The Democratic advocate., 1896-06-13
Glover and Timothy.

A. w Steinruck, of Dauphin county,
Pa, writes in the Practical Farmer
The principal crops grown for hay in
this section are timothy and clover. The
farmers here sow timothy in the Fall and
clover in the Spring Timothy almost
makes good stand when sown in the
Fall with the wheat, and, of course, that
seems to be the proper time for sowing 1T.
But to get good stand of clover on our
sandy soil is not an easy matter. The
farmers in this section, in general, SOW
clover some time in April, which is too
late They sow about three quarts of
timothy and an equal quantity of clover to
the acre. They should sow about six
quarts of clover This year | sowed about
seven quarts of clover to the acre, but no
timothy. | have no use for timothy. l
sowed on top of the snow this year. The
alternate thawing and freezing gradually
worked the seed into the soil The seed
did not sprout until the ground was sufh-
ciently warm, and after it was sprouted,
the danger from freezing was not near so
great as if the seed had lain on top of the
ground. One neighbor, who gets the
best stand when sown in May (?) threat
ened dire calamity, but l had the satisfac
ton of seeing my clover up and growing
nicely before others had sown. am no
advocate of pasturing young clover. 1t
would, no doubt, be benefit on light soils
if not carried too far, but some fields are
pastured until quite bare, which leaves
them in poor condition for the Winter.
Timothy should be cut when in bloom, or
rather before. Neither timothy nor clover
should be allowed to stand too long, as
they become woody and seem to lose much
of their nutritive value. We begin to cut
clover not later than June 21st. Clover
should not be left on the field until per-
fectly dry, as nothing but stems will be
left when it is housed Some think clover
hay difficult to cure. This is not fact.
| have sometimes cut in the morning,
when the dew was off; and put away in
the afternoon, and there could have been
no nicer hay If packed tight in close
NOV and left alone during the process of
heating, there will be no danger of spoil
ing. Clover hay should be stacked prop
erly and the stack should have good
covering of either boards or rye straw, if
you cannot manage to have barn room for
it. Timothy can be stacked with less
danger of spelling. | feed right from the
NOV, as cutting would not pay. Many
farmers sell all the hay they can possibly
spare, and this is the primary cause Of
there being so many rundown farms.
When hay commands an extra price, it,
no doubt, pays to sell hay and buy fertil-
ity in some other form, but this so often
neglected. l prefer to feed all the hay
and make sure of not robbing the farm.
Most farmers place too high value on
timothy hay. They regard clover hay as
well nigh worthless, when it is really the
best hay we can possibly make Some
claim clover hay causes heaves. 1t does
not cause heaves quicker than any other
hay. Any hay, if dusty, should be
sprinkled. Most farms in this section are
starving for want of nitrogen, which could
be supplied cheaply if only clover was sown.
The farms here, at best, have but little
clover, and, in unfavorable seasons, there
is none al ALL The majority of farmers
here let the sod remain two years. The
second year they have nothiug but timothy,
the clover having all died (if there was
any there the first year. The timothy
eats up the fertility left by the clover the
preceding year, and more besides, and
when they come to harvest their succeed
ing crop of corn, or whatever it may be,
they find the fertility of that field has de-
creased instead of increased. Sow clover
and only clover and you will have the best
hay and the fertility of your farm will in
crease. Crimson clover succeeds here in
our sandy soil, but have not yet tried it
for hay, but believe it would make splen
did hay.