112 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



Securing Clover Seed. — The intelligent selection of clover seed calls 

 for knowledge relative to the characteristics of both good and poor seed. 

 Good seed is plump and has a bright luster, and is generally violet to bright 

 yellow in color. The proportion of violet to yellow varies considerably 

 in different lots of seed. Good seed should be free from noxious weed- 

 seeds and adulterants of any kind. The standard of purity should not 

 be below 98 per cent and the germination should be about 98 per cent. 

 Frequently some of the clover seeds will be so hard that they will not 

 germinate promptly. The hardness of the coat prevents absorption of 

 moisture. The percentage of hard seeds is largest in new seed. 



Home-grown seed possesses several advantages: (1) it is likely to be 

 adapted to local climatic and soil conditions; (2) its use avoids the intro- 



Map Showing the Acreage of Red Clovek in the United 

 States, 1909, and Canada, 1910. 



duction of obnoxious weeds foreign to the neighborhood. Among the 

 most obnoxious weeds are clover dodder, buckhorn, Canada thistle and 

 dock. Most weed-seeds may be removed by the use of suitable screens. 

 The longevity of clover seed is three years. The deterioration in vitality 

 depends largely upon the conditions of storage. Continuous warm, moist 

 conditions cause deterioration and make it inadvisable to use seed more 

 than two years old. A considerable percentage of the seed as determined 

 by numerous tests will retain its vitality for quite a number of years, and 

 the hard seeds have been known to germinate after fifteen or twenty years. 



Seed of mammoth clover is so much like that of red clover that it is 

 difficult to distinguish between them. Ordinarily, mammoth clover seed 

 is a little larger than that of red. 



Preparation of Seed-Bed. — Red clover is usually seeded in the winter 



