154 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



SWEET CLOVER OR BOKHARA. 



(Melilotiis Alba.) 



By August H. Vogeler, Salt Lake City, Utah. 



For many years sweet clover was looked upon 

 as a noxious weed, and one of the first questions 

 asked when buying alfalfa seed was, ''Is it free from 

 sweet clover?" In the past few years sweet clover 

 has become very popular, not becaus the plant itself 

 has undergone any change, but its value has become 

 more generally known and better understood. This 

 is also true of many plants that we consider of no 

 use to mankind, but each one of them is here for a 

 special purpose. Four or five years ago the 

 Wyoming college made a lamb and sheep feeding 

 test and found that sweet clover was superior to 

 alfalfa. About this time the farmers of western 

 and northwestern Nebraska began to use it as a 

 fertilizer. In some parts of Nebraska the soil is 

 more or less sandy and by plowing under the sec- 

 ond year's growth they increased their yield on 

 wheat as high as nine to fourteen bushels per acre. 



Rasmuss Hoff, one of the foremost agricul- 

 turists of the state of Idaho, said, "I had ten acres 

 of sweet clover, on which I pastured all summer, 

 seventeen head of milk cows. Not only did I in- 

 crease the flow of milk and got a higher percentage 

 of butter fat, but the cows gained in weight." 



The plant is a biennial and bears a close re- 

 semblance to alfalfa, but is larger and coarser in 

 every way. It will make an excellent growth on 

 lime lands, on stiffest clays, or on soil so hard and 

 barren that it will no longer sustain other vegeta- 

 tion. It makes only a moderate growth and seldom 

 blooms the first year, but during the second year it 

 grows from four to seven feet high, making 

 stronger and heavier roots than any other forage 

 plant. At the end of the season it matures its seed 

 and dies out, the roots decaying soon after. On ac- 

 count of its stromg odor, sweet clover is not liked 

 very much by stock at first, but since it starts very 

 early in the spring when other forage is scarce, 

 animals turned into a pasture of it at that time soon 

 acquire a taste for it and eat it readily throughout 

 the remainder of the season. Stock at any time 

 turned in a field of sweet clover will never bloat on 

 it as they do on other clovers. When grown for 

 hay one crop and sometimes two can be cut the 

 following summer and fall ; the following year two 

 and three crops may be cut. Unless cut early, just 

 before it begins to bloom, the stems become hard 

 and woody. Great care is needed in harvesting the 

 hay as the leaves drop readily from the stems. The 

 best time to handle it is early in the morning when. 

 the dew is still on. An excellent hay can be made 

 if taken care of as suggested. While sweet clover 

 hay will not sell as readily on the market, it can be 

 used to advantage on the farm. It will not only 

 furnish an excellent pasture in the spring, but a 

 heavy crop throughout the growing season. The 

 roots are very long, penetrating the soil to a depth 

 of three to four feet, are quite large, and being 

 fleshy decay more rapidly than alfalfa roots, hence 

 their nitrogen becomes more quickly available for 

 other crops. As they decay at the end of the sec- 

 ond season they add a good supply of humus, also 



leave the soil with minute holes which act as drains. 

 If cut before it ripens the seed will not spread. 

 However, it will rese.ed the ground thoroughly if 

 not cut in due time. 



Sow a'bout ten to fifteen pounds per acre. It 

 is best to sow the hulled seed for the unhulled is 

 very slow in germinating. It is difficult to get the 

 seed straight, the plant growing largely in irrigated 

 districts, and is as a rule, slightly mixed with alfalfa 

 seed. This, however, is not detrimental. 



Sweet clover is a good green manuring crop to 

 use in bringing up the value of old fields, barren, or 

 v-ashed places where a large amount of nitrogenous 

 organic matter is desired. It is also one of our best 

 honey plants, as its flowers produce an abundance 

 of nectar. Some beekeepers estimate the value in 

 honey alone of one acre sweet clover at $20.00 to 

 $25.00. 



I believe I make no mistake in recommending 

 the cultivation of sweet clover for pastures, for 

 hay, and for renovating worn out lands and worth- 

 less soils. 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 



An important and interesting effect upon the 

 scientific work of the Geological Survey has resulted 

 from the work in land classification. The constantly 

 increasing demand for both completeness and exact- 

 ness of information regarding the mineral resources 

 of the public lands under classification have developed 

 methods and scope of view in this economic work 

 that have exerted a marked influence on the geologic 

 work in other areas. 



Thus, the training and methods developed in the 

 course of the classification of the coal lands have 

 brought about higher standards of refinement in 

 stratigraphy, as well as in economic work, in other 

 regions of the country. Another very notable illus- 

 tration of scientific results springing from the study 

 of economic problems is found in the administration 

 of the Weeks Act, providing for the purchase of the 

 Federal Government of certain forested lands which 

 may affect the flow of navigable streams. The inten- 

 sive hydrometric experimental studies carried on in 

 order actually to show, in accordance with the terms 

 of the law, the degree of protection afforded by for- 

 ests to soil and water in certain areas proposed for 

 purchase as national forests have resulted in em- 

 pirical determinations and demonstrations of high 

 scientific value as well as of tangible economic im- 

 portance. [From Annual Report, Director United 

 States Geological Survey.] 



ANNOUNCEMENT. 



Mr. J. E. Bond, formerly chief engineer of 

 the B. M. Osbun Co., and R". C. Wise, formerly 

 mechanical engineer of Hen ion & Hubbell. have 

 taken active charge of the Western Pump & En- 

 gineering Co., recently organized, with offices at 

 339-343 Railway Exchange building, Chicago. The 

 company will handle principally the "McGowan" 

 pumps. 



Both are university men and have had a com- 

 bined practical experience of forty years. 



