144 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA. 



being better relished by the stock. Indeed 

 this brome grass is one of the best pasture 

 grasses we have and of easy culture, though 

 it should always be sown in connection with 

 some clover, else it fails to yield as it should. 

 Eed clover and alfalfa should not be mixed 

 together. If they are the red clover having 

 the habit of more vigorous growth at first 

 crowds badly its slower neighbor. It is wise, 

 however, to put about 10 per cent of alfalfa 

 seed in all clover mixtures sown on suspected 

 alfalfa soil, for the small amount of alfalfa 

 will infect the field with the alfalfa bacteria 

 so that in after years it may profitably all 

 be sown to alfalfa alone. 



DANGER FROM CLOVER AND ALFALFA PASTURE. 



Sheep grazing leguminous crops often suffer 

 from hoven, or bloat, caused by the fermenta- 

 tion of the tender leaves within the paunch. 

 The greatest danger of this is when the clover 

 is young and tender and growing rapidly. 



After alfalfa becomes woody there is not 

 much danger from bloating. Nor is there so 

 much danger when grasses are mixed with the 

 clovers in the pasture. After sheep become ac- 

 customed to eating the clovers, they have then 

 learned somewhat by instinct how much to 

 store within. Pasturing on clovers is never 

 absolutely safe, yet certain simple rules will 

 almost always prevent trouble. 



First, the clovers should have reached nearly 

 to the blossoming stage before turning in 

 the sheep. 



