22 BULLETIN 705, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
was also secured on 100 per cent of the area seeded with spring 
barley and spring wheat. While the number of trials with these 
two crops is too small to draw very reliable conclusions, studies of 
starting clover elsewhere show that barley is one of the most satis- 
factory nurse crops. 
The results secured by seeding clover in the spring with spring oats, 
winter oats, and winter wheat are all that should be expected. The 
two trials of seeding clover in the fall with winter wheat strongly 
indicate that that method is unsatisfactory. 
METHODS. 
From a study of Table XVI three practical methods of starting 
clover on the clay soil are suggested: (1) Sown alone late in May or 
early in June; (2) sown with spring grain in the early spring; and 
(3) sown with winter wheat in the early spring. 
1. Seeding clover alone. — For seeding clover alone in the late spring 
the land is plowed quite deep during the winter and kept thoroughly 
cultivated from early spring until seeding time. About 8 pounds of 
red-clover seed per acre are sown alone as soon after the 15th of May 
as weather conditions will permit. The seed is sown broadcast and 
covered with a harrow or corrugated roller. This is probably the 
surest method of getting a stand. It should be used only on land 
that never grew clover before, because the use of the land is practi- 
cally lost during the year the clover is seeded. Some farmers sow 
about 5 pounds of rape seed per acre with the clover. The rape makes 
good sheep, hog, or calf pasture in about six weeks after seeding. 
2. Seeding clover with spring grain. — When clover is seeded in the 
early spring with barley, wheat, or oats the land is plowed during 
the fall or winter and a good, firm, mellow seed bed prepared in the 
early spring. Eight pounds of red-clover seed per acre are sown late 
in February or early in March immediately after the grain. The seed 
is covered with the harrow or corrugated roller, preferably with the 
roller, as it packs the soil. 
3. Seeding clover in the spring with winter wheat. — When starting 
clover with winter wheat about 8 to 1 pounds of seed per acre are 
sown broadcast late in February or early in March. If wheat has 
made sufficient growth it is an excellent plan to pasture the field off 
quickly with sheep. The tramping of the sheep covers the clover 
seed and packs the ground. After removing the sheep, the field is 
harrowed to loosen the surface. If no sheep are available, the seed 
is covered with the harrow. 
In starting clover by either of the above methods on land that 
never produced the crop before, the soil should be as free as possible 
from weeds. For this reason winter wheat grown on land that was 
well summer fallowed the previous season makes a good nurse crop. 
Clover requires a firm, compact seed bed. The corrugated roller is 
