422 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



by pasturing the first season, or a crop of hay may be cut. 

 The second season it is best cut for hay or for seed, or both. 

 Too close cutting with the mower is harmful, as new shoots 

 appear only from the stems and not from the crown as in 

 alfalfa. 



Sweet clover is slightly more succulent than alfalfa and 

 therefore a little more difficult to cure without undue loss 

 of leaves. To avoid this the hay should be handled as 

 little as possible, curing as much as possible in the windrows 

 and then in small shocks. 



Lloyd states that it has been utilized as silage by Ohio 

 farmers, and thus fed to sheep and cattle with good results. 



506. Advantages and disadvantages. The chief disad- 

 vantages of sweet clover are : 



1. The cumarin content of the herbage, which makes 

 animals avoid it until they have acquired a taste for its 

 bitterness. On the other hand, this is said by some to 

 be an advantage, as animals when first put in a pasture 

 will not eat enough to cause bloating. 2. The rapidity 

 with which 'the stems become woody, and the difficulty of 

 curing. 



On the other hand, sweet clover will thrive on soils 

 where neither red clover nor alfalfa will succeed, and there 

 can be little doubt that it will become much more utilized, 

 especially for pasturage on poor sandy soils. 



507. Yield. Comparatively few data on the yields 

 of sweet clover have been reported. In the North two 

 cuttings may be secured the second year, both of hay or 

 one of seed, while in the South three hay cuttings or two 

 of hay and one of seed may be harvested. Tracy says that 

 the three cuttings in the South will each average 1 to 2 

 tons an acre. At the Alabama (Canebrake) Substa- 

 tion the first season's spring-sown crop was at the rate of 



