360 



FIELD CROPS 



nation has been made. Too little attention is commonly 

 given to the quality of grass and clover seed, and as a con- 

 sequence large quantities of inferior seed are sold every year. 



457. Sowing the 

 Seed. The common 

 method of getting 

 a stand of red clover 

 is to sow the seed in 

 the spring on land 

 that was planted to 

 winter wheat the 

 previous fall or to 

 sow it with spring 

 wheat, oats, or 

 barley. When sown 

 with winter wheat, 

 the seed is usually 

 scattered on the sur- 

 face before the frost 

 is out of the ground 

 in the spring, and 

 the subsequent freez- 

 ing and thawing and 

 the spring rains are 

 depended on to 

 cover it sufficiently. 

 Some farmers delay 

 sowing until April, 

 when the rains alone 

 are expected to 

 cover the seed. A 

 more satisfactory method is to harrow the land lightly 

 both before and after the clover seed is sown. If the 

 harrow is fun in the same direction as the drill rows, 



13r> I4S^* 



\\c\gweea "mvst\e 



Fig. 111. Seeds of red clover and common 



