MEDIUM KED CLOVER 75 



When preparing prairie soils so open that they, 

 will lift with the wind, the aim should be to firm 

 them rather than to render them more open and 

 porous; otherwise they will not retain sufficient 

 moisture to properly sustain the young plants, if 

 prolonged dry weather follows the sowing of the 

 seed. Plowing such land in the autumn aids in se- 

 curing such density. The same result follows sum- 

 merfallowing the land or growing upon it a culti- 

 vated crop after the bare fallow, or after the cul- 

 tivated crop has been harvested prior to the sowing 

 of the clover seed, otherwise the desired firmness of 

 the land will be lessened, and weed seeds will be 

 brought to the surface, which will produce plants to 

 the detriment of the clover. In preparing such lands 

 for the seed, cultivation near the surface is prefer- 

 able to plowing. 



When the clover is sown late in the season, as is 

 sometimes the case, in locations where the winters 

 are comparatively mild, the ground may be made 

 reasonably clean before the seed is sown, by stirring 

 it occasionally at intervals before sowing the seed. 

 This is done with some form of harrow or weeder, 

 and, of course, subsequently to the plowing of the 

 land. 



Sowing. —The time for sowing clover seed is in- 

 fluenced considerably by the climatic conditions. 

 Under some conditions it may be sown in the early 

 autumn. It may be thus sown in the Southern 

 States and with much likelihood that a stand will 

 be secured, yet in some instances an inauspicious 

 winter proves disastrous to the plants: all things 



