SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT 181 



keep the flock entirely off this field, letting the clover 

 or alfalfa get strong to withstand the trial of the 

 coming winter. 



Young clover and alfalfa should never be grazed 

 hard nor eaten close the first year, else the stand 

 will be seriously weakened. 



CLOVER AND ALFALFA PASTURE. 



By all odds the most useful summer pastures in 

 the cornbelt are those composed of clover or alfalfa. 

 There are several distinguishing advantages in 

 these crops: they renew the soil, they are rich in 

 protein and add to the size, health and vigor of the 

 sheep; they afford a great amount of grazing and 

 they are almost absolutely free from danger of car- 

 rying parasitic infection. The reason for the health- 

 fulness of these plants is that sheep crop the higher 

 leaves and stems, leaving the parts close to the 

 ground and thus escape germs that may lurk down 

 close to the earth. 



Either red clover or alfalfa is too richly a nitro- 

 genous product, however, to be grazed alone. Sheep 

 confined to either of them must eat too much pro- 

 tein and will therefore crave food of more carbo- 

 naceous or starchy composition. They will greedily 

 eat grasses or even hay or dry straw to help bal- 

 ance their ration. Therefore it is wise to sow a 

 mixture of grasses with the clovers. The best 

 grasses for this purpose are smooth brome grass 

 and orchard grass. Either of these come on quick-- 

 ly and give a continuous grazing with the clovers. 



