204 BETTER DAIRY FARMING 



any winter month with fair assurance of success. Do not sow it in 

 midsummer because the young plants do not do well in hot weather. 

 The crop is usually sown on winter wheat or spring grains. If 

 sown alone, 10 to 12 pounds per acre is the proper rate. 



347. Clover with timothy. — It is a common practice to sow 

 red clover with timothy. By so doing a greater yield of forage is 

 obtained because timothy does not come to full yield the first year 

 while clover does, the clover dying out the second year as the 

 timothy comes to maximum production. In the meantime the 

 clover, through its ability to take nitrogen from the air, has bene- 

 fited the soil and made possible a better crop of timothy. Further, 

 the two crops go well together because the clover roots penetrate 

 much deeper and thus the roots from the two plants do not com- 

 pete directly for the same nutrients. 



348. Red clover in rotations. — All good farmers practice crop 

 rotation; that is, on a given field they alternate cultivated crops 

 and grain crops with grass and clover. Such a system aids in keep- 

 ing up the fertility of the soil. Crops with different root systems 

 are grown in different years, the nutrients being drawn from dif- 

 ferent depths of the soil accordingly. A field continually sowed to 

 grain crops rapidly loses its humus or supply of decaying organic 

 matter, which results in a loss of fertility. Grass crops maintain or 

 increase this humus. Rotation helps to control weeds, diseases 

 and insects. Having a legume in the rotation aids in keeping up 

 the nitrogen content of the soil by bringing it nitrogen from the 

 air. Red clover fits into a crop rotation better than any other 

 legume. It can be sown with a grain crop one year, harvested at 

 full yield the next season and then plowed up for sowing grain 

 again. Growing red clover once in four years will maintain the 

 nitrogen and humus content of the soil. 



349. Harvesting red clover. — Clover usually yields two cut- 

 tings per season, the second being lighter but of better quality. 

 The crop should be harvested when in full bloom. After this period 

 the stems become more woody and some of the leaves are lost. 

 When harvested alone it is difficult to cure. Harvested with 

 timothy there is the disadvantage that it matures about two weeks 



