Part 2

Binders equipped in the manner described have been tested carefully in different sections and have proved beyond doubt that they offer an economical device for harvesting sweet clover for seed. This equipment has been used most extensively in Livingston County, Ill., where farmers have saved with it from $6 to $10 worth of seed per acre. When this equipment is used the plants may be permitted to become somewhat more mature before cutting, as the seed which is shattered will be saved by the pans.

As the pans and extensions described have been designed for one type of binder, it may be necessary to modify them slightly for use on other types of machines. Before making a set of these pans and extensions for any machine, the plans shown should be compared carefully with the binder to be equipped, in order that any changes which will need to be made may be noted. The pans and extensions at least maybe made on the farm, and then it will be an easy matter to check up the measurements for the supports, which may be made at a blacksmith shop.

Difficulty may be experienced in cutting sweet clover with a binder when the first crop has been permitted to mature, as the plants may be so tall that the machine will not handle them properly. This difficulty may be overcome entirely in most sections of the country by pasturing the field until the first part of June or by cutting the first crop for hay. It is recommended that the stubble be left as high as possible when cutting sweet clover for seed. Not only will this greatly facilitate harvesting but it will leave many of the woody, unpalatable portions of the plants on the ground, where they will decay quickly, and help to increase the humus content of the soil. (See the illustration on the title-page.)

When the seed crop is cut with a binder it is best to shock the bundles as soon as possible, so as to avoid unnecessary shattering. Conditions should determine whether the bundles be placed in long narrow shocks or in round shocks. The plants will cure somewhat faster in long narrow shocks, and this form should be preferred when grasshoppers are not troublesome. Sweet-clover shocks should not be capped, as capping will cause some seed pods to shatter.

THE GRAIN HEADER.

Grain headers have been used successfully for harvesting the sweet-clover seed crop in several sections of the United States, especially in western Kansas. The principal advantages in using this machine are that a larger acreage may be cut in a given time than with either a grain binder or a self-rake reaper and that a high stubble may be left. The greater acreage which may be cut with a header is important when large acreages are to be harvested, as much seed is lost by shattering if the crop is not cut at the proper stage for harvesting, while the high stubble which may be left when cutting the seed crop with a grain header is a decided advantage, as it not only reduces greatly the weight and bulb of the plants which must be thrashed, but it also leaves the hard, woody portions on the ground, where they will decay and be of some value as a fertilizer. It is best to remove only those portions of the plants which contain sufficient seed to thrash, but this is not always possible, even with a header, unless the field contains a fairly thin stand and the plants are not more than 4-1/2 to 5 feet high. When the seed crop is to be cut with a grain header, it usually is permitted to stand somewhat longer than when other machines are used.

A tin pan or some other receptacle should be placed at the lower end of the header elevator in order to save the seed which otherwise would be lost at that place.

The plants are carried into header wagons or barges in the same way as grain. When a heavy crop is cut it will be necessary to have two men in the barge to handle the plants. The floor of the header wagon should be made perfectly tight, or it should be covered with a canvas or tarpaulin, so as to save the seed pods which shatter.

When the crop is cut at the proper stage it may be placed directly in stacks or ricks without danger of heating or molding, provided the ricks are covered or topped with some material which will shed water and are built upon a foundation, so that air may circulate under them. Native grass or green sweet-clover plants of the first year's crop will serve very nicely for topping the stacks.

It is the custom of some people to place the barge loads close together in individual stacks so located that they may be hauled quickly and easily to the thrashing machine. On other farms enough barge loads are placed together to make a rick approximately 10 by 10 by 40 feet in size. When each barge load is placed in a separate stack it is necessary to load the plants again, so as to haul them to the thrashing machine. The shattering of seed pods and the extra labor caused by reloading and by hauling the plants may be avoided for the most part by placing the crop in ricks large enough for a day's thrashing. It is good practice to place such ricks in pairs sufficiently close together for both to be pitched directly to the feeder of the machine. When this method is employed two days' thrashing may be done without moving the machine.

The header binder, consisting of an attachment placed upon the header to bind the cut plants, has been used successfully in cutting the sweet-clover seed crop.

THE CORN HARVESTER.

Corn harvesters are proving to be efficient machines for cutting sweet clover which has made a growth too large to be cut with a grain binder. Even when the field has been seeded broadcast a 3-foot swath may be cut with the corn harvester, provided the gathering or divider points are extended to collect the plants. This may be done by fastening to each point a piece of wood or iron about 18 inches long. When a corn binder is used no more seed is lost from shattering than when an ordinary grain harvester is employed, unless the later is equipped with special pans and extensions, for the reason, primarily, that the portions of the plants which produce most of the seed extend above the gathering or divider boards and are not crushed. When a 5-foot or larger growth is cut with a corn binder, the plants are tied below the seed-bearing branches.

In the semiarid sections of the country a limited quantity of sweet clover is planted in rows for both forage and seed production. In such a case the seed may be harvested with a corn binder. (Fig. 11.)

STACKING THE SWEET-CLOVER SEED CROP.

Much discussion has taken place among extensive growers of sweet clover as to the advisability of stacking the seed crop after it is cut with a grain binder or a corn harvester. The conditions present in each case should determine the proper course to pursue. If it will be impossible to thrash within 10 days after cutting, much less seed will be lost by stacking two or three days after cutting than by permitting the plants to remain in the field subject to possible rains. In such cases it is urged that the crop be stacked, as the seed saved by this operation, if the handling is done with care, will much more than pay for the labor. When it is possible to thrash in a week or 10 days after cutting, the crop should be thrashed directly from the field, as little seed ordinarily will be lost during this time and the work of stacking will be avoided.

When the crop is to be stacked, the stacks should be built in the same way as stacks of grain; and when properly built they will shed water as well as grain stacks. (Fig. 12.) It is well, however, to provide a covering, and if canvas is not available a top-dressing of green grain or young sweet-clover plants will suffice. Sweet clover should remain in the stack for three or four weeks, as it will require about that time for the plants to pass through the sweat. A stack should always be placed on high ground, where water will not collect about the base, and it is recommended that a foundation of some kind be provided, so that air may circulate beneath. A few posts or rails will answer this purpose very well.

THRASHING THE SWEET-CLOVER SEED CROP.

Two methods are in general use for thrashing the sweet-clover seed crop. The seed may be flailed from the plants, or it may be removed by a grain separator or a clover huller.

FLAILING THE SEED.

Much of the sweet-clover seed harvested in the South is flailed from the plants. This method is necessarily slow and does not hull the seed. It is practicable, therefore, only in regions where the necessary machinery for hulling the seed crop is not available or where the acreage to be thrashed is very limited. One advantage of thrashing the seed in this manner is that the straw is left in the field, where it will add much organic matter to the soil.

When the seed is to be flailed, the crop ordinarily is cut with a scythe or mowing machine and the plants raked into piles or windrows. If only small areas are to be harvested in this manner, a canvas or tarpaulin may be spread on the ground beside a windrow or pile and several forkfuls of sweet clover pitched on the canvas, where the seed may be removed from the plants by striking them a few times with flails, sticks, or forks. After the plants have been struck a few times they should be turned over and struck again. When the seed is removed front the plants, the straw may be pitched to one side, the canvas placed beside another portion of the windrow or by another pile, and the operation repeated. It is not necessary to remove the seed from the canvas until its weight or bulk interferes with moving the canvas.

It is the practice in some sections of the country to place a well-braced frame, covered with wire netting, on a sled and to flail the seed on this frame. The netting used for covering the frame should have meshes 1 inch or loss in diameter. The sled should be at least 7 feet wide and 10 feet long and should have sides and ends approximately 12 inches high. Smaller sleds sometimes are used, but a larger one is to be preferred if two or more persons are to flail on it at one time. If the floor of the sled is not perfectly tight, it should be covered with canvas and the edges of the canvas thrown over the sides and ends of the sled, so as to avoid losing any of the seed and to facilitate its removal. A sled so equipped may be drawn from pile to pile, the plants pitched on it, the seed flailed from them, and the straw returned to the land for soil improvement.

Another method, very similar to that just described, is to place a frame on a hayrack. The frame should be built sufficiently strong and in such a manner that the person who is to do the flailing may stand on it. It should be covered preferably with galvanized-wire netting having half-inch meshes, and if this is stretched tightly it will serve to strengthen the frame. If it is not practicable to make the hayrack perfectly tight, it should be covered with a tarpaulin or canvas. A wagon so equipped may be pulled from pile to pile or along the windrows, where one person may pitch the plants upon the frame, to be flailed by one or more persons standing on it. After the seed is removed from the plants, the straw may be scattered easily and quickly over the ground for soil improvement.

Flailed seed should be cleaned thoroughly with sieves and fanning mills to remove the inert matter and immature pods before it is sown or offered for sale on the market. It is recommended that whenever possible unhulled seed be run through a clover huller to hull the seed or through an Ames hulling and scarifying machine to remove the hulls and to scarify the seed. By this process the outer coat of the seed is scratched or broken. The scarifying increases the percentage of germination by facilitating the entrance of moisture.

THE GRAIN SEPARATOR.

A grain separator (fig. 13) is used more than any other machine for thrashing sweet clover. This is because more grain separators than clover hullers are found in localities where sweet clover is grown and because the ordinary clover huller will not handle a large growth of sweet clover satisfactorily. When the grain separator is operated carefully no trouble should be experienced in removing the seed from the plants, but it is necessary to make certain adjustments if the seed is to be hulled. The adjustments required will vary somewhat with the make of machine and the dryness of the crop. The riddles should be adjusted or changed so they will handle sweet-clover seed properly. Alfalfa or red-clover riddles will answer this purpose. The speed of the fan should be decreased, so the seed will not be blown over, and this usually will be accomplished when the speed is reduced to about one-half that used in thrashing grain. The number of rows of concave teeth which should be used will vary with the dryness of the plants and somewhat with their size. When it is not desired to hull the seed, one or two rows of concave teeth will be sufficient. Some operators believe that one or two rows are sufficient to hull 40 to 50 per cent of the seed when the plants are very dry. Those are exceptional cases, and hulled seed should not be expected unless more rows of concave teeth are used. If hulled seed is desired it is recommended that a full set be used and that these be set to run closer to the cylinder teeth than is customary when thrashing grain. Some operators replace two rows of the smooth, concave teeth with corrugated teeth. This practice is recommended wherever possible, as the corrugated teeth will facilitate greatly the hulling of the seed. Even where these changes are made, only a small percentage of the seed will be hulled if the pods are damp. If the plants have been permitted to make a very large growth the machine may clog unless the number of rows of concave teeth is reduced. Clogging may be overcome for the most part by feeding the bundles to the machine slowly. This precaution is necessary regardless of the size of the plants if the seed is to be removed properly and hulled. It is possible to hull from 90 to 95 per cent of the seed when the proper adjustments are made and the plants are dry.

A clover-hulling attachment, which consists for the most part of special sieves and a number of rows of corrugated concave teeth which replace the ordinary concave teeth, has been used with success in different sections of the country.

THE CLOVER HULLER.

As a rule, ordinary clover hullers do not handle sweet clover very satisfactorily. Machines with cylinders larger than those commonly used are giving fair satisfaction provided the plants do not make a large growth, but even these machines have not been so successful as properly adjusted and equipped grain separators. A clover huller will handle a 2 to 3 foot growth of sweet clover if the rows of thrashing concaves are reduced and the plants are fed slowly to the machine. It will not hull sweet clover as well as red clover, and it is very doubtful whether it will hull more seed than a grain separator equipped with a hulling attachment.

The manufacturer of at least one clover huller has designed special rasps for the hulling cylinder and concaves of his machine, and these rasps do better work than the ones ordinarily used for hulling red clover.

It is the custom in some localities to run the sweet clover through a thrashing machine without adjusting the concaves and then to run the unhulled seed as delivered by the grain separator through a clover huller. A fair quality of seed may be obtained by this process, but it calls for much extra labor and time, and for this reason should be avoided Whenever possible.

YIELDS OF SWEET-CLOVER SEED.

Many factors besides shattering influence the yield of sweet-clover seed. As only those portions of the plants exposed directly to the sunlight set seed abundantly, thin stands usually produce more seed to the acre than heavy stands. When very heavy stands make a large growth, seed is produced only on the upper 24 to 30 inches of the plants, whereas with thinner stands it is produced on the lower branches as well.

The quantity of moisture in the soil at the time the seed is maturing is an important factor also. During hot, dry weather the plants may not be able to absorb from the soil sufficient water to supply the excess required by them for seed production. In this event many of the seed pods will abort and fall when partly mature. Pods abort and fall in a very short time, so that partly shriveled ones seldom are found on the plants, although the extent of the aborting is shown by the number of barren racemos. When such weather conditions prevail, the second crop usually will produce a heavier yield than the first crop. This is due for the most part to the inability of the large plants to obtain sufficient water for seed production. The much smaller plants of the second crop do not require as much moisture as the larger plants of the first crop, as the vegetative growth is seldom more than half as much.

The type of root growth has much to do with the quantity of water the plants are able to obtain during droughty weather. When sweet clover is planted on soil that has a tendency to be wet, the plants will produce a much-branched shallow root system instead of the normal deep roots which are found on well-drained soils. During dry weather the upper layers of soil become so depleted that plants having a very large percentage of their roots in these layers can not obtain a sufficient quantity of moisture to supply their requirements for seed production.

It is often stated that the first crop of sweet clover will produce more seed to the acre than the second crop. This depends very largely upon the thickness of the stand and on weather conditions. In regions where two crops may be grown in a season, the first usually will produce more seed to the acre than the second if the field has a thin stand. When the stand is thick the second crop ordinarily yields more seed. In regions where a crop of hay or pasturage may be obtained in addition to the seed crop, it is seldom an economical procedure to permit the first crop to mature. Not only will sweet clover produce an abundance of nutritious pasturage or a cutting of 1 to 3 tons of hay in addition to the seed, but the difficulty of handling the large, stemmy growth of the first crop for seed is avoided.

Yields of sweet-clover seed have been reduced during the last two seasons by several fungous diseases. Experimental work has not been completed to show the percentage of damage done by these organisms, but in some sections of the country seed yields were reduced considerably. The clover stem borer,[2] which is prevalent in red clover in certain sections of the country, also infests sweet clover. It is probable that this insect did some damage to the seed crop in certain sections of the country in 1916.

[2] Languria mozardi.

The yield of sweet-clover seed varies from 2 to 10 bushels of re-cleaned seed per acre.

SWEET-CLOVER STRAW.

Sweet-clover straw may be utilized for soil improvement or as a roughage for stock. When it is not needed for feeding it should be turned under, as it will add much humus and nitrogen to the soil. When the seed is flailed from the plants the straw may be easily and quickly spread over the land at the time of flailing, but when the crop is thrashed with a grain separator or a clover huller it will be necessary to haul the straw and scatter it over the field. When the crop is thrashed in this manner the straw will be broken and crushed so that stock will eat it freely. The straw may be run directly from the thrashing machine into the silo, where, by adding sufficient water, it can be made into good silage. Table I gives the analyses of nine samples of sweet-clover straw which were collected in Illinois in the fall of 1916.

Table I.--Analyses of sweet-clover straw.[3]

| | Nitrogen- | | | Fiber | | Crude | free Sample.|Moisture.| Ash. | extract.|Protein.| fiber.| extract. -------+---------+-------+---------+--------+-------+----------- | | | | | | No. 1 | 4.2 | 3.18 | 1.20 | 8.31 | 49.37 | 33.74 No. 2 | 4.7 | 3.40 | 1.03 | 5.88 | 53.65 | 31.34 No. 3 | 5.34 | 3.02 | .89 | 6.14 | 51.11 | 32.9 No. 4 | 5.55 | 4.14 | 1.54 | 8.44 | 43.00 | 37.33 No. 5 | 4.75 | 2.64 | 1.28 | 6.81 | 51.42 | 32.8 No. 6 | 4.23 | 2.58 | 1.13 | 5.44 | 55.41 | 31.21 No. 7 | 5.53 | 3.66 | 1.52 | 7.19 | 46.34 | 35.70 No. 8 | 4.65 | 2.98 | 1.38 | 7.09 | 51.56 | 32.34 No. 9. | 4.92 | 4.22 | 1.70 | 8.44 | 46.11 | 34.61 -------+---------+-------+---------+--------+-------+-----------

[3] These analyses were made by the Bureau of Chemistry.

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Transcriber Note

Minor typos may have been corrected. Illustrations were moved to prevent splitting of paragraphs. Content produced from files generously provided by the USDA through The Internet Archive and all resultant files are placed in the Public Domain.

End of Project Gutenberg's USDA Farmers' Bulletin No. 836, by H. S. Coe