SUMMER CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 143 



the clover or alfalfa get strong to withstand 

 the trial of the coming winter. 



Young clover and alfalfa should never be 

 grazed hard nor he eaten close the first year 

 else the stand will be seriously weakened. 



CLOVEE AND ALFALFA PASTUEE. 



By all odds the most useful summer pas- 

 tures in the corn-belt are those composed of 

 clover or alfalfa. There are several dis- 

 tinguishing advantages of these crops: they 

 renew the soil, they are rich in protein and add 

 to the size, health and vigor of the sheep; they 

 afford a great amount of grazing and they are 

 almost absolutely free from danger of cai*rying 

 parasitic infection. The reason of this health- 

 fulness of these plants is that sheep crop the 

 higher leaves and stems, leaving the parts 

 close to the ground and thus escape germs 

 that may lurk down close to the ea,rth. 



Either red clover or alfalfa is too richly a 

 nitrogenous product, however, to be grazed 

 alone. Sheep confined to either of them must 

 eat too much protein and therefore will crave 

 food of more carbonaceous or starchy compo- 

 sition. They will greedily eat grasses or even 

 hay or dry straw to help balance their ration. 

 Therefore it is wise to sow a mixture of 

 grasses with the clovers. The best grasses for 

 this purpose are smooth brome grass and or- 

 chard grass. Either of these come on quickly 

 and give a continuous grazing with the clovers. 

 Of the two brome grass (Bromus inermis) is 

 by far the better, yielding more grazing and 



