36 MISC. PUBLICATION 194, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



Sweetclover will tolerate a reasonable amount of salt or alkali in 

 the soil. 



There may be a few weeks between the time the old growth becomes 

 too woody to graze and the time the new crop is large enough to 

 graze, but under favorable conditions stock can go from one field to 

 the other. Since the first year's growth has only half the carrying 

 capacity of the second year's growth, twice as many acres should be 

 seeded each year as are contained in the 2-year-old field. The 

 excess acreage is commonly turned under for corn the following 

 spring. 



Bloating may occur, but there is not so great danger of it as with 

 red or alsiJke clover or alfalfa. Allowing the animals access to a stack 

 of hay or of straw will go far toward solving tliis difficulty. 



Sweetclover is commonly seeded on winter grain or wath spring 

 grain. Unhulled seed may be used if sown in. winter; for spring seed- 

 iQgs scarified seed should be used. In Kansas the best stands are 

 obtained following Sudan grass or sorghum. 



Sweetclover is so important as a grazing crop in the Great Plains 

 that special combinations of rape and sweetclover have been recom- 

 mended by the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station, and a 

 rotation pasture including rye, Sudan grass, and bluegrass has also 

 been suggested for eastern Nebraska wherever sweetclover is not 

 desii'ed. 



LESPEDEZA 



In addition to its value in permanent pastures (pp. 16-17), lespedeza 

 has great possibihties as supplemental pasture when grown in rotation 

 with one of the small grains. Tliis use has been demonstrated on 

 many farms in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and North 

 Carolina. Korean, Kobe, and Tennessee 76 are used more in this 

 way than the Common. Wheat, oats, or barley are seeded in the fall 

 at the customary seeding date, and in the spring one of these varieties 

 of lespedeza is broadcast on the surface. The small grain may be 

 grazed or harvested either for hay or as a grain crop, after which the 

 lespedeza grows rapidly, and within 2 weeks, generally less, it is 

 ready to be grazed. From the middle of July to the middle of October, 

 depending upon the variety and the latitude, the lespedeza will 

 provide grazing for from one to two mature cattle per acre. When 

 seeding time for the small grain arrives, a seed bed is prepared, usually 

 by merely disking the land. In some cases a subsoil plow is run 

 through the field, at intervals of 3 or 4 feet, prior to the disking. 

 By this method the lespedeza reseeds yearly, and no further expense 

 for seed of lespedeza is entailed. Ordinarily the yield of grain is 

 increased by this double cropping with lespedeza. Tliis plan of 

 growing lespedeza with grain as described here is successful only with 

 varieties of lespedeza that wfil mature seed before the seeding tune 

 of the fall grain. Kobe and Tennessee 76 should be used only in 

 region 2 and the extreme southern part of section 1-b. North of 

 that, Korean lespedeza is the only variety that can be depended 

 upon to reseed yearly in such a cropping system. 



Lespedeza is commonly seeded on winter grain, but may follow 

 such crops as corn and cotton. Use 25 to 30 pounds per acre if a 

 fuU stand is wanted the first season. If a fight stand for reseeding 

 is wanted, use 5 to 10 pounds. It may be seeded on a thin grass 



