MAMMOTH CLOVER 233 



the first season, as usually more of other pasture 

 plants grow amid the clover. 



Horses, cattle, sheep or swine may be used in 

 grazing off the clover for seed. All of these may 

 be used at the same time. Horses bite the crowns 

 of the plants so closely as to somewhat injure sub- 

 sequent growth ; sheep also crop rather closely ; cat- 

 tle do not crop the plants so closely; consequently, 

 they are so far preferable to horses or sheep for 

 such grazing. On the other hand, sheep will prove 

 far more destructive to weed growth in the pasture. 



Harvesting for Hay. — Ordinarily, the methods 

 of making the hay crop are the same as those 

 followed in curing medium red clover. The mam- 

 moth variety, however, frequently requires a longer 

 season in which to cure, owing, first, to the heavier 

 character of the growth, and second, to the larger 

 stems of the latter. After it has been mown there 

 is greater reason for using the tedder in getting it 

 ready for being raked, and it calls for more curing 

 before it is put into cocks. The larger the pro- 

 portion of the timothy in the crop, the more easily 

 it is cured. It is ready for cutting when in full 

 bloom, and loses more than the medium red when 

 cutting is too long deferred, because of the larger 

 proportion of coarse stems in the crop. It is also 

 relatively more injured by rain in the cocks, since 

 it sheds rain even less readily than the medium red 

 clover, and the same is true of it in the stack. 



Some farmers cure mammoth clover in its green 

 form in the mow as they also cure the medium red 

 variety, but the same objections apply to curing it 



