30 CLOVERS 



Other plants would furnish were they not thus eaten 

 down, but it is also due in part to the larger share 

 of soil moisture that is thus left for the clover plants. 

 Pasturing clover sown thus should be avoided when 

 the ground is so wet as to poach or become impact 

 in consequence. Unless on light, spongy soils which 

 readily lose their moisture, such grazing should not 

 begin until the plants have made considerable 

 growth, nor should it be too close, or root develop- 

 ment in the pastures will be hindered. 



It would not be possible to fix the stage of growth 

 when the grazing should begin on clover fields kept 

 for pasture subsequent to the season of sowing. The 

 largest amount of food would be furnished if graz- 

 ing were deferred until the blossoming stage were 

 reached and the crop were then grazed down quickly. 

 But this is not usually practicable, hence the graz- 

 ing usually begins at a period considerably earlier. 

 In general, however, the plants should not be grazed 

 down very closely, or growth will be more or less 

 hindered. 



Grazing clover in the spring and somewhat closely 

 for several weeks after growth begins, has been 

 thought conducive to abundant seed production. 

 This result is due probably to the greater increase in 

 the seed heads that follow such grazing. This would 

 seem to explain why clover that has been judiciously 

 grazed produces even more seed than that clipped off 

 by the mower after it has begun to grow freely. 



In nearly all localities the grazing of medium red 

 clover, and even of mammoth clover, somewhat 

 closely in the autumn of the second year, is to be 



