SO FARMERS' BULLETIN 797. 



TREATMENT OF THE STAND. 



The manner in which a stand of sweet clover is handled should 

 depend somewhat upon the method and date of seeding and the pur- 

 pose for which it is sown. Climatic conditions should also be taken 

 into consideration and the handling of the crop governed ac- 

 cordingly. 



TREATMENT THE FIRST SEASON. 



The most serious objection to seeding sweet clover in the spring 

 without a nurse crop is weeds. In many sections of the country 

 weeds will take as much water from the soil and make as much or 

 more shade than a crop of grain. In spite of the fact that sweet 

 clover will withstand more adverse conditions than red clover or 

 alfalfa, a heavy growth of weeds will greatly retard the growth of 

 the plants and in some cases kill most of them. (Fig. 10.) On 

 plats sown in April without a nurse crop at Arlington, Va., it was 

 necessary to mow weeds five times during the summer of 1915 in 

 order to keep them partly checked. Where it is necessary to mow 

 a field so many times the plants are not only checked or killed, but 

 as much time is required for this work as would be necessary to 

 harvest a crop of grain. This trouble may be overcome in part by 

 pasturing the sweet clover the first season, but even then during wet 

 weather it may be necessary to cut the weeds at least once before 

 the plants become well enough established to turn live stock on the 

 field. The plants should at no time be clipped closer than 5 inches 

 from the ground. 



After a field of sweet clover has become well established, it may 

 be pastured throughout the summer and fall. Close grazing should 

 be avoided during the summer, or the plants may be killed, but they 

 may be pastured fairly close to the ground in the autumn, as it does 

 not appear as necessary to provide a winter covering as is the case 

 with red clover. Close pasturing or clipping late in the fall has 

 had a marked effect on the growth of the plants the following spring 

 on some fields and no apparent effect on the stand and growth of 

 the plants on other fields. A portion of a. field in Livingston County, 

 111., was clipped close to the ground in the late fall of 1915. On 

 June 1, 1916, the stand was somewhat heavier on the undipped part 

 of the field. More noticeable than the thickness of the stand was 

 the fact that the plants on the undipped portion were 8 to 10 inches 

 higher than those on the clipped area. It is reasonable to believe 

 that plants going into the winter with no protection are more likely 

 to be injured than those having some protection. 



On the other hand, many fields in different parts of the country 

 have been closely clipped or pastured in the late fall with no notice- 



