108 CLOVERS 



light. This, if sold at all, must be sold at a dis- 

 count. If mixed with weed seeds it should be ground 

 and fed to some kind of stock. 



The haulm, when the seed crop has been well 

 saved, has some feeding value, especially for cattle. 

 If not well saved it is only fit for litter, but even when 

 thus used its fertilizing value is about two-thirds 

 that of clover hay. More or less seed remains in the 

 chaff, and because of this the latter is sometimes 

 drawn and strewn over pastures, or in certain by 

 places where clover plants are wanted. Seed sown 

 in the chaff has much power to grow, owing, it is 

 thought, to the ability of the hull enclosing the seed 

 to hold moisture. The yields in the seed crops of 

 medium red clover vary all the way from I to 

 8 bushels per acre. The average yields under cer- 

 tain conditions are from 3 to 4 bushels per acre. 

 Under conditions less favorable, from 2 to 3 

 bushels. 



Within the past two decades the seed crop has 

 been seriously injured by an insect commonly spo- 

 ken of as the clover midge (Cecidomyia legumini- 

 cola) which preys upon the heads so that they fail to 

 produce. A field thus affected will not come prop- 

 erly into bloom. The remedy consists in so grazing 

 or cutting the clover that the bloom will come at that 

 season of the summer when the insects do not work 

 upon the heads. This season can only be determined 

 by actual test. In Northern areas it can usually be 

 accomplished by pushing the period of bloom 

 usual for the second crop two to four weeks 

 forward. 



