FARMERS' BULLETIN 836. 



FIG. 2. A sled used in western Kansas for hauling sweet clover from the field to the thrashing machine. 



are placed in cocks that weigh about 300 pounds each when cured. 

 If the gavels are to be placed in cocks, this should be done immediately 

 after cutting, as the plants will be somewhat green and tough at this 

 time and fewer pods will shatter than when the plants are permitted 

 to dry before handling. When the crop is to be hauled to the thrash- 

 ing machine on wagons it is best to permit the gavels to cure as 

 dropped by the reaper, as it will then be possible to pitch them on 

 the wagon with a large 4-tined fork. If the crop is to be hauled to 

 the thrashing machine on large sleds, which is the practice in western 

 Kansas, less seed will be lost from shattering if the gavels at the time 

 of cutting are placed in cocks of such a size that they may be put 

 on the sleds entire by two men lifting from opposite sides of the cock 

 with 4-tined forks. The sleds used for this purpose usually are 12 

 by 20 feet in size, made of matched flooring and with 6 to 12 inch sides. 

 (Fig. 2.) Matched or tight floors are necessary, so that all seed which 

 shatters may be saved. These would not be so essential, however, 

 if the sleds were covered with a tarpaulin or canvas. From the 

 standpoint of saving shattered seed, this method of hauling the crop 

 from the field to the thrashing machine is possibly the most economi- 

 cal thus far used. It is estimated that at times as much as one- 

 third of the seed yield is collected from the floors of the sleds. It 

 would be a good plan to replace the runners of the sleds with very 

 low trucks, as this would lighten the draft considerably. 



When sweet clover is cut with a self -rake reaper the crop is thrashed 

 directly from the field. From 7 to 10 days of good haying weather 

 is sufficient to cure the plants in the gavel or cock. Thrashing should 

 be done as soon as possible, as much seed is shattered by rains and 



