of bees, it will pay him to reap one crop from his land and let his bees reap another.
Of all such plants the clovers are the most important. Not only do they make the best of forage and hay, but they also help to fertilise and aerate the soil, and should be a factor in every crop rotation. Clovers and other legumes have upon their roots nodules filled with bacteria, which are underground partners of the plant. These bacteria fix the free nitrogen of the air and leave it in the soil available for plant food. Red clover is not so great a source of honey as are the other clovers, since its corolla tubes are so long that usually it is only worked by bumblebees. But the long-tongued Italians are able to get considerable honey from red clover at times.
Crimson clover grew as a weed for a long time in America before it became an important factor in horticulture. It is an annual and its home is in southern Europe. It thrives best in loose, sandy soils and is of great value as a cover crop for orchards. It is a good honey-plant.
Alsike is a perennial and grows in low meadows, from Nova Scotia to Idaho. Its blossoms look like that of the white clover, except that they are larger and are tinged with pink. This is a valuable clover for pasturage, and also for hay, and it stands next to the white clover as a honey-plant.
The white clover is the very best plant for producing honey in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and the flavour of its honey is famous the world over. While in hard soil, the white clover
