104 



TM® JtldERICaM mUM JO^MIfSlL. 



following resolution was carried unani- 

 mously : 



Resolved, Tliat the formation of an 

 International Representative Bee- 

 Keepers' Association is desirable. 



The " Question-Box " was opened, 

 and answers given by Dr. Miller to the 

 satisfaction of all. 



In the afternoon an essay was road 

 from Mi\ Gammon, on "Comb Foun- 

 dation." He commenced with the 

 comb, told bow he made the wax, and 

 how it was prepared for foundation, in 

 a very concise way. 



The election of officers resulted as 

 follows : For President, L. Highbarger, 

 of Leaf River ; Vice-President, A. J. 

 Swezey, of Guilford ; Secretary, D. A. 

 Fuller, of Cherry Valley ; and Treas- 

 urer, O. J. Cummings, of Guilford. 



The convention then adjourned until 

 May 22, 1888, to meet at Rockton, Ills. 

 D. A. Fuller, Sec. 



ALSIKE CLOVER. 



How Much 1o Soiv, Wliere to 



Plant, How Many Seed to 



the Pound, etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY M. M. BALDRIDGE. 



On page 56 of the Bee Journal, I 

 find the following in regard to Alsike 

 clover: "I can endorse what Mr. 

 Baldridge says, on page 10, about 

 Alsike, except that I would sow 4 

 pounds instead of 2 pounds of seed to 

 the acre ; and I would not sow it at 

 all on thin, dry, sandy land. It will 

 catch in wild-grass sloughs ; but thrives 

 best witli red-top clover or pasture. If 

 ■wanted for seed, sow 10 pounds per 

 acre, and it will not lodge so badly. 

 Be sure to get clean seed, and not 

 mixed with sorrel as some Eastern 

 seed is." 



It always pleases me to have my 

 ideas analyzed and criticized, when 

 free from oflensive personalities as the 

 foregoing seems to be. What we all 

 want are facts, no matter from whence 

 they come. 



As a rule it may not paj' to try to 

 raise Alsike on thin, dry, sandy, or 

 worn-out soil, liut Alsike will do well 

 on any soil that will produce a good 

 crop of red clover when the two 

 clovers are mixed. Now, do not for 

 get that statement, and try to grow 

 Alsike by itself, or on any dry soil that 

 will not produce red clover. And 

 when mixed with the usual quantity of 

 red clover and timothj-, I still advise 

 not more than 2 pounds of Alsike seed 

 to the acre. 



Now does the reader catch my idea? 

 The 2 pounds Alsike is to be added to 

 the usual quantity of red clover and 



timothy, so that, in case the Alsike 

 fails to grow, from any cause, the 

 land will be properly seeded anyway, 

 and the only loss which ensues is 

 simply the cost of the Alsike seed. 



But let us see what we add when we 

 use 2 pounds Alsike seed to the acre. 

 The Alsike Leaflet says that a pound 

 of Alsike has about 600,000 seeds, or 

 three times as many as the common 

 red. Now as I have never counted the 

 seeds in a pound of ALsike, I do not 

 know whether the statement is true or 

 not, but I presume it is not far from 

 the truth. Then 2 pounds of Alsike 

 will have 1,200,000 seeds. Now how 

 many seeds will this give to a sijuare 

 rod or a square foot of land ? To the 

 square rod 7,500, and to the square 

 foot about 27 seeds ! If only one out 

 of every three seeds grow, and they 

 are properly distributed over each 

 square foot, there would be nine stools 

 of Alsike, and they would cover the 

 whole surface if allowed to do so. It 

 is no uncommon thing to find Alsike 

 stools 6 inches across wlien not crowd- 

 ed for room. 



My experience is that 2 pounds of 

 Alsike seed is ample, when mixed with 

 timothy and red clover as stated, and 

 it is also my experience, with not less 

 than 70 acres of Alsike in one year, 

 that 40 pounds of seed is ample when 

 sowed alone. And to make the Alsike 

 stand up, and to keep it away from 

 the ground, I sliould much prefer to 

 mix it with timothy, than to use 10 

 pounds of Alsike for that purpose, even 

 when wanted expressly for seed. 



But, as I want everybody to grow 

 Alsike profitably and successfully, I 

 still insist on the use of the common 

 red clover, so as to secure the proper 

 shade for the Alsike in dry seasons. If 

 we could always be sure of wet seasons 

 we could then safely dispense with red 

 clover. ■ As a rule it is no trouble to 

 grow Alsike by itself in Canada, owing 

 to its cool, moist climate, but we do 

 not all happen to live in Canada ! 



The idea of being careful when buy- 

 ing Alsike to get good seed, and free 

 from sorrel and other foreign seeds, is 

 a good one. I have seen Alsike with 

 apparently 25 per cent, of sorrel seed 

 mixed with it. Alsike is now so very 

 cheap that no one should hesitate to 

 pay the price of a No. 1 fresh, clean 

 seed. At $t) per bushel for extra choice 

 Alsike it is no more expensive than 

 the common red at .$3 per busliel ! And 

 why ? Because one bushel of Alsike 

 will seed as many acres of land as 

 three bushels of red clover. Besides, 

 a ton of Alsike hay, after the seed is 

 threshed therefrom, is worth more for 

 cattle or sheej) than a ton of the best 

 cured and unthreshed common red. 



Some 20 years ago, when I was 

 growing Alsike extensivelj", and on 



rented land at $5 per acre, the price I 

 then paid was $60 per bushel, and 

 thousands of pounds of the seed were 

 sold, at retail, ■ at $1.50 to $2.00 per 

 pound ! The present exceedingly low 

 price for Alsike seed is simply evidence 

 that it is now grown extensively, and 

 with the greatest of success by thou- 

 sands who have got hold of the secret 

 as herein indicated. 

 St. Charles, Ills. 



THE EXTRACTOR. 



My Position in Reg;ard to the 

 Extractor. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY WM. P. CLARKE. 



The report of the recent Ontario 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention on page 72, is 

 a lop-sided affair. Some of the most 

 interesting discussions are omitted, 

 while special prominence is given to 

 the sayings and doings of the reporter 

 and his father-in-law. I do not pro- 

 pose supplying its omissions, but crave 

 space for a few remarks concerning a 

 single reference made to myself. The 

 " report " saj's : " W. F. Clarke, of 

 Gnelph, condemned the honey-extrac- 

 tor, but the members present,however, 

 objected to this." Objected to what? 

 My condemning the extractor ? Not 

 at all. I was allowed entire freedom 

 of speech, without objection on the 

 part of any one. 



There are few bee-keepers of judg- 

 ment and experience who will not con- 

 cur in most of the remarks I made on 

 that occasion. I said, it was doubtful 

 whether, on the whole, the extractor 

 had been beneficial to apiculture. It 

 had opened the door to adulteration of 

 honey, and had been used most in- 

 judiciously by many, who tore up the 

 brood-nest ^^^thout mercy, took large 

 quantities of unripe honey, and really 

 put on the market an article of strained 

 honey, so much brood, pollen, etc., 

 being thrown ovit of the cells. The 

 extractor had been the means of lower- 

 ing the price of honey, and if not used 

 until the honey was ripe, and the cells 

 were capped, I questioned if extracted 

 honey was more jjrofitable than comb 

 honey. While preferring not to use 

 the extractor myself, I strongly urged 

 those who did use it to leave the 

 brood-nest intact, and do their extract- 

 ing from the combs of an upper story, 

 as recommended in Mr. Malcolm's ex- 

 cellent paper, out of which the dis- 

 cussion arose. 



The one point of difference between 

 myself and other bee-keepers present 

 was in regard to the question whether, 

 all things considered, it was advisable 

 to use the extractor at all. My own 



