Thus it came about that sweet clover was largely responsible for the final great change which commercialized the industry and closed the so-called golden age of beekeeping, at a time centering approximately on the year 1925. In 1926, the Great Northern Railway called attention to six counties in its territory with more than 15,000 acres of sweet clover each. Grand Forks, North Dakota, led with 27,000 acres.

With such complete success in the plains region it was quite natural that sweet clover would slowly spread back through the com belt in which it had so long maintained itself as an outcast along the roads and railway lines. It began to appear in the regular farm rotation, and each year the acreage was increased. Sweet clover was no longer a weed, but an accepted farm crop and, as a soil builder and forage crop, it exceeded the expectations of even its friends.

It would not do to close this chapter without an account of the boom that followed the discovery of the annual sweet clover by Prof. H. D. Hughes. In the spring of 1916, Professor Hughes discovered that a few sweet clover plants were blooming the first year in the greenhouse at Iowa State College. Hughes recognized the importance of this discovery, saved the seed, propagated it, and distributed it to several individuals for trial. Others had made similar discoveries some years before, but had failed to recognize the significance or importance of the event and had passed it by with little notice. Hughes' announcement created a furore, and a great demand sprang up for the annual clover, which was named Hubam. It is recorded that 45,000 samples of the seed were distributed by the Iowa Experiment Station in a few weeks after the announcement was made that a package of fifty seeds was available on request.

Only a few were farsighted enough to realize the value of the sample. Among them was Henry Field, the seedsman of Shenandoah, Iowa, who cared for it and increased his supply as rapidly as possible. Thus, when the demand reached its height and seed was selling at from five to ten dollars per pound, he had about twenty bushels which he was able to sell for $300 per bushel to others who retailed it at still higher prices.

Hughes took a year's leave of absence from the college and spent the time in Alabama, where the seed was grown on a commercial scale. There it was found that the annual sweet clover was quite generally spread over a territory of considerable extent and had probably been growing for a long period without being recognized as distinct from the ordinary biennial sweet clover.

At first it was thought that the annual plant might lead to important changes in the farm practices of a large territory, but the boom soon subsided and little demand remained. The beekeepers did, however, contribute largely to the boom while it did last. They added to the publicity at every opportunity, and many of them bought seed for their farmer friends in the hope of increased bee pasture for themselves.

Sweet clover, which was first known as a weed to be found in waste places and contributing but little to the honey crop, thus became the source of the largest single variety of honey known in American markets. Because of its light color, its mild flavor, and the fact that it could be obtained in large quantities, it became the honey on which the packers came to depend for a uniform product.