FORAGE CEOPS IN NORTHERN" GREAT PLAINS. 35 



SWEET CLOVER. 



No statistics are available on the total area of land in sweet clover, 

 but the acreage of all clovers in the region is not great. However, 

 more and more attention is being given to sweet clover, and in the 

 drier sections it is practically the only clover used. Its chief value 

 in this region is as a pasture crop (fig. 15). Ordinary white sweet 

 clover (Melilotus alba) is the species most commonly grown, though 

 one of the yellow-flowered species (M. officinalis) is of considerable 

 importance in some sections. The latter variety is apparently 

 more hardy and seems capable of withstanding more drought. It 

 has the additional advantage of producing a finer growth, which is a 

 very desirable characteristic where hay is considered. There are, 

 however, strains of white sweet clover, such as the Arctic, which 

 appear fully as hardy as the yellow-flowered species. 



Fig. 15. — A field of sweet clover at Moccasin, Mont. This crop is increasing in popularity for 

 forage. It is somewhat too coarse for first-class hay, but makes excellent pasturage. 



As sweet clover in this region normally does not produce much of a 

 hay crop until the second season it is advantageous to sow it with some 

 nurse crop which will give at least a small return from the land the year 

 the seed is sown. For this reason nurse crops have been used in most 

 of the experiments. Table 18 gives the results that have thus far been 

 obtained. It is shown clearly that better yields are obtained and 

 failures to get a stand are less frequent where sweet clover is sown 

 alone. However, it is questionable if the difference in average 

 yields over a period of years is sufficient to offset the failure to get 

 any return from the land the year the seed is sown. As a nurse 

 crop for sweet clover, barley appears to be the least desirable of all 

 the small grains. Flax is probably the safest, since such evidence 

 as is available indicates that flax is not so hard on the sweet-clover 

 seedlings as the grains. 



