22 BULLETIN 105, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



was also secured on 100 per cent of the area seeded with spring 

 barley and spring wheat. Wliile the number of trials with these 

 two crops is too small to draw very reliable conclusions, studies of 

 starting clover elsewhere show that barley is one of the most satis- 

 factory nurse crops. 



The results secured by seeding clover in the spring with spring oats, 

 winter oats, and winter wheat are all that should be expected. The 

 two trials of seeding clover in the fall with winter wheat strongly 

 indicate that that method is unsatisfactory. 



METHODS. 



From a study of Table XVI three practical methods of starting 

 clover on the clay soil are suggested: (1) Sown alone late in May or 

 early in June; (2) sown with spring grain in the early spring; and 

 (3) sown with winter wheat in the early spring. 



1. Seeding clover alone. — For seeding clover alone in the late spring 

 the land is plowed quite deep during the winter and kept thoroughly 

 cultivated from early spring until seeding time. About 8 pounds of 

 red-clover seed per acre are sown alone as soon after the 15th of May 

 as weather conditions will permit. The seed is sown broadcast and 

 covered with a harrow or corrugated roller. This is probably the 

 surest method of getting a stand. It should be used only on land 

 that never grew clover before, because the use of the land is practi- 

 cally lost during the year the clover is seeded. Some farmers sow 

 about 5 pounds of rape seed per acre with the clover. The rape makes 

 good sheep, hog, or calf pasture in about six weeks after seeding. 



2. Seeding clover with spring grain. — When clover is seeded in the 

 early spring with barley, wheat, or oats the land is plowed during 

 the fall or winter and a good, firm, mellow seed bed prepared in the 

 early spring. Eight pounds of red-clover seed per acre are sown late 

 in February or early in March immediately after the grain. The seed 

 is covered with the harrow or corrugated roller, preferably with the 

 roller, as it packs the soil. 



3. Seeding clover in the spring with winter wheat. — When starting 

 clover with winter wheat about 8 to 1 pounds of seed per acre are 

 sown broadcast late in February or early in March. If wheat has 

 made sufficient growth it is an excellent plan to pasture the field off 

 quickly with sheep. The tramping of the sheep covers the clover 

 seed and packs the ground. After removing the sheep, the field is 

 harrowed to loosen the surface. If no sheep are available, the seed 

 is covered with the harrow. 



In starting clover by either of the above methods on land that 

 never produced the crop before, the soil should be as free as possible 

 from weeds. For this reason winter wheat grown on land that was 

 well summer fallowed the previous season makes a good nurse crop. 

 Clover requires a firm, compact seed bed. The corrugated roller is 



