238 



CLOVER 



CLOVER 



enriched with suitable mineral fertilizers. One-half 

 was given no manure, the other half was given 

 a very light covering of yard manure. Both were 

 sown to red clover. The result was striking. The 

 growth of clover on the part given the little 

 manure was several times as heavy as that on the 

 unmanured part ; and .the enrichment of the land 

 by the aid of the clovers was proportionately 

 greater where the heavy clover grew. 



Red clover. 



Common red clover, the most useful and widely 

 spread of the clover family, is, fortunately, of very 

 easy propagation. The common practice is to sow it 

 on winter wheat in the late winter or early spring. 

 It is commonly sown directly on the soil without 

 any preparation whatever. Thus sown, it fre- 

 quently succeeds, though there are failures enough 

 to indicate the need of a better practice. In sow- 

 ing red clover with wheat it is wise to wait until 

 settled weather has come, in late March or early 

 April, and the land has become dry enough to har- 

 row; then thoroughly stir the ground with a har- 

 row, SQw the seed and again harrow to cover it. 

 Thus treated, if the soil is reasonably fertile, and 

 if it is sweet, failure can come only from very 

 unusually bad weather, or from the lodging and 

 smothering effect of the wheat crop. If care is 

 used in making the seed-bed, ten pounds of red 

 clover seed to the acre is enough. There should be 

 mixed with the seed a small percentage of alfalfa 

 seed when there is a likelihood that at some near 

 time the land may be seeded to alfalfa, since the 

 scattered plants of alfalfa will in time become in- 

 oculated with the proper alfalfa bacteria and the 

 later growth of the alfalfa thus be assured. 



Seeding with oats. — Clover sown with oats is not 

 usually so successful as when sown with wheat, for 

 the reason that the oats are very leafy and their 

 shade hurts the clover. The oats often lodge on 

 good ground, and if they escape this they draw 

 much more heavily on the land for moisture than 

 either wheat or barley, so that they may exhaust 



Fig. 342. Clover in cocks. 



the moisture to such an extent that the young 

 clover will die when the oats are taken away. 



There are, however, two ways of sowing with 

 oats that give uniformly good results. The one is 

 thoroughly to prepare the land, sow a less quantity 

 of oats than usual, say a bushel to the acre, and 

 the clover seed, covering the latter lightly, then 

 leaving the ground smooth by the use of a plank 

 drag. When the oats are in bloom and before they 

 have formed seed they are mown for hay. They 

 will then have damaged the clover very little, and 



often there will be a crop of clover hay in the fall 

 of the same year. 



The other system, which is the better, is to sow 

 the oats as heavy as two bushels to the acre, with 

 the clover seed, and when the oats are sixteen 

 inches high to turn in sheep to eat the crop down 

 quickly ; then take the sheep away and let the oats 

 and clover come again. This pasturing may be 

 repeated two or three times in the summer, care 

 being taken not to let the animals remain too long 

 at a time. Remarkably strong, vigorous stands of 

 clover are secured in this way. 



Seeding with barley. — Spring barley makes an 

 ideal nurse crop for young red clover. The beard- 

 less barley is best, since it comes oif the ground 

 early. It does not shade the clover much and suffi- 

 ciently subdues the annual grasses. Barley may 

 be cut for hay or allowed to ripen its grain, 

 although if it should lodge it should be cut for hay 

 at once. 



Care of young clover. — No animals should be pas- 

 tured on the clover long enough to eat it close to 

 the ground, and it should always go into winter 

 with a good growth to hold snow and protect the 

 roots. However, it should not be permitted to 

 bloom the first summer, since red clover is an 

 uncertain biennial, and when it has bloomed and 

 made seed it is so much weakened that it easily 

 dies. Should it show much bloom the first summer, 

 it may be mown, and either made into hay or 

 allowed to lie for mulch and protection. No ani- 

 mals should ever be permitted to tread on clover 

 meadows in the winter time. 



Making clover hay. — Red clover makes a most 

 useful hay, but it is seldom secured in its best 

 condition. It should be mown when in full bloom 

 and before any of the heads have turned brown, 

 tedded or turned once or twice, raked and put up 

 in small cocks, piled as high as convenient. In the 

 cocks it will lose a part of its moisture. After a 

 few days, depending on the weather, the cocks 

 should be opened in several large flakes, while the 

 sun is hot. These may be turned again, and drawn 

 to the mow. In putting a large quantity of clover 

 hay in the mow it need not be so dry as though 

 only a few loads were gathered together, since the 

 large quantity accumulates enough heat to kill 

 germs of mould and to dry out the entire mass. 

 This makes a sweet, palatable hay of brown color, 

 free from much dust or mould. Hay caps are useful 

 in making clover hay. It should not be too much 

 sun-dried or many of the leaves will be lost. 



The practical test of whether clover hay is in 

 condition to put in the mow is to 1;ake a wisp of it 

 and twist it violently. If no moisture can be seen 

 to exude from the stems, it may be stored. It 

 should never be put in while there is any dew or 

 rain on it. The old practice of putting up clover 

 hay by means of alternate layers of clover, partly 

 cured, and dry straw, is a good one, and results in 

 first-rate hay, and causes a part of the straw to be 

 eaten. 



Glover as pasture. — Clover pasture is admirably 

 adapted to hog-raising, and cattle thrive on it if 

 restricted so that they do not bloat. For pasture, 



