Book: Clovers and How to Grow Them

T >> Thomas Shaw >> Clovers and How to Grow Them




In the moist areas of the upper Atlantic coast, Ontario and the Puget
Sound region, the seed is frequently made to fall behind the grain tubes
on clay and clay loam soils, and is covered by running the roller over
the ground subsequently; but in States more inland the seed is usually
made to fall before the drill tubes, when, in some instances, the sowing
of the grain will provide a sufficient covering; but in others the
harrow is used in addition, and sometimes both the harrow and the
roller. When clover seed is sown along with grain and by the same tubes,
it will in some soils be buried too deeply, but in others the objection
does not hold good. The young plants are also injured more by shade from
the grain, since they grow only in the line of the row along with the
grain, and yet this method of sowing clover seed in some localities
seems to answer reasonably well.

When the broadcast seeder is used in sowing clover seed, time is also
saved as compared with hand sowing, but the seed can only fall before
the seeder, and must, therefore, be given the same covering as the
grain, as, when the seed is sown with the grain drill, it will in some
instances be buried too deeply. In other instances it is not so.

The depth to which the seed of medium and other clovers ought to be
buried should vary with soil and climatic conditions, and with the
season of sowing. The more stiff the soil, the more moist the climate,
and the earlier that the seed is sown, the less the covering required,
and _vice versa_. As has been shown, under certain conditions (see page
22), early sown clover seed does not require any covering artificially
given, and sometimes when sown later, a reasonably copious rain will
provide sufficient covering, providing it falls quite soon after the
sowing of the seed. But in certain of the soft, open, spongy soils of
the prairie, it may sometimes be buried to the depth of at least 3
inches, with apparent benefit. Lower than 5 or 6 inches in any soil,
clover seed will not germinate till brought nearer the surface. On all
soils that lift with the wind, the seed should, as a rule, be buried
deeply. Ordinarily, from half an inch to an inch, or an approximation to
these distances, is considered a proper depth to bury clover seed.

Some authorities recommend sowing medium and other clovers without any
nurse crop. The advantages claimed are that more or less of a crop may
be obtained the same season, and that a stand of clover is more certain
when the seed is sown thus. The first claim is correct in the main. In
some localities favored with long seasons for growth, as in certain
areas of Missouri, for instance, good yields may be obtained from sowing
the seed thus. This has happened even in Minnesota. But in other areas
and under other conditions, the yield would be light. In some
localities, as, for instance, the Willamette Valley, Oregon,
satisfactory returns have been obtained by sowing clover seed and rape
seed in May and then pasturing both.

The chief objections to sowing clover seed thus are, first, that in a
great majority of instances a sufficient stand of the plants may be
obtained when the seed is sown with a nurse crop; and second, that when
it is not thus sown, the first cutting of the hay will contain more or
less of weeds. That a stand is more assured when clover seed is sown
alone in areas where adverse weather conditions prevail cannot be
disputed. Nevertheless, the fact remains that whenever in order to get a
stand of a short-lived crop, like clover, it is necessary to sow it
alone, and in many instances get but little return the same season, it
will be well to consider if there is not some more satisfactory way of
securing a crop that will prove an equivalent. In northerly areas the
stubbles of the nurse crop frequently render substantial service to the
clover by holding the snow on the crop, and also by protecting it more
or less from the effect of the cold winds. The old-time practice of
sowing clover with a nurse crop is likely to be continued,
notwithstanding that it has some disadvantages.

These disadvantages include the following: 1. The young plants are
liable to be weakened by the crowding and by overmuch shading from the
grain when it grows rankly and thickly, and to such an extent that they
perish; 2. When the grain lodges, as it frequently does, on rich
ground, the clover plants underneath the lodged portions succumb from
want of light; 3. Where the supply of moisture is low, in the struggle
for the same between the stronger plants of the nurse crop and the
weaker plants of the clover, the former secures the larger share. As a
result, when the nurse crop is harvested, should the weather prove hot
and dry beyond a certain degree, the clover plants will die. This is an
experience not at all uncommon on the loose prairie soils of the upper
Mississippi basin.

Injury from crowding and overshading may be prevented, or at least
lessened, by pasturing the nurse crop with sheep for a time, at an early
stage in its growth. The lodging of the grain may also be prevented by
the same means. Injury from drought may also be lessened by cutting the
crop at the proper stage of advancement, and making it into hay, as in
the ripening stage of growth it draws most heavily on the moisture in
the soil. The oat crop is the most suitable for being thus dealt with.

Clover seed may be sown with any of the small cereal grains as a nurse
crop, but not with equal advantage. Rye, barley, wheat and oats are
probably suitable in the order named. Rye shades less than wheat and
oats and is harvested early; hence, its suitability for a nurse crop.
Winter rye and winter wheat are more suitable than spring varieties of
the same, since, on these the crop may usually be sown earlier, and the
soil is likely to lose less moisture from surface evaporation. The
marked suitability of barley as a nurse crop arises chiefly from the
short period which it occupies the ground. Nor is the shade so dense as
from grains that grow taller. Oats are the least suitable of all the
crops named as a nurse crop, since they are characterized by a dense
growth of leaves, which shut out the sunlight too much when the growth
is rank. Notwithstanding, the oat crop may well serve such an end when
sown thinly and cut for hay. Mixed grains grown together, as, for
instance, wheat and oats, or a mixture of the three, answer quite as
well for a nurse crop as clover and oats. The objection to them for such
use arises from the fact that they are frequently sown more thickly than
grain sown alone.

Clover may also be sown with flax or millet or mixed grains grown to
provide soiling food. When the weather is moist, it is likely to succeed
well with flax, as the latter does not form so dense a shade when it is
growing as some other crops. But flax is usually sown so much later than
these crops, that in some climates the dry weather following injures and
in some instances destroys the young plants. The dense shade furnished
by millet is also detrimental to the clover plants; nevertheless, owing
to the short period which the former occupies the ground, under
favorable conditions a stand of clover may be secured. But since millet
is sown later than flax, it frequently happens that there is not
sufficient moisture in the soil to sustain both crops. Mixed grains sown
as soiling food are usually sown reasonably early, and as they are cut
before maturity, the danger is so far lessened that the young plants
will perish from want of moisture, but since these crops are usually
grown thickly and on rich land, owing to the dense character of the
growth, the plants are much more likely to be injured by the dense shade
thus provided.

Clover seed may also be sown with corn and certain other crops that are
usually grazed down, as rape and mixed grains. When sown with corn, the
seed is usually scattered over the ground just before the last
cultivation given to the corn. Attention is now being given to the
introduction of cultivators which scatter such seeds as clover and rape
in front of them, and so preclude the necessity for hand sowing. From
Central Ohio southward, this method of securing a stand of clover will
succeed in corn-growing areas, the other conditions being right. North
from the areas named, the young clover plants may be winter killed when
the seed is sown thus. The less dense the shade furnished by the corn,
and the less dry the weather subsequently to sowing the seed, the better
will be the stand of the plants secured.

When sown with rape that has been broadcast, clover usually makes a good
stand, providing the rape crop is not sown too late in the season. When
the rape is grazed down, the grazing does not appear to materially
injure the clover, and when the shade has been removed by such grazing,
the clover plants may be expected to make a vigorous growth on such
land. In northerly areas, clover seed may be sown along with rape seed
as late as the end of May. If sown later than that time, the season may
prove too short subsequently to the grazing of the rape to allow the
plants to gather sufficient strength to carry them safely through
northern winters. When clover seed is sown with rape, the seeds may be
mixed and sown together.

Clover seed in several of the varieties may be successfully sown on
certain grain crops grown to provide grazing, especially when these are
sown early. Such pastures may consist of any one of the small cereal
grains, or more than one, or of all of them.

The seed may be sown in these the same as with any crop sown to furnish
grain. A stand of clover may thus be secured under some conditions in
which the clover would perish if sown along with the grain to be
harvested; under other conditions it would not succeed so well. The
former include soils so open as to readily lose moisture by surface
evaporation. The tramping of the animals on these increases their power
to hold moisture, the grazing down of the grain lessens its demands upon
the same, thus leaving more for the clover plants, and they are further
strengthened by the freer access of sunlight. The latter include firm,
stiff clays in rainy climates. To pasture these when thus sown, if moist
beyond a certain degree, would result in so impacting them that the
yield of the pasture would be greatly decreased in consequence.

Medium red clover is quite frequently sown alone; that is, without
admixture with clovers or grasses. It is always sown thus when it is to
be plowed under, as green manure. It is also usually sown alone in
rotations where it is to be cropped or grazed for one year. But when
grown for meadow, which is to remain longer than one season, it is
commonly sown along with timothy. The first year after sowing, the crop
is chiefly clover, and subsequently it is chiefly timothy. Orchard grass
or tall oat grass, or both, may also be sown along with medium red
clover, since these are ready for being cut at the same time as the
clover.

When medium red clover is sown to provide pasture for periods of limited
duration, it is frequently sown along with alsike clover and timothy.
Sometimes a moderate amount of alfalfa seed is added. But in arable
soils in the semi-arid West, these will provide pastures for many years
in succession, if supplied with moisture. The same is true of much of
the land west of the Cascades, and without irrigation. East from the
Mississippi and for some distance west from it, much of the medium red
clover will disappear after being grazed for one season, but the alsike,
timothy and alfalfa will endure for a longer period.

In permanent pastures, whether few or many varieties of seed are sown,
medium red clover is usually included in the mixture. It is sown because
of the amount of the grazing which it furnishes the season after sowing,
and with the expectation that it will virtually entirely disappear in
the pastures in two or three seasons after it has been sown.

When medium red clover is sown for being plowed under as green manure,
it is always sown with a nurse crop. Some farmers, in localities well
adapted to the growth of clover, sow more or less of the medium red
variety on all, or nearly all, of the land devoted to the growth of such
cereals as rye, wheat, barley and oats, when the land is to be plowed
the autumn or spring following. Reduced quantities of seed are used.
They believe that the benefit from the young clover plants to the land
will more than pay for the cost of the seed and the sowing of the same.

The amount of seed to sow will depend on the degree of suitability in
the conditions for growing medium red clover. The more favorable these
are, the less the necessity for using maximum quantities of seed, and
_vice versa_. More seed is required when the clover is not grown with
other grasses or clovers than when it is grown with these. When grown
without admixture, 16 pounds of seed per acre may be named as the
maximum quantity to sow and 8 pounds as the minimum, with 12 pounds as
an average. With all the conditions quite favorable, 10 pounds should
suffice. In New England and some of the Atlantic States, many growers
sow much more seed than the quantities named, and it may be that the
necessities of the land call for more. In Great Britain also,
considerably larger quantities are sown.

When sown in grass or clover mixtures, the amount of the seed required
will vary with the other factors of the mixture, and the amount of each
that is sown; that is, with the character of the hay or pasture that is
sought. The seed is much more frequently sown with timothy than with any
other kind of grass, and the average amount of each of these to sow per
acre may be put at 8 pounds of clover and 6 pounds of timothy. When
other clovers are added, as the mammoth or the alsike, for every pound
of the seed of the former added, the seed of the medium red may be
reduced by one pound, and for every pound of the alsike added it may be
reduced by 1-1/2 pounds. In mixtures for permanent pastures, 6 pounds
may be fixed upon as the maximum quantity of medium red clover seed to
sow, and 3 pounds as the average quantity. When sown to provide green
manure, maximum quantities of seed are used when it is desired to
improve the soil quickly. Usually not less than 12 pounds per acre are
sown, and quite frequently more. But when the gradual improvement of the
land is sought, by sowing the seed on all land devoted to the small
cereal grains, not more than 6 pounds per acre are used, and frequently
even less than 4 pounds. The greater the hazard to the plants in sowing
the seed thus, the less the quantities of the seed that are usually
sown, with a view to reduce the loss in case of failure to secure a
stand of the clover.

A stand of medium red clover is sometimes secured by what may be termed
self-sowing. For instance, where clover has been cut for hay and then
allowed to mature even but a portion of the seed before being plowed
under the same autumn, the seed thus buried remains in the ground
without sprouting. When the land is again plowed to the same depth and
sown with some kind of grain, the clover seed thus brought to the
surface will germinate. If the plowing last referred to is done in the
autumn, it ought to be done late rather than early, lest the seed
should sprout in the autumn and perish in the winter, or be destroyed by
the cultivation given in sowing the grain crop that follows. The same
result may be obtained from clover pastured after the first cutting for
the season, when the pasturing is not close.

When medium red clover is much grown for seed, many of the ripe heads
are not cut by the mower, since they lie near the ground, and many break
off in the curing process. The seed thus becomes so distributed in the
ground, that many plants come up and grow amid the grain every season.
These may, of course, be grazed or plowed under for the enrichment of
the land, as desired. Seed thus buried is, therefore, not lost by any
means. The plants which grow will render much assistance in keeping the
land in a good condition of tilth, as well as in enhancing its
fertility.

When clover seed is much grown, therefore, on any piece of land, the
quantity of seed sown may be reduced materially. In fact, it may be so
much reduced that it has been found possible to grow clover in rotation
for many years without adding seed. The first growth of the clover was
taken as hay, and the second growth as seed. The ground was then plowed
and a crop of corn was taken. The corn land was then plowed and sown
with some cereal, such as wheat, oats or barley.

=Pasturing.=--Medium red clover will furnish grazing very suitable for
any kind of live stock kept upon the farm. All farm animals relish it,
but not so highly as blue grass, when the latter is tender and
succulent. No plant is equally suitable in providing pasture for swine,
unless it be alfalfa; hence, for that class of stock, it has come to be
the staple pasture outside of areas where alfalfa may be readily grown.
When desired, the grazing may begin even at a reasonably early stage in
the growth of the plants, and it may continue to the end of the
pasturing season.

Usually it is considered unwise to pasture medium red clover the same
season in which it has been sown when sown with a nurse crop. It has
been noticed that when so pastured, it does not winter so well, and that
the later and more close the pasturing and the colder the winter
following, the greater is the hazard from pasturing the clover. This
hazard arises chiefly from the exposure of the roots to the sweep of the
cold winds. It should be the rule, therefore, not only to refrain from
pasturing clover thus, but also to leave the stubbles high when
pasturing the grain. Where the snowfall is light and the cold is
intense, to leave the stubbles thus high is important, since they aid in
holding the snow. But there may be instances when the clover plants grow
so vigorously that in places of heavy snowfall, smothering may result
unless the mass of vegetation is in some way removed. In such instances,
pasturing may be in order; but when practised, the grazing should be
with cattle rather than sheep or horses, and it should cease before the
covering is removed. There may also be locations where much benefit
follows in several ways close, or reasonably close, cutting of the
stubbles quite soon after the nurse crop has been harvested.

When clover is sown without a nurse crop, it may be not only proper, but
advantageous, to pasture it. The grazing should not, however, be
continued so late that the plants will not have time to make a
sufficiency of growth to protect them in winter. Such grazing is better
adapted to areas in which the season of growth is long, rather than
short; where weed growth is abundant, as on certain of the soils of the
prairie, it may be necessary to call in the aid of the mower once or
even twice during the season of growth.

When a crop of medium red clover is desired, the surest way to obtain it
in good form is to pasture the field during the early part of the
season, and closely enough to have the clover eaten down on every part
of the field. When it is not so eaten, the mower should be so used that
the growth and maturing of the seed crop may be even and uniform. The
season for removing the live stock will depend upon latitude and
altitude, but it will be correct to say that it ought to be from two to
three weeks earlier than the proper season for cutting clover for hay.

When clover is not grazed the year that it is sown, in some seasons the
stronger plants will bear seed, if allowed. To such an extent does this
follow under certain conditions and in certain areas, that a
considerable crop of seed could be obtained if this were desired, even
as many as 4 or 5 bushels per acre in some instances. But it has been
noticed that if thus allowed to produce seed, the effect upon the
growth of the crop the next season is decidedly injurious. To prevent
such a result the mower should be run over the field as soon as much
hazard is certainly apparent, and the earlier in the season that this
can be done the better, for the reason that all weeds growing are
clipped off, and the clover has also a better chance to provide
protection for the winter by growth subsequently made. When there is an
over-luxuriant growth in the plants, it may be well to thus mow the
field, even though seed should not be produced. The growth made by the
plants and the mulch provided by the portion cut make an excellent
preparation for entering the cold season.

But few pasture crops grown will furnish as much grazing in one season
as medium red clover. It will probably furnish the most grazing if
allowed to grow up before it is grazed until the stage of bloom is
approached or reached, but since it is seldom practicable to graze it
down quickly enough after that stage has been reached, and since there
is frequently waste from tramping, grazing usually begins, and properly
so, at an earlier period.

When cattle and sheep graze upon young clover, there is some danger that
hoven or bloating may result to the extent of proving quickly fatal if
not promptly relieved. The danger is greater if the animals are hungry
when turned in upon the clover, and when it is wet with dew or rain, or
in a more than ordinarily succulent condition. Such danger may be
lessened, if not, indeed, entirely eliminated, by giving the animals
access to other food, as dry clover hay, for instance, before turning
them in on the pasture, and the danger is always less in proportion as
grasses are abundant in the pasture.

Should bloating occur, relief must usually be prompt to be effective. In
mild cases, certain medicines may bring relief. One of the most potent
is the following: Give spirits of turpentine in doses of 1 to 5
tablespoonfuls, according to the size of the animal. Dilute with milk
before administering. In bad cases, the paunch should be at once
punctured. The best instruments are the trocar and canula, but in the
absence of these a pocket knife and goose quill may be made to answer.
The puncture is made on the left side, at a point midway between the
last rib and hook point, and but a few inches from the backbone. The
thrusting instrument should point downward and slightly inward going
into the paunch. With much promptness the canula or the quill should be
pushed down into the paunch and held there till the gas escapes. Before
the tube is withdrawn the contents of the paunch that have risen in the
same should be first pushed down.

=Harvesting for Hay.=--Medium red clover is at its best for cutting for
hay when in full bloom, and when a few of the heads which first bloomed
are beginning to turn brown; that is to say, in the later rather than in
the earlier stage of full bloom. If cut sooner, the curing of the crop
is tedious. If cut later the stalks lose in palatability. But when the
weather is showery it may be better to defer cutting even for several
days after the clover has reached the proper stage for harvesting, as
the injury from rain while the crop is being cured may be greater than
the injury from overmaturity in the same before it is mown.

When curing the crop, the aim should be to preserve to the greatest
extent practicable the loss of the leaves. To accomplish such a result,
the clover ought to be protected as far as possible from exposure to dew
or rain, and also from excessive exposure to sunshine. Dew injures more
or less the color of the hay and detracts from its palatability. Rain
intensifies such injury in proportion as the crop being harvested is
exposed to it. It also washes out certain substances, which, when
present, affect favorably its aroma.

The injury from such exposure increases with the interval between
cutting and storing the crop. Exposure to successive showers may so
seriously injure the hay as to render it almost valueless for feeding.
After the mown clover has been exposed in the swath to the sunlight
beyond a certain time, it turns brown, and if exposed thus long enough
the aroma will be lost. The aim should be, therefore, to cure the clover
to the greatest extent practicable by the aid of the wind rather than by
that of the sun.

The method of procedure to be followed is in outline as given below: Mow
as far as possible when the meadow is not wet with rain or dew. Mow in
the afternoon rather than the forenoon, as the injury from dew the night
following will be less. Stir with the tedder as soon as the clover has
wilted somewhat. The tedder should be used once, twice or oftener as
the circumstances may require. The heavier the crop and the less drying
the weather, the more the tedding that should be given. Sometimes
tedding once, and in nearly all instances twice, will be sufficient. The
hay should then be raked. It is ready for being raked as soon as the
work can be done easily and in an efficient manner. When clover is not
dry enough for being raked, the draught on the rake will be
unnecessarily heavy, the dumping of the hay will be laborious, and it
does not rake as clean as it would if the hay were in a fit condition
for being raked.

Copyright (c) 2007. knowncrafts.net. All rights reserved.