204 
THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 
the freshly-gathered honey disappears before it is sealed 
over by the bees. 
Of all the sources from which bees derive their supplies* 
white clover is usually the most important. It yields largo 
quantities of very pure white honey, and wherever it 
abounds, the bee will find a rich harvest. In most parts 
of this country, it seems to be the chief reliance of the 
Apiary. Blossoming at a season of the year when the 
weather is usually both dry and hot, and the bees gather- 
ing its honey after the sun has dried off the dew, it is 
ready to be sealed over almost at once. This clover 
ought to be much more extensively cultivated than it now 
is. The lion. Frederick Holbrook, of Brattleboro’, Ver- 
mont, one of New England’s ablest practical farmers and 
writers on agricultural subjects, thus speaks of its value : 
“ Red-top. red clover, and white clover seeds, sown together, 
produce a quality of hay universally relished by stock. My prac- 
tice is, to seed all dry,* sandy, and gravelly lands with this mix- 
ture. The red and white clover pretty much make the crop the 
first year ; the second year, the red clover begins to disappear, and 
the red-top to take its place ; and after that, the red-top and white 
clover have full possession, and make the very best hay for horses 
or oxen, milch cows or young stock, that I have been able to pro- 
duce. The crop per acre, as compared with herds-grass (timothy) 
is not so bulky; but, tested by weight and by spending quality 
ii> the Winter, it is much the more valuable.” 
For years I sought in vain to procure a cross between 
the red and white clover, having the honey and hay- 
producing properties of the red, with a short blossom, 
into which the domestic bee might insert its proboscis. 
Such a variety, originating in Sweden, has been imported 
* Mr. Wagner *ay8 : “ The yield of honey from various plnnts and treo9 depends 
not only on tho character of tho season, but on the kind of soil, in which thoy 
grow. Marshy meadows are inferior ft* those of a drier soil for beo-posturago. 
White clover growing in the latter will bo visited by bees, when that growing la 
tho former is neglected by them.” 
