26 CLOVERS 



clovers are usually able to make a sufficient stand, 

 though grown along with a nurse crop. In some 

 situations alfalfa will also do similarly, as, for in- 

 stance, where the conditions are very favorable to 

 its growth. Crimson clover is more commonly 

 sown alone for the reason, first, that it is frequently 

 sown at a season when other crops are not being 

 sown; second, that it grows better without a nurse 

 crop; and third, that if grown with a nurse crop 

 the latter would have to be used in the same way 

 as the clover. 



Some have advocated sowing clovers without a 

 nurse crop under any conditions. Such advocacy 

 in the judgment of the author is not wise. It is 

 true that in some instances a stand of the various 

 clovers is more certainly assured when they are sown 

 without a nurse crop, but in such situations it is 

 at least questionable if it would not be better to 

 sow some other crop as a substitute for clover. But 

 there may be instances, as where clover will make a 

 good crop of hay the year that it is sown, when sow- 

 ing it thus would be justifiable. In a majority of 

 instances, however, it will not make such a crop, be- 

 cause of the presence of weeds, which, in the first 

 place, would hinder growth, and in the second, would 

 injure the quality of the hay. 



The nurse crops with which clovers may be sown, 

 are the small cereal grains, as rye, barley, wheat and 

 oats. Sometimes they are sown with flax, rape and 

 millet. They usually succeed best when sown along 

 with rye and barley, since these shade them less and 

 are cut earlier, thus making less draft on moisture 



