SWEET CLOVER: GROWING THE CROP. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 



Species of sweet clover 



White sweet clover 



Biennial yellow sweet clover. . . 



Annual yellow sweet clover 



Other species of sweet clover 



History 



Distribution 



Climatic adaptations 



Requirements for obtaining a stand. 



Soils suitable for sweet clover. . . 



Resistance to alkali 



Need of lime on acid soils 



Fertilizers 



Use of a nurse crop 



Choice of seed. . . 



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Requirements for obtaining a stand Cont. 



Preparation of the seed bed.. 



Seeding 



Hulled sweet-clover seed 



Unhulled sweet-clover seed 



Rate of seeding 



Methods of seeding 



Inoculation 



Tne soil-transier method 



The pure-culture method 



Treatment of the stand 



Treatment the first season 



Treatment the second season 



Sweet clover in mixtures 



Eradication of sweet clover . . . 



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INTRODUCTION. 



Sweet clover is an important forage crop in many regions. Al- 

 though one of the oldest of known plants, not until very recently has 

 it been considered seriously as a forage plant in this country. The 

 principal causes for not utilizing this crop were its aggressiveness on 

 uncultivated land in many localities, the tendency of the stems to 

 become woody as they mature, and the refusal of stock to eat sweet 

 clover before they had become accustomed to the bitter taste. An- 

 other reason was the fact that until recently red clover could be 

 grown in the eastern half of the United States without difficulty. In 

 northern Kentucky the continuous growing of tobacco or of tobacco 

 and wheat impoverished the soil to such an extent that crops no 

 longer could be grown successfully. Upon the abandoned farms in 

 this section sweet clover was introduced as a honey plant. Owing 

 to the remarkable yields of tobacco that were obtained on such farms 

 after sweet clover had been grown for a few years the acreage of 

 this plant increased very rapidly. For a number of years sweet 

 clover has been grown on the Selma chalk (rotten-limestone) soils of 

 Alabama and Mississippi as a soil-improving crop. At the present 

 time it is being cultivated in practically every State, and the acreage 

 is increasing very rapidly. 



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