818 
SWEET CLOVER 
after most of the bees have gone back to 
the original hive—much more easily than 
she could have been found in the full col¬ 
ony. 
SWEET CLOVER (. Melilotus . Greek 
word from meli, honey, and lotus, a legumi¬ 
nous plant).—There are about 20 species of 
sweet clover, natives of Asia, Africa, and 
Europe. Nine species are found in France. 
Four have been introduced into North 
America. The sweet clovers were known to 
the ancient Greeks more than 2,000 years 
ago, and in the Mediterranean region were 
valued as honey plants, as well as for for¬ 
age and green manure. They are now dis¬ 
tributed over the entire civilized world, 
usually growing on waste land; but in Aus¬ 
tralia, South Africa, and the United States 
they have been cultivated with remarkable 
success. Many species of sweet clover have 
been more or less utilized in the old world, 
but those most commonly cultivated in the 
United States are: The white biennial 
sweet clover ( Melilotus alba), white annual 
sweet clover (Melilotus alba var. annua), 
the large yellow biennial (M. officinalis), 
and the small yelloAv annual (M. indica). 
The white annual sweet variety, commonly 
known as Hubam, will be described farther 
on under a separate head. 
The large yellow biennial sweet clover 
(M. officinalis) is also called yellow meli- 
lot, balsam-flowers, heart’s clover, and 
king’s clover. It was introduced into this 
country from Europe, and grows well in 
waste places both in the northern and 
southern States. Yellow sweet clover is a bi¬ 
ennial plant, storing in its roots the first 
season a reserve food supply, which is util¬ 
ized in producing seed the second season. It 
closely resembles white sweet clover; but it 
has finer stems and does not grow as tall, 
seldom attaining a height of more than 3 to 
5 feet. The flowers are yellow, in long- 
racemes, and bloom about two weeks earlier 
than those of the white species. It is thus 
valuable to the beekeeper, since it affords 
bee pasturage earlier in the season. Nec¬ 
tar is secreted freely and the honey does 
not differ essentially from that of white 
sweet clover. It is less easily exterminated, 
as the mower frequently passes over the de¬ 
cumbent stems, which thus remqin to re¬ 
seed the land. It is much less generally 
cultivated than the white species. 
The small yellow annual sweet clover 
(M. indica), or bitter clover, grows wild in 
southern California and Arizona. It may 
easily be distinguished from the preceding 
species by its much smaller yellow flowers. 
The annual does not succeed well in other 
sections, and the biennial yellow sweet clo¬ 
ver should be given the preference. In Ohio- 
the annual was planted in a field which had 1 
been limed and inoculated with the proper 
bacteria. The seed germinated fairly well,, 
but the plants grew so poorly that the crop 
was a complete failure. Melilotus indica 
is the only one of the sweet clovers which 
will make a satisfactory winter growth in 
California. It is suitable for a green ma¬ 
nuring crop and has been used in the citrus 
groves of both California and Arizona. The 
annual white sweet clover (Hubam) prob¬ 
ably would do well there; but at this writ¬ 
ing it has not been tried. 
The seed of the annual yellow is largely 
obtained from the screenings of wheat, and 
unless thoroly recleaned is likely to con¬ 
tain much weed seed. Many samples of 
this seed also show from 5 to 20 per cent 
of hard seeds, which do not germinate the 
first season. It is advisable, therefore, to 
sow from 20 to 35 pounds of seed per acre, 
when all the land in the orchard is planted. 
The seed is very small and should be broad¬ 
casted in dry soil and lightly harrowed into 
the surface. The land should then be irri¬ 
gated as completely as possible in order to 
obtain a uniform stand. In the citrus sec¬ 
tions bitter or annual yellow clover should 
be sown by the middle of October or a satis¬ 
factory growth can not be obtained by 
ploughing time. When used as a green 
manure, it has increased the yield of the 
following crops more than any other le¬ 
gume listed in this section. It is practically 
immune to the attacks of plant-lice. 
White sweet clover (ill. alba) is also 
known as Bokhara clover, white melilot, bee 
clover, honey clover, tree clover and honey 
lotus. White sweet clover was introduced 
into the United States by European colo¬ 
nists as early as 1738, but its value was not 
recognized to an appreciable extent until 
within the last 30 years. More than half 
of the States passed laws classing sweet 
clover gs a noxious weed, Supervisors of 
