THE: RURAL NEW-YORKER 
i:«s 
Yellow and White Sweet Clover. 
Comparison of Different Varieties. 
Why don’t you and your correspondents tell us 
whether it is White or Yellow Sweet clover? I have 
been in the midst of both varieties in Colorado for 20 
years past, and know them to be quite different in 
growth and hardiness there. I have just put 10 acres 
here in Yellow Sweet clover. Winter vetch and Alsike, 
with enough oats to make a mulch in the Winter for 
protection of these clovers. I put in enough seed of 
each to make a good covering for the ground, and each 
quantity was treated with its distinctive culture, and 
then mixed, sown by hand, covered and rolled in a 
cloudy day. I put on a half ton of lime per acre be¬ 
fore final harrowing before sowing the seed. Yellow 
Sweet clover germinates more readily in Colorado, but 
grows there only to about three feet in height, while 
the White grows five to seven. Alfalfa grew so readily 
in Colorado that we took little notice of the Sweet 
clover. I saw a seedling of Alfalfa make over five 
feet in length of its roots the second Summer. Who 
knows if the “culture,” or germ, needed by the Yellow 
is the same as for White Sweet clover? I am of the 
opinion that the Yellow will be found much the better 
for our purpose in the Eastern States. 
Why do you not use Yellow Sweet clover in prefer¬ 
ence to rye for the support of Winter vetch? Certain¬ 
ly a much stronger stem ; both vetch and Sweet clover 
make unsurpassed pasture for cattle and hogs, and 
by disking in September will re-seed the ground per¬ 
petually. I would sow 10 pounds of scarified Yellow 
Sweet clover and same of Hairy vetch per acre. 
Chester Co., Pa. s. w. morrisox, m. n. 
HERE are at present three fairly well-known 
varieties of Melilotus, or Sweet clover, which 
are being grown in the United States in commercial 
quantities. The first and least important one is 
Melilotus Indica, an annual, yellow-flowered variety 
coming, I believe, from the shores of the Mediter¬ 
ranean. very extensively grown in California as a 
cover crop in orchards; successfully grown and well 
liked also in the States south of Kentucky or Ten¬ 
nessee, where it is again used as a Winter cover 
crop. North of the Ohio River I would not advise 
people to grow it. It 
winter-kills easily, and 
in these Nortlie r n 
States is more inclined 
to stop when it has 
grown eight inches or 
a foot tall, than it is to 
' grow larger. Sown the 
first of April it will 
make its growth and be 
in blossom by July 1st, 
or sown at any time it 
will make a quick 
growth and m ature 
earl y, but, while its 
seed costs almost noth¬ 
ing, I do not feel like 
advising farmers north 
of the Ohio River to 
grow this variety. 
Next in importance 
is Melilotus officinalis, 
a biennial, yellow-flow¬ 
ered va riety, foun d 
growing wild p r e 11 y 
much all over the 
United States, a n d 
grown commercially in 
nearly every State. It seems to be as hardy as the 
white-blooming variety, Melilotus alba. It comes 
into blossom two or three weeks earlier in the Spring 
than Melilotus alba does, has finer stems, and is 
therefore quite a little more readily eaten by live 
stock, especially when made into hay, and is a plant 
that need not be at all despised. Its seed ordinarily 
sells for about five cents a pound less than Melilotus 
alba. It ordinarily grows three or four feet tall, 
while Melilotus alba should grow five to seven or 
eight feet tall. 
At one time the ardent enthusiasts claimed that 
Melilotus officinalis was a more valuable plant than 
Melilotus alba; that it was so much finer stemmed 
than Melilotus alba; that it was a better crop for 
hay, and that it would grow on poorer ground than 
Alfalfa, and therefore being more valuable than the 
Alfalfa. I do not agree with them in any of these 
statements. I think that no Melilotus compares at 
all favorably with Alfalfa as a hay crop, and I 
prefer Melilotus alba to Officinalis either for pas¬ 
ture or as a humus producer. I have grown both 
varieties, and therefore speak from experience. 
There is a further disadvantage about Melilotus 
officinalis, that stock sometimes bloat on it a little, 
while it is rare that they do so on Melilotus alba. 
Melilotus alba most of you know already. It is 
the large, white-blooming variety which grows wild 
over most of the United States. I consider it the 
greatest pasture plant in America today. It prob¬ 
ably will have a wide range of usefulness in or¬ 
chards. It may be used sometimes extensively as 
a hay crop, and it is almost certain to occupy an 
important position as a fertilizer. I think it de¬ 
serves as much prominence as it is likely to receive. 
As to inoculation, the same bacteria should be used 
for one variety as for another. As to using it as a 
companion crop with Winter vetch, some of our 
correspondents report excellent results by this 
method. chas. b. wing. 
Ohio. 
The Conquering of Consumption. 
ONSUMPTION, the old-fashioned name for the 
disease which we now know as tuberculosis of 
the lungs, has pretty well dropped out of our speech, 
though the new name has the disadvantage of being 
tongue-trying to those who have not learned to 
divide it into syllables and pronounce it exactly as 
it is spelled, with the accent upon “berk”; tu-berc’- 
u-lo-sis. The disease, however, whether you call it 
tuberculosis or consumption, still exists and is, per¬ 
haps, the center of the hardest fight that sanitar¬ 
ians are now making to prevent needless suffering 
and prolong life and usefulness. 
It was hut a very few years ago that to tell a per¬ 
son of any age that he had consumption was to pro¬ 
nounce his death warrant; when the disease was 
recognized all hope was promptly given up and it 
became a question only of how long the patient 
might live. Today it is realized that consumption 
is not only curable, hut that thousands have it and 
recover without having ever known that they had 
been its victims. As with most diseases, the ten¬ 
dency is toward recovery, and only a comparatively 
small portion of those at some time infected suc¬ 
cumb to it. This knowledge makes us increasingly 
aware of the importance of recognizing consump¬ 
tion in its early stages when recovery is possible. 
The first long step forward in the treatment of 
tuberculosis was made possible when it was shown 
that the disease was due to a germ and, consequent¬ 
ly, was communicable from one person to another. 
The conception of inherited consumption was then 
discarded; if it passed from father to son, it was 
because of contact and not of inheritance. This 
knowledge would be very disquieting if we did not 
also know that such transmission of the disease is 
easily avoidable and that, with the observance of a 
few simple precautions upon the part of the sufferer, 
it need never occur. The only dangerous thing about 
a consumptive is his sputum; with that properly 
cared for he is no more a menace to his family or 
neighbors than though he were perfectly well. The 
popular fear of a sanitarium for tuberculous pa¬ 
tients in a neighborhood is entirely groundless; in¬ 
deed, because of the care of themselves which the 
patients are taught, such a sanitarium is probably 
an element of safety in a community. 
Having learned the exact nature of tuberculosis 
and the methods by which it is transmitted, rational 
method of combating it followed. Today, thou¬ 
sands are recovering from the disease who, a gen¬ 
eration ago, would have died from sheer ignorance 
and neglect. Drugs play an entirely negligible part 
in the modern treatment of tuberculosis, this being 
based upon the tripod of rest, fresh air and food. 
Rest so absolute that a patient is often kept in his 
bed for days, or weeks, at a time even though he 
feels perfectly well, fresh air night and day and 
never anything else, food of the most nourishing 
kind and in such amounts as can be digested and 
assimilated. 
Merely to outline the treatment of tuberculosis 
reveals the important part that a long purse plays 
in carrying it out: fortunately, however, the rapid 
extension of publicly supported sanitariums is plac¬ 
ing succor within the reach of thousands who, with¬ 
out these, would die. Simple though the treatment 
may seem to he, it can seldom he successfully car¬ 
ried out save in institutions where the patient can 
be under discipline and expert observation. Even 
though the family physician may know what should 
he done, he cannot exercise the control over a pa¬ 
tient in his home which is absolutely necessary if 
results are to he obtained. Rut, with the building 
of county and State sanitariums, and the education 
of the public in methods of prevention, the death 
rate from tuberculosis is steadily falling and the 
next generation will probably forget the name, “The 
Great White Plague.” The cities are especially 
active in preventive work and in educating the peo¬ 
ple to the importance of wider knowledge. m. b. d. 
Killing the Grain Insects. 
ET’S begin early this year and anticipate the 
questions about killing insects in stored grain. 
Every year we have hundreds of them at this season. 
Late thrashing usually leaves the grain in the stack 
exposed to the grain moth and weevil, and if these 
are left alive in the bin there will be trouble. The 
medicine for these insects is bi-sulphide of carbon. 
This is a liquid looking much like water. When 
poured upon rags or into shallow pans, the liquid 
rapidly forms a gas, deadly in its effect upon all 
breathing things. This gas is heavier than air and 
consequently falls through the air as it is formed 
from the liquid. This habit makes the treatment 
easy. The grain is put into an airtight box, barrel, 
or bin. There must not be any knotholes or cracks 
through which the gas can escape. In order to 
work successfully the temperature of the bin con¬ 
taining the grain 
should be (JO degres or 
more. The rule is to 
use one pound of bi¬ 
sulphide for every 30 
bushels of grain in a 
tight bin at a tempera¬ 
ture of about 70 de¬ 
grees. Add auother 
pound for each 200 cu¬ 
bic feet of space left 
open above the grain. 
If need be the liquid 
can be thrown directly 
upon the grain without 
injuring it. A better 
plan is to pour the 
liquid into dishes or 
pans scattered over the 
surface, or it is fre¬ 
quently used by pour¬ 
ing upon old rags or 
cotton waste and leav¬ 
ing these at the top of 
the grain. Where there 
is much grain in the 
bin a gas pipe is some¬ 
times used. This is put 
down into the center of the grain with one end 
plugged with cotton. W'hen you push the pipe down 
into the grain, push out the wad by using a rod 
and then pour in the liquid. As soon as the liquid 
is applied close the bin as tightly as possible, and 
leave it for 36 to 48 hours. There will be no in¬ 
jury to the grain for feeding purposes. Where it is 
used for seed, be careful and not use up much of the 
bi-sulphide and do not fumigate over 36 hours. 
Some farmers follow the plan of putting in the bi¬ 
sulphide on Saturday afternoon and leaving the bin 
covered until Monday before noon. Above all things 
remember that this stuff is inflammable and keep all 
cigars, pipes, lanterns and matches away from it 
when exposed to the air. 
The Manure Spreader. 
I T is now well understood that the manure spread¬ 
er is very much more than a machine for saving 
labor. It is something of an agricultural mission¬ 
ary teaching the necessity of better farming. For 
years great piles of manure accumulated on West¬ 
ern farms—largely wasted because hand labor could 
not be obtained to haul and spread it. The old story 
of the man who moved his barn rather than remove 
the mountain of manure which had accumulated 
was more than a joke. The manure spreader made 
it possible to do the work by horse power. Then 
came the litter carrier, the power loader and other 
appliances for getting the manure onto the field 
every day and with them came a new and better 
farming, which would have been impossible without 
machinery for doing this work of saving and dis¬ 
tributing plant food. In something of the same 
way we think the general introduction of 
