February, 1915. 



61 



American Hae Journal 



KIG. io_YELLOW CONE FLOWER OR GOLDEN GLOW 



clover is being demonstrated on many 

 farms and some experiment stations. 

 The Iowa station lias carried on some 

 experiments, using sweet clover as pas- 

 ture for hogs and the first season's 

 growth has proved to be about as good 

 as alfalfa. 



The following extract from a letter 

 will show how cattle thrive on this 

 much abused plant: "I had a very fine 

 stand this season following a barley 

 crop. Sixty days after cutting the 

 barley, there was a growth of from 15 

 to 24 inches, I put 29 steers in this field 

 that were just common feeders in only 

 fairly good condition, purchased in 

 KinsasCity. They were fed nothing 

 else, but had plenty of water and salt, 

 and in 55 days the average gain was 154 

 pounds each." 



The Wyoming Experiment Station 

 found that lambs fed on ^^Ifalfa made 

 an average gain of 34.4 pounds each in 

 14 weeks, while on sweet clover an- 

 other bunch of lambs made a gain of 

 30.7 pounds for the same time. 



As a hay crop, sweet clover is prov- 

 ing very valuable. Stock eat it when 

 cured as well as when green. During 

 favorable seasons a hay crop of a ton 

 or more may be cut the first year. One 

 man writes me that his first year's 

 growth made 'Z'/i tons of hay. A crop 

 of hay may be cut during the second 

 year and the second crop allowed to 

 seed or the first crop maybe allowed 

 to seed. In cutting the hay crop dur- 

 ing the first season's growth, there is 

 no danger of injuring by cutting too 

 low, but for cuttings made during the 

 second year, the mower should be run 

 at 1 -ast 4 inches high. New buds or 

 sprouts do not start from the root 

 crown as in the case of alfalfa after 

 being cut once. The new growths 

 start from the stubble, and this must 

 be left sufficiently high to give room 

 for the new buds. The root crown 

 normally furnishes but one series of 



shoots, and if cut too low the second 

 crop will be a partial or total failure. 

 There will be no objection to cutting a 

 second crop of hay if sufficient growth 

 takes place. This will damage the seed 

 crop, however. 



Cut the first crop before it blooms 

 and the second crop before it becomes 

 too woody. 



Mr. Graham, of Rochelle, filled a silo 

 with the first year's growth of sweet 

 clover, and fed it to steers together 

 with corn. During the first 30 days an 

 average gain was made of 90 pounds 

 per steer. 



The yield of sweet clover seed is 

 usually higher than that of any other 

 clover, being from 3 to 16 bushels per 

 acre, and may be obtained from the 

 first, second or possibly a small yield 

 from the third crop if the season is 

 favorable. To obtain the best seed 

 crop it is necessary to cut a crop of 

 hay or clip it when 18 or 20 inches 

 high. In handling the seed crop it can 

 best be done by harvesting with a bin- 

 der and shocking as in the case of oats. 

 The time of cutting for the seed is very 

 important, since if cut when too ripe 

 much will be lost by shattering. A 

 general rule is to cut it when three- 

 fourths of the se 'ds are black and the 

 rest a yellow brown. The seed ripens 

 very irregularly, and some branches 

 will be in bloom when others are 

 ready to harvest. It should be hulled 

 as soon as dry. The ordinary clover 

 huUer does not handle sweet clover 

 very satisfactorily. If possible, use a 

 thresher with a clover hulling attach- 

 ment. Probably the best way, until the 

 hullers are adapted to handling this 

 crop, is to run the crop through an or- 

 dinary huller. This will give the seed 

 in good shape. 



SWEET CI.OVER AS A SOIL RENOVATING 

 CROP. 



^< s a crop for soil improvement 



Fig. II— Klowkk and Leaf of YtLLuw 

 Cone Flower 



sweet clover promises to become of 

 great value especially in our systems 

 of grain and mixed farming, and pos- 

 sibly in the live stock system. It has 

 this advantage over alfalfa that it 

 works well into systems of rotation 

 and could be turned under w'th a clear 

 conscience. With the exception of 

 alfalfa it is the deepest root crop 

 grown, the tap roots penetrating to a 

 depth of 3 to 5 feet. This makes it 

 especially valuable as a subsoiler. The 

 root development takes place largely 

 during the first season. The growth 

 of top during the first year is not 

 usually very large, probably not much 

 larger that the total root development 

 during the same time. 



The growth of top during the sec- 

 ond year is one feature that makes it 

 such an excellent crop for soil im- 

 provement. One of the most impor- 

 tant problems in soil management is 

 maintaining the supply of nitrogenous 

 organic matter to provide nitrogen for 

 the crop and humus for keeping the 

 soil in good tilth. Sweet clover pro- 

 vides an abundance of both. 



The following table gives the results 

 of some investigations of sweet clover 

 at the Illinois Agricultural Experiment 

 Station : 



illinois i nvestig.\ti0ns of sweet clover 

 (m. alba). 



Ptrtj ot plnnt Dry mittfr ptr ten Nitroien per icre 



jeptll pounds percent pounds percent 



of lotnl of totil 



Tops harvested... go2Q i-'4 



Surface residue... I3i8 2.1 



Total tops 1030- 8r IQ7 8o 



Large surface 



roots. ot07 in I5f>8 17 



Small surface 



roots. to 7 in — 24i 5 



Total surface. 



oto7 in i8o9 u 22 10 



Subsurface roots. 



7 to join tioi 5 4 



Total roots 2410 10 31 '4 



Total tops and 



roots "277" 'OO 228 TOO 



Table from Dr. Hopkins' •'SoilFer- 

 tility and Permanent Agriculture." 



The total yield in the above is G.4 

 tons of dry matter per acre of which 

 the roots form 1.2 tons per acre, or 

 less than one-fifth of the total. It is 

 important to note that the tops are 

 nearly as rich in nitrogen as red clover 

 (40 pounds per ton), while the roots 



