The daily sentinel., 1903-12-05
22as 81. ; - ,
-AA AS&1sg' IN, 7'NEBA
A(5EpICUEFUPE
A one-Year Glover Crop.

IN report OF the NOrln DakoIa
farmers institutes d. C. Smith, a
farmer of that state, is quoted as fol-
lows:
What is our present experience with
clover in the Red river valley? Does
it not amount to about this? We have
found that, if properly seeded, we can
generally get catch and we can as a
rule carry it safely through the first
winter under the snow that fills the
high stubble over it. We are delight
ed and say, I'VE can raise clover"
The following winter the clover, no
longer having the stubble to catch the
snow and protect it. dies and we then
sit down in woe and say. I'VE can not
raise clover" Now I wish to offer
suggestion. 1 might call it new idea
but for its being so apparent that the
only novelty in it is the recognition of
the conditions named coupled with
their frank acceptance in our farm
practice. Why should we not go earn
estly about raising clover for one
year crop, get the use of it that year
for hay or pasture and then plow it
down either that fall or in the follow
ing spring? Why should we not raise
clover for a one-year crop as we do
corn, barley and millet? A one-year
crop of clover costs less and is far
better than any of them, dollar for
dollar, for renewing the SOIL What
change it would make in this valley If
one-tenth of our lands were every year
in clover meadow or pasture and
like amount plowed down every year!
BY blowing down a one-year clover
meadow or clover pasture we would
get large measure of the benefits de-
rived from a two-year crop of clover.
We would thus get quicker rotation
which might fully compensate us for
losses in other directions. One-halt
less land would thus lie idle, IL SO re-
proachful term as idle" may be ap-
piled to land covered with clover. A
dollar an acre would nearly pay for a
full seeding alone of clover, but for
the present l think we should seed
the clover with timothy and that
would cost less. Then, If the clover
fails, as it sometimes will, we have
the timothy left. 1t should not dis
courage us at all to recognize that
clover will sometimes fail. 1t some
times fails in the best clover coun-
tries.
Whatever the theories mny be as
TO the draught of timothy on the
soil. we are coming to recognize pret-
ty plainly that timothy sod in quick
rotation brings us back the nearest
to prairie sod of anything we have,
and every man of us knows that a
sod OF timothy and clover mixed
would be far better than timothy
alone. After while we may conf
IDENTIFY expect to get down to clean
clover seeding without the timothy.
Either red clover or alsike would.
think, answer for this one-year crop.
Either would, as a rule, live through
the first winter and each has its ad-
vantages. l prefer alsike clover be-
cause it is a better sheep feed, be-
cause it ripens more evenly with timo-
thy and, above all, because it better
endures in the land. However, it
should be said that my experience has
been mostly with alsike. 1t is my
experience that where l have once
sown alsike clover, there l always
have sprinkling of it. The clover
bacteria is abundant with it, as it is
in the red clover at the experiment
station. For me, until l gain more
wisdom, l shall mix some alsike clo-
yer with every quart of timothy seed
hereafter sown.