EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 235 



pound. The Farm Crops department is planning to distribute a large 

 part of the recent increase to members of the Michigan Crop Improvement 

 Association. It is important that the Hubam Clover be grown under a 

 system of registration and field inspection, since there is apparently no way 

 of telling its seed from that of the biennial type of white sweet clover. 



Mr. J. W. Nicolson of the Farm Bureau Seed Department, Lansing, Mich., 

 states that he will install machines for hulhng, cleaning and scarifying the 

 unhulled seed at service cost. 



The Farm Crops department is charging $1.00 per pound for the seed to 

 members of the Michigan Crop Improvement Association. Those who are 

 interested in securing a small envelope of the Hubam Clover for trial can 

 secure same on request, free of charge, from the Farm Crops department of 

 the Michigan Agricultural College, East Lansing, as long as the supply set 

 aside for this purpose holds out. 



THE PLANTING OF SEED. 



In planting for seed purposes it is recommended that seeding be made on 

 corn, bean, or potato ground, or fallowed land which is in a firm, clean con- 

 dition. If the soil is acid from one to two tons of finely ground limestone 

 or several cubic yards of marl should be applied. Acid phosphate at the rate 

 of two or three hundred pounds per acre will increase yield and hasten ma- 

 turity. 



Seed should be inoculated with culture which may be secured from the 

 Department of Bacteriology of the Michigan Agricultural College, East 

 Lansing, Mich. The price is 25 cents per bottle and one bottle contains 

 sufficient material to inoculate a bushel of seed. Directions for application 

 accompany the material, which is the same furnished for biennial sM^et 

 clover. 



From one to two pounds of seed per acre, when drilled in rows 28 to 32 

 inches apart, about the middle of April, will apparently give maximum seed 

 yields. The experience of the College indicates that one pound of seed per 

 acre is enough, if properly planted. Care must be taken not to bury the 

 seed, covering it as lightly as possible. Difficulty has been experienced in 

 regulating the drill to sow the proper amount and therefore it is always 

 necessary to test the drill on the floor, or on a sheet to insure a drop of one seed 

 each inch, on an average, along the row. A Planet Junior, Columbia, or 

 other type of garden drill may be used, and some makes of grain drills can 

 be employed, using every fourth drill hole with cardboard partitions in seed 

 box. 



Other makes of grain drill will handle the seed in small enough quantity 

 only through the seeder attachment. In that case the seed must be directed 

 into the hoes and not sown broadcast. Seed may be mixed with cornmeal 

 if the drill cannot be properly regulated for a small amount of seed. Most 

 edge drop corn drills can be adapted to plant sweet clover, but not by means 

 of the corn plates, as they are too thick. Most manufacturers make thinner 

 plates to handle sorghums and other small seeds. These have an extra 

 ring or plate to take up the extra space. For planting sweet clover with a 

 plate three-sixteenths of an inch thick, there needs to be between 20 and 32 

 one-eighth inch holes. Two plates are needed. 



During early growth the crop should be given clean cultivation with corn 

 cultivator and weeded with hoe. Careful hand weeding as early as possible 

 is essential to success in seed production. 



