Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-02-24
CLOVER FOR SEED.


CLOVER FOR SEED.
An Important Item Ii the Farna In
come--How 70 secure = Crop. ~
The value 5of clover as a fertilizer OF.
for hay is sufficient reason for grow
ing it. But aside from this 1t has an
other value as a seed crop, which is Of
no inconsiderable amount in the In
come Of the farm. The yield Of clover
seed may be placed at from two to six
bushels per acre and the price on the.
farm at from So to Z per bushel. IT
will not be far out Of the way to place,
the average yield at three bushels per
acre and the price at 81 per bushel,
thus making $12 per acre gross income
from the clover field after having al
ready taken off 111Kasto s tons Of hay per
acre, to say nothing Of the hullings OF.
straw, which has considerable feed
value. So says a writer In Orange
Judd Farmer. who gives the following
advice: /. a.. III ,%:&s :
To secure q seed crop from the COM
mon red clover the first crop should be
cut near the middle Of June, although
it may be cut earlier or later with sue
cess il the season is favorable. Should
there be bumblebees,. nests in the field
tell the boys not to disturb them, as
the seed crop will depend largely on
their work later on in fertilization. A
bountiful seed crop is certainly abun-
dant compensation for a few bee
stings. The popular belief that the first
crop does not produce seed is erro-
neous. There will only be a small
amount of seed because of the imper-
feet pollination from lack Of bees and
other Insects so early in the season.:
The second crop is cut for seed when
all the heads have turned brown or
black. Perhaps the old self rake reap
er would be the best implement for
this work, but as that has now gone
with the sickle and the cradle the
mower or binder will have to be SUBJ
stituted. If the mower is used, the
clover should be cut and raked when
damp to avoid %shattering as much as
possible. Nevertheless there will be
"CAS AOcC VI OCCu al LA1o way
When the clover stands up well, I
have found the binder best and the
waste of the seed least. The binding
part of the machine is removed, and a
rack with a swinging gate-somewhat
like a water gate cross a stream-is
substituted to catch the clover as 1t
falls from the elevators. When the
rack is full, the driver by means of a
hand lever opens the gate, letting the
clover slide off, leaving it in windows.
1t was formerly thought necessary to
let the clover lie in the windrow until
partially rotted. But with improved
clover hullers this is not required. If
the weather is; favorable, I let it dry
three or four days or until it is in the
condition Of overdry hay and then
stack and hull Immediately or cover
well and leave several weeks. Treated
in this manner the straw will be al
most as valuable as hay and is relished
by stock even better than timothy hay.
During the summer Of 1898 the clover
seed crop was almost q complete fail
ure in my locality. And yet there has
seldom been a finer promise for seed
than there was in the growth and de,
velopment Of the second crop during
that summer. The bloom was luxuri.
ant, but the ripened heads revealed the
fact that there was practically no seed.
After some Investigation I arrived at
this conclusion: To get a good seed crop
we must have a good honey year. Bee
men informed me that the summer of
1898 was a poor one for the honey crop.
To bring honey into the flower at the
period Of bloom the weather must be
dry and the days and nights hot. But
during that summer these conditions
were reversed, and, there being no hon
,ey in the clover blossoms, the bees did
not work, and consequently pollination
did not take place and no seed formed.
VI r Irrisatfng Devices, J.
A water wheel for lifting water for
irrigation, illustrated in Ohio Farmer,
is planned to utilize the current Of a
nearby stream without the expense Of
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