THE AMERICA]!? BEE JOURNAL. 



It ripens, in the latitude of Chicago, 

 in the latter part of July, but needs 

 not to be cut until August, if tlie 

 weather should be unfavorable. The 

 crop of seed is always obtained from 

 this cutting, in which respect it is 

 unlike the common red. It is not 

 advisable to cut this clover more than 

 once each season, but it may be pas- 

 tured moderately during the fall. 

 When cut for seed, it may be threshed 

 from the field with a common clover 

 machine ; but, if more convenient, it 

 may be stacked and threshed during 

 the" fall or winter. 



Care should be taken in handling 

 this clover, as the seed shells very 

 easily ; but this is looked upon as a 

 point in its favor, as the land thus 

 becomes re-seeded every year, and so 

 early, that if the autumn proves to be 

 a wet one, nearly every grain will 

 germinate, and a "fine growth of new 

 plants will be secured for the follow- 

 ing year. The seed is very fine— being 

 about tlie size and shape of white 

 clover— a pound containing, it is said, 

 about 600.000 grains, or three times as 

 many as the common red. The seed- 

 pods contain 1, 2, 3, and sometimes 4 

 grains, which explains why it is so 

 prolific- a moderate yield being from 

 150 to 200 pounds of seed to the acre. 



When sowed by itself, 4 pounds of 

 seed is a great plenty for an acre ; 

 but this is not the best plan to pursue, 

 especially with our dry western prai- 

 ries. It is much the better way to 

 mix Alsike with timothy or the com- 

 mon red. or with both. When thus 

 mixed, they are a help to each other. 

 The Alsike, being a native of a cold 

 climate, does not winter-kill, and be- 

 sides, it acts as a mulch in winter and 

 spring to the common red, and keeps 

 the latter from being destroyed by the 

 heaving-out process. As the red 

 clover shades the roots of the Alsike, 

 which grows close to the surface, it 

 protects the latter from the effects of 

 arouth. The timothy and red clover 

 being both upright growers, lift and 

 keep up the Alsike from the ground, 

 which is very desirable. The stem of 

 the Alsike is too fine to support its 

 many branches in an upright position, 

 and hence is more inclined to lodge 

 than the common red. For the rea- 

 sons given, the combination of the 

 three named plants is very important, 

 and will prove successful wherever 

 tried. 



When mixed, sow the usual quan- 

 tity of timothy and red clover, and 

 not more than 2 pounds of Alsike seed 

 to the acre — in fact, 1 pound will be 

 ample. If wanted for seed, it might 

 then be best to use 2 pounds of Alsike 

 to the acre. Timothy and red clover 

 do no harm, as the crop may be cut so 

 early that the Alsike will be the only 



?lant ripe enough to furnish seed, 

 'imothy seed being about the same 

 size as the Alsike, cannot very well 

 be separated from it ; but such is not 

 the case with red clover, as a fine 

 sieve will quickly do the work. 



Alsike clover, as a fertilizer, must 

 be as good a plant as red clover, if not 

 better, as an examination of figures 2 

 and 3 will show. Having often dug 

 up specimen roots of both Alsike and 

 the common red clovers for compari- 



son and exhibition, fully as much dif- 

 ference in the size of the crowns and 

 the quantity of roots and rootlets 

 have been found as the cuts indicate. 

 The representations are very accurate, 

 and the reader will do well to ex- 

 amine them closely and note the dif- 

 ference, which seems to be decidedly 

 in favor of the Alsike. Having now 

 grown Alsike on a variety of soils for 

 the past 17 years with good success, I 

 know that what I have set forth in 

 this article are facts and not theories. 



Alsike Clnver Root and Crown, Red Ciover Root 

 average size, a year old. and Crown, 



average size, a year old. 



But my main object in this article 

 is to call special attention of bee- 

 keepers to Alsike as a honey-plant. It 

 is well known to the fraternity that 

 my favorite honey-plant is melilot 

 clover, than which none better has 

 yet been found in the United States. 

 But melilot will never be cultivated 

 to any extent except by bee-keepers, 

 as no farmer would think of such a 

 thing as growing it for hay and pas- 

 ture. But Alsike clover is a plant 

 that every farmer can and should 

 cultivate, whether he keeps bees or 

 not, as it is superior to the common 

 red, for hay or pasture, for all kinds 

 of stock. 



. Now, let me indicate to bee-keepers 

 what should be done, and that right 

 speedily. Suppose you have 50 or 100 

 colonies of bees, more or less, then 

 visit the farmers in close rang:e and 

 ascertain how many acres they intend 

 to seed down to grass the following 

 spring, and induce enough of them to 

 sow at least as many acres to Alsike, 

 timothy and red clover, as you have 

 colonies. The more land you can 

 thus get seeded down the better. In- 

 duce them, if possible, tobuy the seed 

 at the cost price, but if you cannot do 

 this, let them have it at half the cost 

 price, but if this fails, then make 

 them a present of as many pounds as 

 they will sow acres. They certainly 



could not and would not object to this 

 last proposition, as it would be no 

 more work to sow the grass seed 

 mixed with Alsike than if it were 

 left out. As the Alsike seed can now 

 be purchased for about $15 to $18 per 

 100 pounds, instead of $75 to $100, the 

 price when first brought here, a bee- 

 range can now be supplied with one 

 of the very best honey plants at a 

 trifling expense. One hundred acres 

 of Alsike, mixed with other grasses, 

 in full bloom during June and July, 

 in the neighborhood of 100 colonies of 

 bees, would insure a large crop of the 

 choicest honey every year, and cause 

 the bee- keeper to swing his hat with 

 joy. Now, if every reader of the Bee 

 Journal will act upon this advice 

 the present winter, hundreds of tons 

 of the finest honey will be added to 

 the crop of 18S7, and I am quite sure 

 you will thank me for calling your 

 attention to the project ; if so, I shall 

 feel amply repaid. 

 St. Charles, d Ills. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



The Honey Markets, etc. 



DR. C. C. MILLER. 



On page 772 of the Bee Journal 

 for 1886, the editor says : " Will Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, who has had a theory 

 about publishing honey markets for 

 years, tell us what he thinks about 

 the matter proposed by Mr. Bald- 

 ridge y" 



I am very glad indeed to talk about 

 a matter of such vital importance to 

 bee-keepers. First, as to my "theory" 

 of which friend Newman speaks : It 

 was a very simple one, namely, that 

 the bee-papers should give us as full 

 information as possible about the 

 different honey markets, especially 

 the large citie.s, with the prices at 

 which commission men were selling, 

 etc. ; in short, my theory was that the 

 papers should do just what they have 

 since more or less perfectly carried 

 out. 



Kight here I want to thank Bro. 

 Newman for his last improvement in 

 adding dates to the market reports, 

 which, in my estimation, add fully 100 

 per cent, to their value. What is now 

 wanted is to have these reports cor- 

 rect—a difficult thing to achieve. I 

 think an organization such as Bro. 

 Newman speaks of on page 723, might 

 be a good thing. JBut I am not very 

 sanguine about its consummation. 

 Bro. Newman says: "As this mat- 

 ter is one that interests every bee- 

 keeper in America, we may reason- 

 ably expect that they will take hold 

 of the matter in such a way as to 

 bring it to a successful issue." IJro. 

 Newman, I'm afraid they just won't. 

 I was somewhat sanguine over this 

 matter of being informed as to the 

 supply, and thus properly controlling 

 prices, and a few years ago I was ap- 

 pointed one of a committee to obtain 

 for the North American Bee-Keepers' 

 Society statistics from the bee-keepers 

 of North America. We thought "as 

 this matter is one that interests every 

 bee-keeper in America, we may rea- 

 sonably expect that they will take 



