Part 4

One of the special advantages of sweet clover is that it produces good pasturage somewhat earlier in the spring than most forage crops. In the North, with the exception of the extreme northern portion of the United States, it will furnish a cutting of hay in June or excellent pasturage until that time and a crop of hay or seed in late summer. In the South two cuttings of hay and a seed crop may be harvested. After maturing seed the plants die. It is a common practice in many sections to pasture the crop until about June 10, when the stock is removed and the plants are permitted to mature seed. If the plants have not been grazed closely they should be clipped at this time, so that the seed crop will ripen more evenly. Sweet clover may be pastured during the entire second season's growth, provided sufficient stock is kept on the field to prevent the growth from becoming woody. If the plants become coarse the pasture may be clipped, leaving an 8-inch stubble, so as to induce a new growth which will be more palatable. If it is desired to have the pasture reseed itself stock should be removed at least eight weeks before heavy frosts are expected, or only sufficient stock should be permitted to remain on the pasture to keep some of the plants in check.

SWEET CLOVER IN MIXTURES.

Very little sweet clover thus far has been grown in mixtures with other crops. A few farmers have sown red clover and sweet clover together, but such a mixture has no advantage over sweet clover seeded alone for hay, as sweet clover should be cut at least two Weeks before the red clover is ready to harvest. Sweet clover is being seeded to some extent on native prairie sod in the Northwest, where it is claimed it adds greatly to the value of the native grasses for pasturage. A thin seeding of sweet clover is often desired in bluegrass pastures on this account. One of the best pastures in eastern Iowa consists of a mixture of bluegrass, timothy, and sweet clover. The Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station recommends a mixture of Johnson grass and sweet clover. In this mixture the first cutting will consist of almost pure sweet clover, while the second and third cutting's will be a mixture of those plants. A number of southern farmer have had good success in seeding sweet clover on Bermuda-grass sod.

The New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station has obtained excellent results from a mixture of Dwarf Essex rape and sweet clover, and also by the addition of soy beans to this mixture. It was found that by seeding 6 pounds of rape and 10 pounds of sweet clover per acre an abundance of nutritious pasturage was produced and that pigs preferred this mixture to alfalfa. When soy beans were added it was seeded at the rate of 1 bushel of soy beans, 6 pounds of Dwarf Essex rape, and 18 pounds of sweet clover. The soy beans were drilled by themselves, and the rape and sweet clover were mixed and seeded with a press drill. Brood sows made a gain of from three-fourths to 1 pound a day during July on this mixture without additional feed and gave unusual evidence of thrift and vigor.

ERADICATION OF SWEET CLOVER.

Some farmers hesitate to plant sweet clover on their farms for fear they will have difficulty in eradicating it when the fields are planted to other crops. The results obtained annually by hundreds of farmers are sufficient proof that there is no foundation for such fear; in fact, farmers are experiencing much difficulty in cutting the first crop the second season so high that the plants will not be killed. The new crop of sweet clover, unlike that of red clover and alfalfa, must come from the buds left on the stubble, so when the plants are cut below these buds they will be killed. As sweet clover is a biennial, the plants die as soon as the seed crop is produced.

When the first year's growth of sweet clover is to be turned under for green-manure it is recommended that the field be plowed after the plants have made some growth the following spring rather than in the fall of the year of seeding. When the first year's growth is plowed under the same fall many of the plants will not be entirely covered, and these will made a vigorous growth the following spring. When the plowing is delayed until the plants have made some growth the following spring no trouble will be experienced in eradicating them. (Fig. 11.)

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PUBLICATIONS OF THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RELATING TO FORAGE CROPS.

AVAILABLE FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION BY THE DEPARTMENT.

Cowpeas. (Farmers' Bulletin 318.) Alfalfa. (Farmers' Bulletin 339.) Soy Beans. (Farmers' Bulletin 372.) Red Clover. (Farmers' Bulletin 455.) Alfalfa Seed Production. (Farmers' Bulletin 495.) Forage Crops for the Cotton Region. (Farmers' Bulletin 509. ) Vetches. (Farmers' Bulletin 515.) Vetch Growing In the South Atlantic States. (Farmers' Bulletin 529.) Crimson Clover: Growing the Crop. (Farmers' Bulletin 550.) Crimson Clover: Seed Production. (Farmers' Bulletin 646.) The Field Pen as a Forage Crop. (Farmers' Bulletin 690.) Bur Clover. (Farmers' Bulletin 693.) Button Clover. (Farmers' Bulletin 730.) The Clover leafhopper and Its Control in the Central States. (Farmers' Bulletin 737.)

FOR SALE BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C.

Leguminous Crops for Green Manuring. (Farmers' Bulletin 278.) Price, 5 cents. Lespedeza, or Japan clover. (Farmers' Bulletin 441.) Price, 5 cents. Crimson Clover: Utilization. (Farmers' Bulletin 579.) Price, 5 cents. Alfalfa Production: Pollination Studies. (Department Bulletin 75.) Price, 5 cents. Red-Clover Seed Production: Pollination Studies. (Department Bulletin 289.) Price, 5 cents. Variegated Alfalfa. (Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin 169.) Price, 10 cents. Leguminous Crops for Hawaii. (Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 23.) Price, 10 cents.

WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1917

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Transcribers Note

All illustrations moved to avoid splitting paragraphs. Sweet clover and sweet-clover variants retained.