140 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



on bluegrass during dry weather, in vain attempt to get 

 sufficient feed. 



Can Be Disked Into Bluegrass 



There is much untillable land here in the middle west 

 which is kept in grass pasture. Sweet clover seed worked 

 into this bluegrass will — provided the land is not acid, and 

 a good stand is secured — increase the yield of pasture two 

 or three times. Maes Brothers, Jackson County, Illinois, 

 have had remarkable success with this practice. At the 

 time I visited their farm, one pasture was still producing 

 a good amount of sweet clover after having reseeded it- 

 self for seven years. If a good stand of clover is secured 

 in the bluegrass, one and one-half acres of this pasture 

 should support a cow for six months. 



Not Difficult to Grow with Proper Methods 



Troubles have been found and failures have occurred 

 in growing sweet clover and, for this reason, many imagine 

 that sweet clover is a difficult and uncertain crop to pro- 

 duce. 



Sweet clover has two requirements that are absolutely 

 essential to its growth, namely: soil that is not acid and 

 inoculation. Complying with these requirements makes 

 the difference between success and failure in raising the 

 crop. Experienced growers, almost without exception, re- 

 port no trouble in securing a stand after the soil has been 

 limed and inoculated where needed. This is a new crop 

 and it is not strange that many growers should at first 

 overlook or ignore this preparation. 



Sweet clover often grows along the fence row or road- 

 sides, and people make the mistake of concluding from 

 this that their soil is not acid. The fence row has not been 

 cultivated and hence has not lost its lime, while the tilled 

 field adjacent has been worked for many years and is 

 quite likely to be deficient in lime. The ground limestone 

 should be applied and mixed into the soil three or four 

 inches deep, at least six months before seeding. From 

 two to four tons per acre is the usual requirement. 



