Rural School Leaflet 10,35 



cultural directions 

 E. R. Minns 



Making a start. — Clovers frequently follow oats in a good rotation of 

 crops. The contestant who grows oats for a prize one year should pre- 

 pare to grow clover for a prize the succeeding year. In seeding the clover 

 crop, sow three quarts of medium red-clever seed and two quarts of alsike 

 clover seed on the acre of oats, either when the oats are sown or immediately 

 after. The clover seed can be distributed from a seeding attachment on 

 the grain drill when the oats are sown, or broadcasted afterward. A mix- 

 ture of two kinds of clover seed is most suitable for many parts of the 

 State. It makes the chances of obtaining a crop of clover hay more certain. 

 In regions where the soil is deficient in lime, the suggestions in regard 

 to lime given for the oats contest should be heeded. (Page 103 1.) 



When the oats are harvested, care should be taken not to injure the 

 new clover seeding. It will be smothered by leaving oat shocks on the 

 ground too long, or it may be damaged by trampling if the ground is 

 rather wet. It is more likely that the ground will be very dry and that 

 the removal of the oat crop when ripe will leave the young clover plants 

 exposed to the sunshine, and this may result in harm. For the benefit 

 of the clover plants a light top-dressing of barnyard manure, applied 

 with a manure spreader after the oat harvest at the rate of eight loads 

 per acre, will be found very beneficial, especially if the weather is rather 

 dry. The top-dressing of manure helps protect the ground from drought, 

 and if rains fall the growth of the clover will be greatly stimulated by 

 the presence of the soluble plant-food leached out of the manure. With 

 such a protection the clover should go into winter in very good condition. 

 There will be nothing more to do until harvest time the next year. 



Harvesting. — The best time to cut clover for hay is when it has 

 blossomed freely and about one third of the blossoms have turned brown. 

 Opinions differ as to the best method of curing clover hay. The following 

 is a safe method, and, if rightly followed, will produce a good quality of 

 hay: Cut the clover when the dew is off. Let it wilt and then stir it 

 with a tedder or with forks before any number of the leaves have become 

 dry enough to break off. Rake the hay into windrows while it is yet 

 tough, and pile into narrow and rather high haycocks. The hay will 

 sweat and be tough inside the cocks for several days; but gradually the 

 moisture will evaporate from the stems through the wilted leaves, and 

 then, if the haycock is opened out for a few hours in small bunches, the 

 hay will be dry enough to store and yet will handle well in the compact 

 bunches. Should a heavy rain occur after the hay is cocked, more time 

 will be required to dry it out before storing. 



