830 
SWEET CLOVER 
wheat. The experience is unusual, to say 
the least. 
The best crop to put in immediately 
following sweet clover is corn. The effect 
of the sweet clover will be noticed only in 
increased growth of the corn, sometimes 
as much as 20 bushels heavier than on land 
not previously planted in sweet clover. 
Sometimes corn is grown two years in 
succession, and then followed by wheat. 
No trouble with smothering is reported. 
The farmer need fear no difficulty in 
getting rid of sweet clover after he has 
once sown it. The fact that the plant 
grows abundantly along the roadsides and 
seldom appears in cultivated fields, is evi¬ 
dence that it can be easily destroyed if 
necessary. 
Another point on which there is question 
is the amount of sweet clover seed to be 
mixed with oats in seeding them together. 
Some sow 10 pounds to the acre, others as 
much as 20. A good average is 15. 
Care must be taken in mixing the seed in 
the drill, and in not having so much in at 
once that the clover will work down under 
the oats in the drill-box. This would mean 
uneven proportions in the field. With care 
the seeding can be made even. Hulled 
sweet clover is more satisfactory in such a 
mixture, since some of the unhulled is not 
likely to come up the first year. 
Rye and spring barley are other crops 
often sown with sweet clover. The grain 
is harvested while the clover is coming on, 
and the field used for pasture or for hay 
after the grain has been taken off. 
Here is where sweet clover again is 
superior to alfalfa. Grow oats, wheat, or 
barley as a nurse crop and you get the 
-grain besides, but best results with alfalfa 
are obtained by planting alone. 
There is no better way to fit a piece of 
ground for alfalfa than to seed in sweet 
clover, cut off a crop of hay the first season, 
and plow under the second season when 
the clover is about a foot tall. Cultivate 
with a drag and harrow until the first of 
September. Then seed in alfalfa. This inoc¬ 
ulates the soil for alfalfa besides fertilizing 
the ground by the addition of humus. 
GROWING FOR SEED. 
Before harvesting sweet clover for seed, 
it'is always best to take a cutting of hay 
first. Much better seed and shorter, finer 
straw will result. The crop should be har¬ 
vested like oats with a self-binder about the 
time most of the seed is showing black. 
In moving, care must be taken to prevent 
shattering of the hulls. A canvas covering 
for the hayrack will save what drops off. 
For thrashing small amounts of the seed, 
an old-fashioned flail or similar primitive 
instrument will do. But for larger amounts 
the thrashing machine is necessary. The 
process results in a lot of broken stalks 
and leaves being mixed with the seed. 
These can be removed with a fanning mill. 
MORE VIRTUES OF SWEET CLOVER. 
Among minor merits of this all-around 
plant is the tendency of wild sweet clover 
to drive out weeds. Growing luxuriantly 
in waste places and reseeding itself, it will 
even choke out the dreaded Canada thistle. 
On the other hand the plant is not hard 
to get rid of, as suggested above. When 
the land is broken up, the plant is gone. 
Pasturing the land so no seed matures has 
the same effect if kept up one or two 
summers. 
Add to these advantages its freedom 
from pests, both insect and fungous. A 
species of aphis has been reported but no 
appreciable damage noticed. The absence 
of enemies is one of its most peculiar 
characteristics, partly explained by the 
presence of cumarin, the bitter element in 
the leaves. 
SWEET CLOVER AS A COVER CROP. 
In many parts of the West, in some of 
the large orchards sweet clover is used as 
a cover crop—that is to say, the ground 
under the trees is harrowed when sweet 
clover is sown in the regular way. As soon 
as it reaches two-thirds of its growth it is 
plowed under. In a similar way red clover, 
alsike, and other clovers are sown and 
plowed under. When alsike and red are 
used, the clover is often allowed to come 
into bloom. If the trees are sprayed at 
this time, the nectar in the clover will be 
poisoned and bees that gather it will be 
killed by the thousands. (See Fruit 
Bloom, subhead “How the Spraying of 
Cover Crops Kills the Bees.”) On the other 
hand, sweet clover will come into bloom, 
especially Melilotus indica, when the trees 
