. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL Januai the civil war, most of Pendleton county was given over to tobacco growing, with little live stock, and not much rotation of crops. It was a hill country and although it had a fertile soil over a clay subsoil, the heavy rains soon washed away the shallow surface soil, and one farm after another was abandoned. Hun- dreds of farms were abandoned and many of them were sold for taxes, because no buyers could be found. More than a third of the population left the county, and the farmers who remained had hard lines to make ends me
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL Januai the civil war, most of Pendleton county was given over to tobacco growing, with little live stock, and not much rotation of crops. It was a hill country and although it had a fertile soil over a clay subsoil, the heavy rains soon washed away the shallow surface soil, and one farm after another was abandoned. Hun- dreds of farms were abandoned and many of them were sold for taxes, because no buyers could be found. More than a third of the population left the county, and the farmers who remained had hard lines to make ends meet. Sweet clover was stealthily sowed, probably by beekeepers intent on increasing the bee pasturage. At first it was regarded with disfavor and fought as a dangerous weed. Mr. Barton told me how he came into possession of a farm somewhat against his will because the owner could not pay the mortgage. He tried renting it, and the tenant was un- able to make a living, much less pay the rent. After it had been aban- doned, he went to great trouble to keep down the weeds, especially sweet clover. Then came a year of drouth, when there was very little feed for the cattle and they were turned into the roads to graze. Even there, there was but little except the sweet clover, which by this time was rather common along the roadsides. It was soon noticed that the cows were eating the sweet clover with relish and doing well. Then some- body tried an experiment by sowing it in a field. It thrived, the cows liked it and the milk flow was increased. Mr. Barton by this time was quite ready to profit by the experience, and within five years the farm which would not grow grass, was producing good crops. He bought more aban- doned farms and sowed them to sweet clover, and his neighbors be- gan to do likewise. One by one the farmers came back to their aban- doned farms, new settlers came in, and everybody began to grow sweet clover. Now there are fifty thousand acres of it in that county. Ask any
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
