AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



223 



best by the roadside, or on the banks of 

 creeks. 



Chas. Stewart — Three years ago I 

 went to visit a field of alfalfa. There 

 was a little sweet clover near, that was 

 full of bees, but I did not find a single 

 bee on the alfalfa. The man who owned 

 the field told me that it made the best 

 kind of hay if cut early. 



P. H. Elwood — It grows well, but does 

 not secrete honey, in the East. 



G. H. Ashby — Under very favorable 

 circumstances I have found bees on 

 alfalfa. 



Thos. Pierce — Is there any one present 

 who has had experience with the Chap- 

 man honey-plant ? 



G. H. Ashby — Two years ago I sowed 

 about 10 bushels in the hulls^there 

 must have been 2 or 3 bushels of seeds. 

 I find that only a few seeds have come 

 up, and I do not believe that it has paid 

 me to sow them. 



R. Bacon — I sowed a little piece of 

 good land to the Chapman honey-plant ; 

 the bees worked nicely on It ; never saw 

 a plant that the bees worked better on. 

 I was very much pleased with It, but 

 could not afford to cultivate it, as it does 

 not blossom the first year. 



J. H. M. Cook — It will not grow to 

 amount to anything when scattered In 

 waste places in early Spring ; it must be 

 cultivated. 



G. H. Ashby — Sweet clover is not a 

 noxious weed ; It will not grow in culti- 

 vated fields. It is very easy to eradi- 

 cate, as it will not survive the mowing 

 machine. 



P. H. Elwood — The Chapman honey- 

 plant is a hard plant to grow. Sweet 

 clover grows spontaneously. I do not 

 believe that it will pay to sow seeds for 

 honey alone, but if we can sow Alsike 

 clover, and get a crop of honey and then 

 a crop of hay, that will pay well. 



J. H. M. Cook — I can recommend 

 Alsike clover. I am sowing it instead of 

 red clover. It is as sure to yield honey 

 as the white clover, and of as good 

 quality. It does not yield as large a 

 crop of hay as the red, but of a much 

 better quality. 



N. D. West — Sweet clover is one of 

 the best honey-plants we have in Scho- 

 harie county. . We have a great quantity 

 of it, and almost always get a good 

 yield of honey from it. I believe it would 

 pay to seed cheap lands with it, if it 

 could be made to grow. 



I. L. Scofield — I have one bee-yard 

 where there is plenty of sweet clover ; 

 the bees work well on it, but never 

 gather much surplus from it. 



W. L. Coggshall suggested that the 

 atmosphere was not right for it to secrete 

 honey. 



I. L. Scofield — I like Alsike clover 

 very much, both for hay and pasture. In 

 some years, when red clovers are all 

 killed out on our wet lands, the small, 

 fibrous roots of the Alsike will hang, and 

 produce a good crop of hay. 



D. H. Coggshall — Alsike clover grows 

 well on our land ; it makes good hay, and 

 I consider it one of the best plants we 

 have for white honey — next tobasswood. 



G. H. Ashby — With us, it is an excel- 

 lent honey-plant, but the farmers are 

 going back on it. One reason is, they 

 began sowing it for seed, some years 

 ago, when it was very high. In a wet 

 season it rots badly, and is not as profit- 

 able now as then, and there is but little 

 aftermath. 



G. H. Knickerbocker — We have seeded 

 from 10 to 40 acres with Alsike every 

 year since 1882. It has failed to secrete 

 honey only once during that time, and 

 then white clover also failed. Two sea- 

 sons the bees worked on it vigorously, 

 when they scarcely noticed white clover. 

 I consider it a better honey-producer 

 than white clover. It makes the best 

 fodder for sheep or milch cows that we 

 can raise, but should be sown with red 

 clover and timothy to give the best re- 

 sults, both for honey and hay, as it 

 lodges badly when sown alone. 



Convention adjourned until 7:30 p.m. 



Preminms for Honey at Fairs. 



K. M KXIGHT. 



Many thanks, Mr. Editor, for your 

 kindness in publishing my note in the 

 Bee Journal concerning prizes for 

 honey at Fairs, and for the trouble you 

 took in procuring replies. 



Mr. Hutchinson's answer is just what 

 I expected it would be. The experience 

 of the other two is probably like his. 



For some years past there has been no 

 prizes given for apiarian supplies at the 

 Toronto Fair, except for new devices, 

 and no prizes for bees or queens. I am 

 myself largely responsible for this state 

 of things. 



Several years ago the manufacturers 

 who exhibit at this Fair, agreed among 

 themselves that it would be better to 

 discontinue the awarding of prizes, and 

 allow their wares to be judged on their 

 merits by the public. 



Shortly after this, I spoke to Mr. 

 Jones (the largest supply dealer in our 

 Province), *nd asked him if it would not 



