22 



THIRD ANNUAL REPORT 



queens from a queen-breeder, got foul brood, and others who 

 had queens from the same place also got it. 



GETTING SWEET CLOVEK SEED STARTED. 



Mr. Dowdy — How is the best way to get sweet clover seed 

 started ? 



Geo. Poindexter — The best way I have ever tried is to 

 skim off the surface of the ground where sweet clover has 

 seeded, and scatter it where you want it to grow. Any time 

 in the fall of the year. 



Secretary Stone made a statement of what Prof. Hopkins, 

 of the Illinois University, said at the Sangamon County Farm- 

 ers' Institute, in Mechanicsburg, in October last. He said : 

 "Three -fourths of the air being nitrogen made 12 pounds of 

 same to every square inch of the earth's surface. He told the 

 boys if they would figure that up they would find the value 

 of the nitrogen about one acre of ground to be a great many 

 millions of dollars. As nitrogen is the principal element that 

 enters into all the plant food, the great source of wealth is to 

 find out the way to abt this nitrogen out of the air into the 

 soil. It has been discovered that leguminous plants have 

 bacteria living on their roots that feed upon and bring the 

 nitrogen from the air into the soil, so that plants can feed 

 upon it. The clovers all have these bacteria on their roots, 

 unless it be in soils that are too acid for them to thrive, in 

 which case the clovers will not §ucceed. It has been discov- 

 ered that sweet clover always has abundance of these bacteria, 

 and therefore is as great a fertilizer as we can get, for the 

 reason that it causes such great quantities of nitrogen to come 

 into the soil, which accounts for its making such rapid 

 growth in any kind of soil." 



He added that, " where the bacteria is not in the soil, it 

 must be sown, or alfalfa will not succeed." 



DBONE FKOM A LAYING WOKKER. 



Pres. Smith — Can a drone from a laying worker fertilize 

 a queen ? 



No answer. 



EIGHT FKAMES IN A 10-FRAME HIVE. 



Secretary Stone — Is it better to put only 8 frames in a 

 10-frame hive for extracting ? Will they be as evenly sur- 

 faced ? 



Mr. Becker — Yes. 



No one else seemed to have tried it ? 



DBONE-TRAPS.. 



Mr. Crim — Is it best to use drone-traps ? •• 

 Some said yes, and some had not tried them. One said, 

 " Keep bantam chickens and they would eat the drones." 



Secretary Stone — I never had as good success in Italianiz- 

 ing as when I used drone-traps. 



FULL SHEETS IN SECTIONS. 



' Jas. Poindexter — What percent of gain is there in using 

 full sheets of foundation ? 







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