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BETTER FRUIT 



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Sweet Clover a Strong Nitrogen Gatherer 



By F. B. Linfield, Bozeman, Montana 



THERE are many varieties of sweet 

 clover, but only two are common 

 in our Northern country, the white 

 (Melilotus alba) and the yellow (Melilo- 

 tu.s ollicinalis). Both are biennial 

 I)lants. The white variety is preferred 

 as a crop. A study of the character- 

 istics of this plant shows its wonder- 

 ful adaptability to a great variety of 

 conditions. It is a very vigorous and 

 rapid grower, attaining a height of a to 

 10 feet. Extreme of heat or cold does 

 not seem to aU'ect the plant. It grows 

 well in the extreme vSoulh and all the 

 way between up to and including Mon- 

 tana, where it grows well in nearly 

 every part of the state. It can with- 

 stand very great extremes of wet or 

 dry soils and it will grow on stronger 

 alkali soil than any other farm crop. 

 In fact it has considerable renovating 

 power when grown on such soils. It 

 will also grow better on very poor soils 

 than any other leguminous plant, but 

 to do its best the soil should be rich in 

 lime. A peculiai-ity of the plant is that 

 it needs a very firm seed bed. It will 

 even start on hard, compact soil if 

 moisture is available. It does not ger- 

 minate readily or grow well on loose, 

 open soils. Sweet clover is a strong 

 nitrogen gatherer, the roots being 

 loaded with nodules even on poor soil. 

 It is, thus, a great soil enricher. Some 

 soils need inoculation, but this is not 

 commonly the case in Montana. 



As the ijlaiit is a biennial, it does not 

 grow very high the first year, but stores 

 up a large food supply in its fleshy 

 roots. Tlie second season it develops 

 to its full height, and if permitted to do 

 so matures a heavy crop of seed. At 

 the end of the second season the plant 

 dies; the roots, thus, adding much 



humus to the soil. As a rule the seeds 

 are slow to germinate, as there are 

 many hard-coated seeds. Probably not 

 more than half the seeds will germi- 

 nate the first season. This means a 

 little thicker seeding than for alfalfa, 

 say, 12 to 15 pounds per acre. In the 

 dryer sections of the state, on the bench 

 lands, the crop may be seeded in rows, 

 24 to 36 inches apart, when 3 to 5 

 pounds of seed per acre will be plenty. 



Sweet clover produces a very fine 

 quality of honey, and as it flowers pro- 

 fusely and continuously through the 

 season it provides a large quantity of 

 honey for the honey bee. 



Compared with alfalfa, sweet clover 

 is a stronger grower and a much larger 

 plant. It is richer also in protein, when 

 cut in early bloom, which is the best 

 time for making hay. It is not to be 

 recommended as taking the place of 

 alfalfa or red clover where these do 

 well. Sweet clover is such a vigorous 

 grower that to many farmers it appears 

 to be a weed. However, it seems to 

 grow mainly in waste places only, and 

 does not usually trouble the cultivated 

 fields. It is not readily eaten by stock 

 because of its bitter taste, and they 

 have to be starve(f to it at times. Once 

 they learn to eat it, however, they seem 

 to relish it as well as they do alfalfa. 

 It is valuable as a fodder crop only in 

 its early stages of growth, as after if is 

 in fufl bloom it gets very woody and 

 the leaves fall. 



The crop should be seeded in spring 

 on a firm seeif bed. I'all-ijlowed land, 

 or land that has had a cultivated crop 

 the year before, is to be preferre<l. 

 Spring-plowed land should be very 

 lirndy packed before seeding to sweet 

 clover. 



Probably the greatest value of sweet 

 clover is as pasture. It should have a 

 good start in the spring and then 

 enough slock kept on the field to pre- 

 vent it from gaining on them. If it 

 should get ahead of the stock the crop 

 should be mowed down. The plant is 

 an early grower in the spring, so that 

 it wifl make one of the earliest pastures. 

 Another advantage is that it very sel- 

 dom or never bloats stock, whereas 

 there is always more or less danger 

 with alfalfa. All classes of livestock 

 do well on sweet clover pasture, but 

 hogs especially so. ^^Tlen used for 

 hay, cut the crop when the first few 

 blooms appear. It should be cut about 

 four inches above the ground, as unlike 

 alfalfa, the second crop grows from low 

 branches and not from the crown. 

 Thus, if the crop is cut so close to the 

 ground as to remove the branches the 

 next crop is very much reduced. In the 

 moister parts of Montana the first crop 

 may be cut for hay and the second left 

 for seed. At the present time there is 

 good money in the seed crop. As sweet 

 clover is a biennial plant, provision 

 should be made that it reseeds itself. 

 If ])astured or cut too close no seed 

 will be formed, so the plant will dis- 

 appear after the second year. 



The characteristics of the sweet 

 clover as given above shows its adapta- 

 bility for the orchard. Its deep tap 

 root, which dies at the end of the sec- 

 ond year, adds nitrogen and humus to 

 the soil and also opens up the soil to 

 the action of the air. As the plant is 

 a vigorous grower and accumulates a 

 large store of nitrogen it makes a good 

 geen manure for plowing under. Un- 

 like alfalfa, it is a plant comparatively 

 easy to get ri(i of by summer cuftiva- 

 tion. It is a short rotation, nitrogen- 

 gathering plant. 



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