86 



the honey from it is very white and excellent. This plant is known as 

 Melilot, Sweet Clover, White Melilotus, and Bokhara Clover. While one 

 or two authorities, Prof. Thorne, of Ohio, and Prof. Tracey, of Missis- 

 sippi, have stated that it possesses value as a forage plant, the con- 

 sensus of opinion throughout the country is that this luxuriant plant 

 possesses little value to feed either green or as hay. It has been sown 

 in many parts of the country by beekeepers and others in waste places 

 and along roadsides, and in such locations has frequently added deci- 

 dedly to the honey product. It is a beautiful plant, with a sweet per- 

 fume, and may well replace Ragweed, Mayweed, Sinartweed, etc., along 

 our highways. 



We sowed several acres of this plant this spring, six on sand and three 

 on clay. The drought came on and the yeung plants upon the sand 

 withered and died. On the clay the catch was only partially successful, 

 but the plants have stooled aud we think will j>roduce a fairly good crop 

 of bloom. It is our purpose to see if it may not be a valuable silage 

 plant. It surely produces abundantly. If it will be appetizing as silage 

 so as to possess value to the farmer them from its double value as a 

 silage plant and a most excellent honey plant it may well be grown by 

 the bee-keeping farmer and may be urged conscientiously by the apiarist 

 upon his neighbor farmer. This plant, like nearly all the clovers, is a 

 biennial, and so we must wait till next year to complete our experi- 

 ment, when we hope to prove that Melilotus is valuable for silage. 



Our conclusions thus far are that special planting for honey will 

 never pay. Unless we can find a plant that will always secrete nectar, 

 and, as seasons of honey failure occur in all countries, we conclude that 

 none such exist, and we certainly can not afford the expense and labor. 



W r e think our experiments warrant this conclusion. That it may 

 and often has paid well to scatter seeds of Sweet Clover in waste places 

 there is no possible doubt. Along the roadside this plant may well 

 replace such utterly worthless and ugly plants as Bag weed — species of 

 Ambrosia, and Mayweed — Maruta cotula. The first year's growth and 

 the second till after bloom are very handsome. After bloom the dry 

 ugly stock may be cut, when the undergrowth from the seeds of the 

 present year will make a pleasing border to the road. Cleome may also 

 be planted in all waste places. This has been done with excellent re- 

 sults in Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is a very handsome plant, and 

 like Sweet Clover is easily subdued if not wanted. In case this is de- 

 sired the seeds should be planted early, as early as August or Septem- 

 ber, else they will not germinate well the following season. 



BEES AS FERTILIZERS. 



Spraying fruit trees in early spring to prevent the ravages of various 

 insects is becoming very common. Spraying trees while in bloom is 

 very likely to poison the nectar and destroy the Honey Bee. This has 

 been done in several cases. Not only have the mature bees been poi- 



