Gloucester County Democrat., 1899-02-09
FARM $500
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CLOVER GROWING.
One Estimate of the Relative vaI'
of tI,a SqcI Gran

one Estimate of the Relative Value
of the Seed Crop.
The pronounced failure of the clover
seed crop Ca sorrce of income or ready
cash crop for the grower and the con
sequent advance in the price of seed
have furnished a subject for thought to
writer in the Ohio Farmer, who
does not consider the failure by any
means an unmixed evil, but advances
ideas TO the contrary very much as fol
lows:
In the effort to get crop of seed
saved many advantages in growing
clover are lost sight of. In the gather
ing of the seed crop it is forgotten that
clover is the greatest land renovatoI
that we have The haulm, it may be
argued, is returned to the land but ii
can never be as evenly distributed as
nature does it, But the most damaging
feature in the whole matter is that
many regard the haulm as of no value
whatever; that the easiest way to get
rid of it is the best way. Consequently
it is burned or given away. Then
again, man is found who argues that
he would rather have this second growth
taken off the land than to leave it on,
as the aftermath that comes on late is
of more value to plow down than the
whole second crop, because it decays
quicker. incidentally we may say such
man argues that the farmers insti-
tutes are of no value.
The conditions of the weather more
completely control the perfecting of a
clover seed crop than that of any other
staple grown on the farm. Directly
after taking off the hay crop there
should be abundant rains to force up
new and numerous shoots from the
roots. If we do not have this rain and
the soil is as dry as is desirable when
the hay is cut, the clover will make d
poor start and the seed stems be limited
in number. Late rains may thicken up
the growth, but being a continuous
one, as it is likely to be till frost comes,
the seed will ripen unevenly, that ripen-
ing first falling to the ground. We have
in this way a continuous ripening, and
still at no time a thick stand of ripe
heads, the crop always looking thin, SO
thin that at no time does the farmer
feel certain that the crop will pay to
cut it. This was the condition of the
crop all over the country the past year,
as we learn from what information we
have at hand The farmer that did not
cut this uncertain crop is much better
off by not doing it, But it will be a
mistake to expect crop of clover from
the same fields next season if the last
was the second year after sowing the
seed The failure will in no way assure
crop for next season. The farmer that
expects crop of clover the third year
after sowing is almost certain to be
disappointed.
1t has come to be considered in these
close times that farmer cannot afford
to plow down crop of second growth
clover that will yield good seed crop
Granting this to be true, the question
arises as to what may be considered a
profitable crop to cut for seed. When
nearly every farmer has clover seed, it
takes large yield to give a profit on
account of the low price and the high
cost of hulling. Last year a much less
amount Of seed would return the same
money But it will certainly not pay to
cut and handle the straw for one-half
bushel of seed per acre. as was done in
some sections 1t very often happens
that from light growth of straw a
heavy seed yield may be secured and
vice versa. The former, if taken off the
land. is less injurious, while in the lat
ter case the seed secured will in no
manner compensate for the loss to the
land in removing the straw 1t follows
then, that these are important points
to consider when crop of seed is to be
taken off the land.