SWEET CLOVER: UTILIZATION. 



11 



after oat harvest. Three cuttings may be obtained the second year, 

 although it is the common practice to cut the first crop for hay and 

 the second crop for seed. 



YIELDS OF SWEET-CLOVER HAY. 



The total yields of sweet clover per acre for the season are usually 

 less than those of alfalfa except in the semiarid unirrigated por- 

 tions of the country. Sweet clover ordinarily yields more to the acre 

 than any of the true clovers. 



When the seed is sown in the spring in the North without a nurse 

 crop, yields of 1 to 3 tons of hay of good quality may be expected 

 the following autumn. The Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment 

 Station obtained 2,700 pounds of hay per acre in the fall from spring 

 seeding, while the United States Department of Agriculture ob- 



FIG. 3. Cutting sweet clover for hay in western Kansas. 



tained 3,000 pounds of hay per acre in August from May seeding 

 in Maryland. Yields of 1 to 2 tons, and occasionally 3 tons, have 

 been obtained in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, the Dakotas, and 

 other States. In Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas yields of 1 to 1^ tons 

 are often obtained after grain harvest when weather conditions are 

 favorable. 



The first crop the second season yields 1J to 3 tons of hay to the 

 acre in the northern and western sections of the United States. The 

 second crop of the second season will yield from three- fourths to 1J 

 tons to the acre, although this crop usually is cut for seed. 



When sweet clover is seeded in the South without a nurse crop 

 on fairly fertile soil that is not acid, three cuttings of hay, averag- 

 ing at least a ton to the cutting, may be secured the year of seeding. 

 When the seed is sown in the early spring on winter grain, two cut- 



