CUTTING SWEET CLOVER FOE HAY. 



Sweet clover cut after a large proportion of the 

 blossoms have appeared will still make very fair hay. 

 Back in LaSalle Co., 111., the roadsides in many places 

 are lined for miles with sweet clover. The law re- 

 quires the road commissioners to cut this. The time 

 they generally do this is when the sweet clover is in 

 full bloom. Of course, I did not enjoy seeing the 

 mower start on the roadside just when the bees were 

 doing so nicely, but there was no use in objecting. 

 Last season, though, I thought I would see if I could 

 not make some use of the clover after it was cut. It 

 had been cut after it had been in bloom for about 

 two weeks, and the plant was quite mature. So I 

 raked up a lot of this clover along tne highway and 

 put it into the barn. It was just then a very busy 

 season of year for me, and I could not give much time 

 to haying, so that several loads were left out a great 

 deal longer than they ought to have bee'n. It was so 

 dry that the leaves would all drop off if any attempt 

 was made to handle it after the dew was off in the 

 morning. Some of it was rained on, and none of it 

 had less than two days of hot sun, most of it several 

 days. Yet in spite of this bad treatment my stock, 

 both horse and cattle, liked it and throve on it. It 

 looked more like hazel brush than hay, and the cattle 

 would not eat all of the coarse woody stalks, though 

 the horse would eat most of it up clean. I have seen 

 the horse come in from a good blue-grass pasture and 

 pitch into that sweet-clover hay like a small boy into 

 a watermelon. 



The proper way to cut sweet clover for hay, though, 

 is to cut it before it comes into bloom, being careful 

 not to cut it too close to the ground. In this way it 

 will grow again, branching out freely and giving a 

 good crop of honey after the ordinary growth is past 

 its prime. I cut a small patch of sweet clover this 

 way this season. It made excellent hay, and 'I think 

 the second crop yielded more honey than if it had 

 been cut. 



The browsing of stock, if not carried too far, is 

 often beneficial in the same way. If given free access 



