants in existence. I should like to 

 ask if sand vetch will grow on such soil. Some time 

 ago I saw an account where a jar of soil was analyzed, 

 and then a soy bean planted in it. After the bean 

 had made its growth it was removed, and the soil was 

 again analyzed, and the jar of soil found to contain 

 more nitrogen than before the bean had grown in it; 

 so the soy bean not only got all its nitrogen from the 

 air, but even stored some from the air into the soil. 

 The soy bean is considered a good nitrogen-gatherer, 

 but I doubt whether it would grow well on soil taken 

 50 feet below the surface. Of course, sweet clover 

 must have also potash and phosphorus, but I think 

 my experience shows that these elements are at a 

 considerable depth in the earth. The sweet clover 

 would .not only gather nitrogen from the air and 

 store it in the soil, but it would, with its long roots, 

 gather the other elements from quite a depth and 

 bring them near the surface. Many worthless farms 

 could be made very valuable with this sweet clover, 

 as no high hill or poor steep side-hill is too poor for 

 sweet clover to grow on. 



The wheels, etc.. that move the seed from place to 

 place along a public highway also move the nitrogen- 

 gathering germs there, for it grows so well along the 

 highway, even in barren clay banks. 



Much has been said discouraging the planting of 

 any thing for honey alone; but when we plant sweet 

 clover on poor soil the enriching of that soil is well 

 worth the trouble and expente. saying nothing about 

 honey. The value of sweet clover is just beginning 

 to be known. It deserves much more credit than it 

 has ever received from either the farmer or bee-keep- 

 er. J. E. Johnson. 



Williamsfleld, 111. 



CHESTNUT, PECAN, AND OTHER NUT-TBBES. 



I am a reader of Gleanings, and do not miss much 

 appearing from your pen. A short time ago you men- 

 tioned having a chestnut-tree tbat was failing to fruit 

 after blossoming, and that the experiment station 

 thought it might be because no chestnut-tree stood 

 near it to pollenize its flowers. I believe this is an 

 error. All nut-trees I have ever known were self-fer- 

 tile. I have on my grounds a pecan-tree, the result of 

 a nut planted 15 years ago, and which is now nearly 

 if not quite 50 feet high, and which has been bear- 

 ing since it was 8 years old. The first year it had 

 mal-) flowers (catkins); it bore nuts, but I could not 

 find any female flowers, and did not until the next 

 year. Have you ever examined a nitt-tree when in 



blossom, looking for the female flowers? They are 

 very inconspicuous, and could be easily overlooked 

 even by the careful observer. On the other hand, the 

 male flowers are very conspicuous, and appear al- 

 ways, I believe, on the last year's or earlier growth, 

 while the female or fruiting flowers always appear on 

 the tip of the present year's growth, and are little 

 more than minute waxy nuts. My pecan-tree has ex- 

 cited considerable interest, as it was not generally 

 known that it was hardy in Ohio. So far as I could 

 see. not a bud was injured, even during the winter of 

 1899, when the thermometer registered more than 30 

 below zero, and the tree bears every year, not as the 

 hickory, on alternate years only. The nut is as sweet 

 as any I ever tasted, and quite free from the usual pig- 

 nut flavor so common with the natural pecan. The 

 nut I planted was sent to me by Judge Miller, of Miss- 

 ouri, a well-known writer on horticultural subjects, 

 and he said it was from a tree which bore nuts of un- 

 usually large size and good quality. I also have 

 growing on my place Persian or English walnuts, one 

 of Burbank's hybrid walnuts, and a tree that would 

 seem to be a hybrid between the Persian walnut and 

 the buttt rnut, but none of these have yet fruited. 



The pecans are wholly free from worms, I never 

 having seen one nut in the seven years the tree has 

 fruited that had a worm or a wormhole in it. Hicko- 

 rynuts here are very wormy, nuts from some trees be- 

 ing more than half wormy, while none are free. 



Sidney, O.. Feb. 14. E. P. Robinson. 



Many thanks for the information you give 

 us, friend R. You are doubtless right, and 

 I will keep a more careful watch on our 

 chestnut-tree. When I am again in your vi- 

 cinity I promise myself the pleasure of see- 

 ing a bearing pecan-tree in Ohio. 



Temperance. 



GOOD FOK THE METHODIST CHURCH — AN AD- 

 VANCED MOVEMENT. 



We clip the following from the Cleveland 

 Leader, dated Columbus, Ind., Sept. 27: 



Charles W Fairbanks, Vice-president of the United 

 States was defeated to-day for delegate to the quad- 

 rennial conference of the Methodist Church after one 

 of the most bitter contests that was ever waged in a 

 religious assembly. 



The temperance laymen, many of them long associ- 

 ated with Mr. Fairbanks in the church, refused to 

 condone what they regarded as an offense against 

 temperance. The distinguished candidate went down 

 because of having served cocktails and three kinds of 

 wine at the dinner given to President Roosevelt on 

 Memorial day at the Fairbanks home. 



May the Lord be praised that we have at 

 least one church that is not afraid to "call 

 down " even the Vice-president of the United 

 States when he so far forgets himself or 

 fails to "sit up and take notice" of what the 

 good men and women of all churches in 

 this land of ours are now demanding along 

 the lines of temperance reform. 



Later.— Wq clip the following from the 

 Woman's National Daily: 



Of deep political significance is the defeat of "Vice- 

 president Fairbanks for delegate to the Methodist 

 conference. It probably means that whatever small 

 chance he may have had for the presidential nomina- 

 tion has been destroyed. The Republicans are not 

 going to have any cocktail issue in the next cam- 

 paign. They are not going to offend the temperance 

 people, because the temperance vote may mean very 

 much in the next contest. It is extremely significant 

 that a man like Fairbanks is turned down simply be- 

 cause he had cocktails and wines on his table at din- 

 ner to the President. It shows that the prohibition 

 advocates are growing stronger and stronger in the 

 country, and must be reckoned as a factor in political 

 contests of the future. 



