184 
CLOYKK 
A field of white clover in Iowa. 
contained a larger amount of lime; but 
constant cropping lias largely exhausted 
the natural supply. Hence the soil is 
“clover-sick,” or requires lime. 
If sorrel is growing on the land, or blue 
litmus paper placed in damp soil turns red, 
it may be assumed safely that there is a 
lack of lime. Beekeepei's should carefully 
inform themselves as to whether the clover 
fields in their locality are deficient in lime 
or not, and should endeavor to induce the 
farmers to get in touch with the nearest 
experiment station and seek advice in re¬ 
gard to this matter. From 500 to 2,000 or 
3,000 pounds of ground limerock may be 
required. 
The attention of farmers should also be 
called to the part clover plays in increas¬ 
ing the nitrogen in the soil. On the roots 
of the clovers there are little nodules or 
tubercles, front the size of a pin head to 
that of a pea, in which there live multi¬ 
tudes of bacteria. These bacteria are able 
to fix the free nitrogen of the air in nitro¬ 
genous compounds, which after the death 
of the bacteria the clover plants are able 
to obtain. The fixation of nitrogen is 
aided bv lime and humus in the soil, and 
is retarded by an acid soil or one which 
is compact and not well aerated. The 
tubercles do not survive the winter, but 
are formed anew each season. 
Since alsike clover requires less lime 
than red clover, the gradual decrease of 
lime in the soil has in many localities led 
to its substitution for the latter. While 
this has been a great advantage- to bee¬ 
keepers temporarily, it will not prove a 
permanent one unless lime is applied, 
since finally the soil will become so acid 
that alsike will not grow in it. White 
clover, likewise, is largely dependent on a 
soil rich in lime, and it has been disappear¬ 
ing not alone because of intensive agri¬ 
culture, but also because of the increasing 
acidity of the land. Years ago there Avas 
no difficulty in getting annually a surplus 
of honey from white clover. 
LIMING THE SOIL AND ITS EFFECT ON 
BEEKEEPING. 
In parts of the northeastern United 
States where temperature conditions are 
favorable for the clovers, the soil is so de¬ 
ficient in lime that the clovers do not do 
well. In some regions when the soil could 
no longer support a growth of clover, 
farms have been abandoned because of the 
poverty of the soil. Within recent years 
many of these abandoned farms have been 
