Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-02-22
GLOVER FOR SEED.
An Important Item I'm the Farm In
me-Ho to Secure a Crop. E:

come-How to Secure a Crop. =
The value of clover as a fertilizer or
for hay is sufficient reason for grow
ing it. But aside from this it has an
other value Jas d seed crop, which isSof
no inconsiderable amount in the, In,
come Of the farm. The yield Of clover
seed6mayabe placed at from two to six
bushels persacre and the price On the
farm at from So to 81 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 Sd per bushel,
thus making So periacre gross income
from the clover field after having al
ready taken off ~ to 8 tons Of hay per
acre, to say nothing Of the hullingss or,
straw, which has considerable feed
values So says a writer in Orange,
Judd Farmer, who gives the following
advice: "a, .:.,4 .a.t3. q, r,,rHei{ zna y
To secure a 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 if the season is favorable. Should
there be bumblebees' nests in the field
tell the boys not to disturbHthem, 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 a
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 sub
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
considerable loss of seed in this way.
When the clover stands up we'll, 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 across a stream-is
substituted to catch the clover as it
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.
It 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, ! 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 rs hay and is relished
Lbyfstock even better than timothy hay.
During the summer of 1898 the clover
seed crop was almost a complete fail
ure in my locality. And yet there has
seldom been a>fner promise for seed
than there was, in the growth and de-
yelopment 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.
1After some investigation ]; 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.