^O SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



detracts from its feeding value when grown for 

 hay. 



While clover of all the species named furnishes 

 an excellent soiling food, it is not so commonly 

 grown for such a use, for the reason, first, that the 

 yield per acre is much less than that of many other 

 foods grown for soiling; second, that ordinarily it 

 is so easily cured for hay, and, third, that it is so 

 easily handled when cured. The crimson clover is 

 ready to be cut for soiling food before the spring 

 months have gone, or some weeks before the medium, 

 which in turn is ready in from two to three weeks 

 in advance of the mammoth and alsike. The value 

 of the crimson clover as a soiling food is thus some- 

 what lessened by the necessity for thus cutting and 

 feeding it when pasture is plentiful and succulent. 



Clover furnishes excellent soiling food for 

 horses, cattle, sheep and swine, but when fed to sheep 

 and swine it should be cut at a stage somewhat earlier 

 than when fed to horses and cows, to secure more 

 fineness in the growth. When fed to cattle and 

 sheep it should be somewhat restricted in quantity 

 at first, or else wilted before it is fed, as the unre- 

 strained feeding of fresh cut clover will sometimes 

 cause bloating, which if not speedily relieved may 

 result fatally. 



The yield of soiling food from all these kinds 

 of clover varies, of course, with the conditions under 

 which they are grown. It will be approximately 

 correct to place the average yield of the first cutting 

 of medium clover for soiling uses at six tons per 

 acre, and of the second cutting the same season at 

 four tons. But these yields can be increased at 



