774: Grasses and Leguminous Crops in New York 



inoculation 

 Sweet clover will not make a sucessful growth unless the plants 

 are inoculated, xlcid soils and lack of inoculation are the chief 

 causes for so many failures with this crop. If the field where the 

 seed is to be planted has not previously grown sweet clover or 

 alfalfa, inoculation should be applied to either the soil or the 

 seed. The field may be inoculated by broadcasting 300 to 400 

 pounds of inoculated soil to the acre. This soil should be obtained 

 from a place where one of the above-named plants grows abund- 

 antly. As sunlight is very injurious to the inoculating germs, this 

 soil should be scattered on a cloudy day or early in the morning or 

 late in the evening and harrow^ed in immediately. Another 

 method calls for the moistening of the seed and the sifting of one 

 gallon of thoroughly inoculated soil over each bushel. When 

 sweet clover is inoculated in this manner, the soil should be col- 

 lected only from around the roots of well-inoculated plants. Seed 

 treated in this way should never be subjected to sunlight, and it 

 should be sown as soon as possible after treating. Inoculation 

 may also be accomplished by using pure cultures of the inoculating 

 organisms. These cultures may be obtained free of charge from 

 the United States Department of Agriculture. 



SEEDING 



Hulled sweet clover should be sown in the spring. The seed may 

 be broadcasted on honeycombed ground in the manner that red 

 clover is often sown, or seeding may be delayed until the soil is 

 sufficiently dry in order that the seed may be covered with a har- 

 row or drilled. Better stands have been obtained from the latter 

 method, and, whenever possible, it is recommended in preference 

 to broadcasting the seed on honeycombed ground. The yield of 

 grain will not be decreased by sowing the seed in this manner. 

 Good stands may be obtained by seeding on winter grain or with 

 spring grain. When sweet clover is sown in this manner, how- 

 ever, early-maturing varities of grain are to be preferred and the 

 grain should be sown at about two-thirds the usual rate for seed- 

 ing in the vicinity in question. It is best not to sow hulled seed 

 earlier than two weeks before the average date for the last severe 

 freeze, as many of the seeds will germinate during the first few 

 days of thawing weather and be killed by later freezes. 



