Leguminous Plants for Green Forage and Hay, 201 



the Pennsylvania Station, ' yields of six to seven tons in one case 

 and over thirteen tons in another are reported. 



For pigs, clover pasture serves an excellent pui-pose, building 

 good bone and a framework capable of taking on fat rapidly when 

 the period of receiving concentrated food arrives. We can find no 

 records of the yields of clover fields when devoted to the pastur- 

 ! age of swine. Our Stations should report experiments on this 

 point. In feeding green clover one should always have in mind 

 its extreme succulence, and that the quantity which the animal 

 is capable of consuming may not contain the requisite nourish- 

 ment. 



Bloat or hoven menaces cattle and sheep pastured on the clover 

 field. To avoid this the cattle should not be turned to pasture 

 while very hungry or before the dew has risen. Further, some 

 dry forage, such as hay or straw, should be placed in feed racks 

 in the pasture. To this cattle and sheep will resort when threat- 

 ened with bloat. It is said that if cattle and sheep can have 

 access to dry roughage while feeding on pasture, they will not 

 suffer from this ailment. 



292. Mammoth clover. — The distinctive characteristics of mam- 

 moth clover are its rank growth, coarse stems, and the feature of 

 blooming two or three weeks later than the medium variety. This 

 variety yields but one cutting during the season, and because 

 of this the field is frequently used for pasture for several weeks 

 in the spring. After removing the stock the plants shoot up 

 and soon are ready for the mower. Wallace ^ recommends that 

 medium and mammoth clover seed be sown in equal proportions, 

 together with grasses for pasture, holding that since the mammoth 

 variety blooms later, there is more nearly a succession of good 

 forage than is possible with only one variety. 



293. Alsike clover. — This variety of clover has weak stems, 

 which faU to the ground unless supported by attendant grasses. 

 Well-made alsilce hay ranks with the best, though the yield is not 

 large. At the Illinois Station, * Hunt and Morrow secured 1.2 

 tons of alsike hay against 2.1 tons of medium clover hay per acre. 



» Kept. 1888-89. 



' "Clover Culture." 



^Bu!. 15. 



