54 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



On land that has never been cropped and is so poor that it will 

 not raise wild oats or foxtail, you will have poor success the first 

 year even with bur clover. Work up the soil deeply and finely; and 

 then, because none of it has been growing on the land, it will be 

 desirable to inoculate with bacteria. Where the ground has baked 

 so hard, bacterial life has probably been largely destroyed. 



Bur Clover in the Bur. 



I have a lot of barley full of bur clover. What is the best way to* 

 clean or separate, and is there any market for the seed in the bur? 



Bur clover can be readily separated from barley by proper ar- 

 rangement of any good grain cleaner. There is a market for the seed 

 in the bur although the seedmen now handle only hulled seed. Any 

 seedman will either make a bid or refer to those who operate hulling 

 machinery. Hulled seed is better, but until a few years back the seed 

 was handled wholly in the bur. 



Limitations of Bur Clover. 



What is the feed value of bur clover? What good as a forage crop? 

 And its value to plow under for fertiliser? The weeds are very bad 

 here, especially mustard and tar weed, and I want something strong to 

 help smother the weeds. 



Bur clover is about as good for feeding as alfalfa so far as nutritive 

 contents go. It is harder to handle as hay, however, and usually has 

 less feeding value per ton. It is fine to plow under as a fertilizer 

 because it is a winter grower and uses water when there is water to 

 spare and when green stuff can be best plowed under. But bur clover 

 is an annual and must come every year from the seed. As a smotherer 

 it does not compare with alfalfa. It grows low and generally does 

 not cover well enough to prevent mustard from shooting through and 

 it dies and dries while both mustard and tar weed are waving above it. 

 Alfalfa keeps up the weed-fight because it grows tall and because it 

 grows in the summer and because it fights underground also with 

 its perennial roots. 



Growing Timothy. 



What is the best way to sow timothy for hay in mountain valleys?' 

 Timothy is only grown in mountain valleys in the extreme north 

 of the State, where it does exceedingly well. It is common practice to 

 sow timothy in the fall, and after the snow melts off in the spring 

 they have an early start. It grows there from 3 to 4 feet high and 

 does well. About 15 Ibs. of seed are usually sown to the acre. 



Winter Cover and Pasture. 



Which is the better, hairy vetch or rape, to grow as a cover crop, on 

 gravelly, clayey soil, to use it for green feed? The ground is not inocu- 



