CLOVER. 



96 



CLOVER. 



it naturally makes a large amount of feed, 

 equal to any of the clovers; and some of our 

 experiment stations have estimated that a 

 good stand plowed under while in blcom is 

 equivalent to ten tons per acre of the best 

 stable maniire. 



As it comes in bloom a little before any of 

 the other clovers (when wintered over), it 

 may be plowed under for almost any crop. 

 On our grounds we sow regularly four or 

 live iicres each year, and have had no fail- 

 ure. It is no more than fair to state, how- 

 evei-, that in our locality, the northern part 

 of Cjhio, there have been many failures. In 

 fact, one of our standard writers on agri- 

 culture says thousands of dollars have been 

 wasted by farmers trying to grow crimson 

 clover. The reason of our success is, we 

 think, first, our ground is all thoroughly 

 uuderdrained ; second, it has had large 

 amounts of stable manure, and is compar- 

 atively rich. The best stand we ever had, 

 we think, was in the spring of 1899. We had 

 several acres of wheat last year that lodged 

 badly. The consequence was, enough wheat 

 rattled out and was left on the ground to 

 make pretty thorough seeding. This wheat 

 grew up the fall so rank as to fall down be- 

 fore winter. Well, the crimson clover was 

 sown right on the wheat stubble in August; 

 and w^hen the wheat fell over, the clover 

 pushed up through and was thus well 

 mulched through the winter. The conse- 

 quence is, we have at the present writing, 

 April 25, a tremendous growth of clover and 

 wheat together. This we propose to turn 

 under as soon as the clover is in full bloom- 

 say the middle or latter part of May. We 

 have grown excellent crops of potatoes on 

 crimson clover turned under in this way, for 

 several years past; and, in fact, we have se- 

 cured a splendid stand of crimson clover by 

 sowing it after potatoes were dug that were 

 planted comparatively early. One year we 

 sowed crimson clover as fast as the potatoes 

 were got out of the ground; that is, as fast 

 as we dug fifteen or twenty rows we worked 

 up the ground with a cutaway and Acme 

 harrow, and sowed the clover. The first put 

 in (in August) wintered splendidly. That 

 put in along the lore part of September did 

 fairly ; but where we did not get the seed in 

 until the hist of September or fore part of 

 October, it was mostly a failure. Peihaps 

 one other reason why we succeeded is that 

 our seed of late years has been of our own 

 growing. It is an easy matter to grow seed; 

 and where it is worth only $2.60 a bushel, 

 the present price, we think the seed can be 



grown profitably in our locality— that is, on 

 good ground with the conditions mentioned. 



QUALITY OF CRIMSON-CLOVER HONEY. 



The quality of the honey from crimson 

 clover ranks fairly with that of any of the 

 clovers. Some have called it superior. There 

 has not been enough of it in our locality to 

 make a perceptible difference in the honey- 

 yield; but when in bloom there are as many 

 bees on the same area as we ever saw, even 

 in a buckwheat-field. As we plow it under 

 while in full bloom, the bees are gradually 

 crowded down to the last heads standing; 

 and after the last head goes under, for some 

 time there will be quite a lot of bees swarm- 

 ing over the ground, apparently wondering 

 what has become of their abundant pastur- 

 age in so short a space of time. We have as 

 yet had no reports, to our knowledge, from 

 hundreds of acres or more in blossom at the 

 same time, as is often the case with alfalfa, 

 white clover, and sometimes red clover. A 

 fair-sized apiary needs many acres of any 

 plant to give a good yield of honey. 



Another great advantage it has over al- 

 most every thing else lor poultry is that it is 

 green and luxuriant through the winter 

 when almost every other plant is killed by 

 the frost. If you want to give your poultry 

 green feed, with but little trouble, get in 

 crimson clover as soon as a crop is harvested. 



SAINFOIN CLOVEB {Onobrychis sativa). 



This excellent farm crop, has been grown 

 for ages in Europe, and at the present day 

 is raised very extensively, more particularly 

 in England, France, and Belgium, where it 

 is a standby. The name " sanfoin" literally 

 means healthy hay, presumably because it 

 does not bloat animals to which it is fed. It 

 certainly makes fine hay— possibly the very 

 best known. It also produces choice honey 

 in liberal quantity— the honey almost identi- 

 cal with white-clover honey. Grown and cul- 

 tivated very much as alfalfa is with us it has 

 this difference — it is not suited to a semi- 

 arid country. It has been grown quite suc- 

 cessfully at the Ottawa, Ontario, experi- 

 ment station, and throughout all Ontario. 

 Sainfoin does not yield as much hay as al- 

 falfa, being finer in the vine, and not so tall. 

 It commences to bloom shortly after fruit- 

 blossoms fall, and stays in bloom long 

 enough to allow bees ample time to gather a 

 crop. The blossoms do not come all together, 

 but in succession, hence it is not practical 

 to cut it j_ust before blooming time, as is 

 now done with alfalfa. It would seem 

 to be a grand crop for those who raise^ ^ 



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