Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1901-03-01
it after the wheat was taken off Fall
treatment has everything to do with

tudes where there is much freezing and
thawing without snow protection you
will almost surely fail, for it will all
heave out. We never pasture our clo-
yer after harvest. We prefer clipping
with moving machine early enough
to let the clover grow up, say five or
six inches, for protection, and late
enough to destroy the weeds that are
likely to rIpen their seeds. | heard
one Instructor say this winter, when
asked If he psstured his young clover,
"No: | don't even let my wife walk
over it." This was putting it pretty
strong, but it conveyed the idea and left
its impression.
Nowas to the time of sowing. In the lat
itude of the southern two-thirds of Michi-
gan and all of Ohio, February and March
for Michigan is no doubt the best time
on soils that are clay or clay loan,
that will hold moisture WE'LL But con-
ditioDs of soils in these ATTITUDES cause a
variation in time. On sandy or gravcllv
soil that will suffer from drouth during
July or August, sowing had better be
deferred until later, when the ground
has thawcd out and settled, and become
dry enough for a team to travel over it.
Then SOW and harrow it well This
will give the young plant a deeper
root to start with. On such soil il is
an excellent plan to use a drill for
sowing clover seed deep. | know some
Of our most successful farmers do this
way. OF course, the drill is run cross
wise of these dIill-marks made when
iptv wi n Northern Ni.hi,vnt
fan seeding is nearly altogether prac-
ticed. The seed is usually sown in
August or September, and the snow
protects it all winter. Even if the
ground is hard frozen when the first
snow comes, it will thaw out under the
snow, and clover and wheat will seem
to grow during the latter part of win
ter and will come out in the spring
looking green and nice They often
get hay from 1t the following summer,
but usually they pasture it the next
summer after sowing, and cut their hay
the next year.
1t sometimes happens that we have
rains immediately after wheat aud oat
harvest sufficient to wet the ground
thoroughly. In such cases, clover seed
can be soWn on the stubble and narrowed
! with spring-tooth harrow. with almost
} certain success. One farmer in cur
neighborhood this year had excellent
; success after both wheat and oats
But next year he may fail in this way.
t As there may not be any rains. The
risk is too great to wait and take
: chances. If the spring seeding fails
"a frnr1 if rho iS mn
: enough, it can then be resown after
: harvest and dragged in. This will make
, double expense in getting clover, but il
4 will not pay to miss. 1t costs not more
than a dollar an acre to seed once
where, if you seed twice the same year
: it will be two dollars per acre; but 8
good crop of clover on land is worti
/. ten dollars an acre, not counting the hay
n So it pays well to exhaust all reason.
. able means and plans to secure a
"catch."
= VIII * do any harm to sow clover or
) the snow: No. if not too deep. Three
n or four inches deep will do no harm
4 We used TO wait until the snow was
! gone, and watch for the ground
/ 20 freeze and honcvcomb. This sound,
+ WELL and is all right when the thing
materiaizes; but it does not always.
j. have often found, when the grounC
4 was honeycombed Just right, there wa,
TOO much wind. and when there was No
O wind HE ground was wrong; and Vhil,
e. waiting for everything to get jUst right
# He season wancd. have been caugh
s. in thi- way two or three times, am,
I
4 even if here is some snow. have s0Wl
oyer snowbauks three feet deep along
The fences. and no harm came If III,
snow goes of with hard rain. it ma,
wash The seed I'm the immediate chan
j nels but this will not hurt much.
i You notice the seed after it is OF
The snow a short time, you will find i
settled down deep, and it will keep below
" the surface Of the snow and fasten isel
\. in the soft ground before the snow i
q gone and washing by the melting snow
- will not amount TO anything.
1t Another argument against waiting TO
= the ground to honeycomb lies in tn
+ fact that it does not honeycomb al
/, over the the field alike. 1t does this Il
n perfection in the rayines and more loaml
p, places, where catch of clover i
most assured, anyway; while on ella,
n knob or knoll the ground is as smootl
as floor, and not cracked open at all b,
u freezing. What we want is to get tn
5 seed imbedded in this clay soil earl,
3. enough to fasten its roots at the earlies
if time. If you wait till April to sow, o
d after the ground has dried, then OF
these clay places the seed will lii
unsprouted uLtil rains have come ant
the ground kept damp long enough t.
cause it to grow. An hour of wind ant
II sunshine after a rain will make thes
( places dry and hard again. Often Their
n will be enough moisture to spIout tn
& seed, and there may be the first o
! second leaf to show; then a short dr.,
h spell will kill it. So | believe tina