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Three bushels per acre have often been gathered, although the- 

 usual average is about one and a half bushels. 



As the first crop of clover, coming to maturity in June, will not 

 perfect its seed, it is necessary to take off the first crop, either by 

 feeding or by mowing for hay, and rely for the seed upon the after 

 crop. The quantity of seed of this crop will depend much upon 

 the weather. Should there be much rain or heavy winds, the yield 

 of seed will be small, but when the weather has been fine and calm, 

 and the seed free from dock or other noxious seeds, the crop will 

 be found as remunerative as any other grown by the farmer. A 

 bushel of clover seed will weigh usually about sixty-four pounds, 

 though sixty pounds is the standard bushel in market. 



The seed crop of clover should be allowed to stand until the 

 husks have become quite brown and the seeds have passed the 

 milky state. It should then be mowed and permitted to lie upon 

 the ground until it is well cured. After it is cured rake it up into 

 swaths. Rain will rather benefit than injure it, making it easier to 

 separate the heads from the haulm, which is done by passing through 

 an ordinary wheat separator. A clover huller attachment is ad- 

 justed to the separator below the vibrator, which hulls the seeds, 

 and they are separated from the chaff by the fan, care being taken 

 to shut off as much air as possible by closing the sliding doors. 



The crop of seed can be largely increased by mowing or feeding 

 off the first crop of clover about the first of June, and then top- 

 dressing with stable manure. The earlier the first crop is cut the 

 larger will be the crop of seed. By treating the clover fields in 

 this way, as much as three bushels of seed have been obtained from 

 an acre. Uplands will yield more seed than bottom lands, but they 

 should be enriched by a liberal application of manure. About the 

 first of September is the time to mow for seed, and the straw will 

 thresh all the better for being exposed to the weather for three 

 weeks. The threshing is usually done in the field, though the 

 haulm may be hauled up after being thoroughly dry, and stacked 

 with a good straw covering, or else stored away under shelter on a 

 good tight floor until it suits the convenience of the farmer to 

 thresh. Care should be taken not to run over or tramp upon the 

 clover after it is dried, as many seeds are thus shelled out and lost. 

 The better plan is to haul to the thresher just as soon as the straw 



