MAY 15, 1912 



days required, the bees will store nearly the 

 same amount of honey as when working to- 

 gether. 

 Auburndale, Fla. 



To be continued. 



SWEET CLOVER AS A HAY CROP 



BY FRANK COVERDAIiB 



When I first began to grow sweet clover I 

 had little thought of ever using it for a hay 

 crop; but as time passed I began to see that 

 it would answer very well as a dry feed. We 

 experimented with one patch, and, contrary 

 to what I had expected, a fine hay crop of 

 superior quality was secured. This first field 

 that we tried had been sown about the first 

 week in May, and had been pastured to hogs 

 until August, when all hogs were taken off. 

 By October 10 the sweet clover stood 22 

 inches high, and then the mower was start- 

 ed. Just as soon as the hay was well wilted 

 (but not dry enough to put in barns) it was 

 raked into winrows and shaped into well- 

 formed small cocks. These cocks, by the 

 way, were just large enough so that they 

 could be thrown on the rack in one good 

 fork-load all at one time. This avoided 

 scattering the leaves, which are as valuable 

 as so much wheat bran. From this the 

 reader will see the importance of putting up 

 the hay so that it is not too dry when han- 

 dled. All the handling, in fact, should be 

 done while it is green and tough, when it 

 can be gotten into the cocks before any 

 leaves will be scattered around. It should 

 stand in cocks until it is sufficiently cured 

 to keep in the mow. We have always found 

 that this clover has kept well when managed 

 in this way. 



White sweet clover is the worst of any of 

 the clovers that I know of, to scatter its 

 leaves when overdry; and the leaves being 

 thick and meaty are surpassed by those of 

 no other legume. A dairyman is lucky who 

 has a good winter supply of first-year sweet- 

 clover hay for his cows. 



The cocks referred to will stand many 

 rains and still be very good feed. Sweet 

 clover sheds water better than common clo- 

 ver, and it has a smooth stem. The com- 

 mon red clover, because of its hairy stem, 

 holds moisture, and quickly turns black 

 and becomes unfit for feed. I have been 

 happily surprised to find that this first-year 

 hay cures the nicest of any that I have ever 

 made. 



This coming fall we shall have fully forty 

 acres of this kind of hay to make, and we 

 intend to use a side-delivery mower; and, 

 when it is sufficiently dry, to use a hay- 

 loader. We think we shall not have much 

 loss when we follow this plan; and when 

 there are large fields this latter plan is much 

 faster than any other. There should be two 

 wagons, one loading and the other unload- 

 ing at the barn. 



I know of no other clover that can be de- 

 pended upon to make a good hay crop the 



same year as sown. It has often been tall 

 enough to mow in July; but at this time it 

 would be very dangerous to mow it unless 

 care were taken; for as yet there are no 

 crown sprouts started; and if one mows the 

 clover close to the ground in July, much of 

 it will be killed outright. On this account, 

 if one wishes to mow the first clover in July, 

 or before the crown sprouts start, the ma- 

 chine must be set so as to cut high enough 

 to leave stubbles that have a few leaves to 

 make a start for the next crop. When the 

 crown sprouts are started, the mower may 

 be run close to the ground with perfect 

 safety. These crown sprouts on the first- 

 year crop will be seen close to the roots after 

 removing about an inch of dirt. This is 

 the reason, by the way, why this clover will 

 not winterkill. The crown sprouts are about 

 an inch below the surface of the ground, so 

 that a covering during the winter is a cer- 

 tainty — a point of vast importance to one 

 who is depending upon this clover the com- 

 ing season. 



MAKING HAY FROM THE SECOND - YEAR 

 GROWTH. 



Handling the second-year growth is, per- 

 haps, a more difficult problem, as the clover 

 gets very rank early in the season before 

 good curing weather arrives. In this respect 

 it is just like alfalfa. We have never dared 

 to try and cure the hay until along in June; 

 but at the same time every effort that we 

 have made has been successful; we have 

 never yet made a forkful of poor sweet-clo- 

 ver hay. With the improved variety of 

 white sweet clover that we now grow, I am 

 not sure but that we might cure the hay 

 even as early as the 1st of June. If we could 

 do this, the problem of making hay from 

 second-year's white clover would be solved, 

 and two good cuttings could be easily made 

 during the second year, and a seed crop se- 

 cured late in the fall. 



There are many ways in which this clover 

 can be handled for hay. One plan, which 

 is very successful and easily carried out, is 

 to wait until the clover is in bloom, and just 

 beginning to form seed. This is just before 

 the leaves begin to show yellow. While the 

 foliage is still on, go over the field with a 

 self-binder and set in shock rows, two and 

 two. These bundles will cure nice and green, 

 and will dry very quickly. They should be 

 hauled and stacked like oats until winter, 

 when the bands may be cut and the bundles 

 thrown in the mangers for any kind of stock. 

 It will keep perfectly dry if well stacked, 

 and will make very satisfactory feed. The 

 binder should be run high enough to leave 

 behind a stubble which contains a few 

 leaves, otherwise it will die out. If the 

 leaves are left on, a nice crop of seed of ex- 

 cellent quality can be cut later in the fall. 



Another plan is to pasture the second- 

 year clover with some kind of live stock un- 

 til late in May or the first of June. The hay 

 will then be just about right in good hay 

 weather, and can be made just as though it 

 were a first-year crop. The stubble should 

 be left high, as shown in the illustration. 



