37 



shaded either by grain or weeds is in p<jor condition to stand full ex- 

 posure to the hot sun of niitlsuminer, and unless rains come within a 

 short time after it is thus exi)osed, much of it is often killed. This 

 method of seeding, then, leaves much to be desired. 



Seeding in Summer or Early Autumn. 



The best success in seeding to clovers can usually be counted upon 

 when the Avork is done in late summer or very early autumn. Dog 

 days furnish ideal conditions for germination and rapid growth. Clovers 

 may be sown at this time either alone or with grasses. If the field can 

 be cleared, plowed and thoroughly hai'rowed, it can be brought into 

 the very best possible condition, but where clo\er is to follow corn, it 

 is impossible to remove the corn in season to sow the clover. Under 

 these circumstances seeding in corn ai>i)ears to be the best plan. The 

 ensilage corn, since it is carried from the fiekl as soon as cut, furnishes 

 conditions on the whole more satisfactory than field corn, with which 

 the young grass and clover will be killed where the stooks of corn stand 

 while curing. In the seventeen years that the writer has had chaige of 

 the college farm in Amherst, a good many acres have been annually 

 seeded in corn, and during this entire period there has never been a 

 failure. The culture of the corn should be level. A si)ike-toothed cul- 

 tivator should be used at the last cultivation and the seed should be 

 immediately sown. It will not need covering. The best time for sow- 

 ing in this way is usually between July 20 and August 5. It is desirable 

 to sow the seed before the corn is so tall as to make it difficult to swing 

 the hand over it in sowing. Those who have not tried this method of 

 seeding appear usually to fear that the stubble of the corn will be in 

 the way in harvesting the hay crop, but if the field be rolled the spring 

 following the seeding, no such difficulty will be experienced. Clover 

 sown in this way in the corn becomes thoroughly established before 

 winter, it is very unlikely to winterkill and it will give a full crop the 

 following season. 



Selection of the Seed. 



The clover seeds upon our .\merican markets appear usually to be 

 of very good (|uality. European seed dealers have sometimes mixed 

 specially prepared sand of ai)proximately similar color and sizes with 

 clover seeds, but so far as the writer knows this fraud has never been 

 undertaken in this country. In purchasing clover seed, then, it seems 

 necessary only to use care to obtain tliat which is free from admixture 

 with weed seeds, and which shows good germination. Among the weed 

 seeds most likely to be found mixed with clover seeds are dock and 

 sorrel. These can easily be recognized. There is occasionally a sample 

 of clover seed containing the seeds of dodder, a thread-like parasite 

 which attaches itself to the stems of the clover plants. Where this is 

 abundant the crop is practically ruined. The stems of the dodder 

 straggling from stem to stem unite the different plants so that they can- 

 not be separated. It therefore becomes almost impossible to handle 

 and cure the hay. The presence of dodder, moreover, renders the hay 

 very unpalatable. The seed of the dodder is excessively fine, and in 

 cases where its presence is suspected a samjjle of the seed .should be 

 sent to the Experiment Station for identification. 



