SWEET CLOVER: HARVESTING AND THRASHING SEED CROP., 21 



growth the machine may clog unless the number of rows of concave 

 teeth is reduced. Clogging may be orercome for the most part by 

 feeding the bundles to the machine slowly. This precaution is nec- 

 essary regardless of the size of the plants if the seed is to be removed 

 properly and hulled. It is possible to hull from 90 to 95 per cent of 

 the seed when the proper adjustments are made and the plants are 

 dry. 



A clover-hulling attachment, which consists for the most part of 

 special sieves and a number of rows of corrugated concave teeth 

 which replace the ordinary concave teeth, has been used with suc- 

 cess in different sections of the country. 



THE CLOVER HULLER. 



As a rule, ordinary clover hullers do not handle sweet clover very 

 satisfactorily. Machines with cylinders larger than those commonly 

 used are giving fair satisfaction provided the plants do not make a 

 arge growth, but even these machines have not been so successful as 

 properly adjusted and equipped grain separators. A clover huller 

 will handle a 2 to 3 foot growth of sweet clover if the rows of thrash- 

 ing concaves are reduced and the plants are fed slowly to the machine. 

 It will not hull sweet clover as well as red clover, and it is very doubt- 

 ful whether it will hull more seed than a grain separator equipped 

 with a hulling attachment. 



The manufacturer of at least one clover huller has designed special 

 rasps for the hulling cylinder and concaves of his machine, and these 

 rasps do better work than the ones ordinarily used for hulling red 

 clover. 



It is the custom in some localities to run the sweet clover through a 

 thrashing machine without adjusting the concaves and then to 

 run the unhulled seed as delivered by the grain separator through a 

 clover huller. A fair quality of seed may be obtained by this process, 

 but it calls for much extra labor and time, and for this reason should 

 be avoided whenever possible. 



YIELDS OF SWEET-CLOVER SEED. 



Many factors besides shattering influence the yield of sweet-clover 

 seed. As only those portions of the plants exposed directly to the 

 sunlight set seed abundantly, thin stands usually produce more seed 

 to the acre than heavy stands. When very heavy stands make a 

 large growth, seed is produced only on the upper 24 to 30 inches of 

 the plants, whereas with thinner stands it is produced on the lower 

 branches as well. 



The quantity of moisture in the sqil at the time the seed is maturing 

 is an important factor also. During hot, dry weather the plants 

 may not be able to absorb from the soil sufficient water to supply the 



