The Dickinson press., 1910-08-13
GROW CLOVER SEED At HOME
Necessary to Grow Something Besides
Small Grain Crops to Maintain
Per Acre Yield.

ing interested In growing clover much
more than the most optimistic Of VI
had anticipated. The reason for this
IL not far to search, al we find It nee
essary to grow something besides the
small grain crops to maintain our per
acre yield Of grain. Weeds are crowd
ing In thickly and corn grown in
check rows is proving the best field
means Of keeping them down and at
the same time preparing the land
for immediate cropping with small
grain. Wild oats are making heavy
inroads and in the Red River valley
district we find that two years in
grass rids us of most Of the oat seed
that Is in the ground.
The growth Of corn necessitates live
stock to put 1t in marketable form.
and the growth Of live stock necessi-
tates the growing of a hay crop and
pastures. Glover has made such an
excellent showing in the older part
of the state that we are becoming
One of the things which make our peo-
! pie hesitate to SOW clover seed Is the
fact that they must put in Is pounds
to the acre Of seed, which Is costing
them about $3.50 per acre. A venture
Of $3.50 per acre for seed of any sort
looks like quite an outlay and makes
the failure to produce a crop a serious
loss to the grower.
Another feature which has made our
people hesitate to invest in clover seed
Is the fact that in some instances
they have obtained seed that had a
low growing strength and in others
bought Mammoth clover when they
asked for the medium red variety, and
In still other cases had clover seed
delivered to them which contained the
serious weed pest known as dodder.
All of these points make it almost
necessary for our people to grow
clover seed at home, as we are very
much easier able to see and know
what the seed Is like which is grown
on a neighboring farm than we are
with that which has come from sew.
eral hundred miles distant.
Every clover grower has been i'm
pressed with the fact that the heads
Of clover are usually well filed with
seen when grown here, showing that
It has a disposition to give good re.
turns to the man who will grow the
seed for market. Trials on the sta
ton farm at Fargo and the results Of
the few farmers who have saved the
seed and threshed 1t in the state indi-
cate that the yield of clover seed
will range from two to four bushels
per acre.
A special precautionary arrange
ment is necessary in handling the
crop of clover from which seed Is to
be secured. It does not naturally ripen
in time for the seed to be fully ma
tured and ready to thresh when it Is
run through the machine. To avoid
this, 1t is necessary to cut the first
growth Of red clover early, somewhere
from the goth and 25th of June, in.
stead of allowing 1t to come to the
~blossoming stage, as Is ordinarily
done when it Is to be used as a hay
crop. The growth of clover is very
succulent In the latter part of June
and 1t is a very difficult matter to get
1t cured into hay. It Is early enough
in the season that the weather is not
very hot, and the stems are so full Of
sap that it frequently requires much
work and entails much risk Of spoil
ing the crop of hay. Some Of our
farmers who have tried saving it have
given up the plan and simply allow il
to fall on the ground and act as a
mulch in the stubble.
II the seed is the crop that is de-
sired from clover land, 1t Is, of course.
much better to let the first growth be.
wasted than to have one-half, or even
one-third, of the seed too green to
shell out with the huller.
People who have come to North d.
kota from the middle or eastern states
have noticed that there are few bum1
BILE bees In the clover field as COM
pared with those that they have been
accustomed to 9 at home. Charles
Darwin's philosophy relative to clover
blossoms being fortified by pollen
which is carried by humble bees has
made 2 deep impression on people
generally and many have taken the
absence of humble bees as certain evil
dence that clover win not pield a pay
ing crop of seed in this country. This
has been thoroughly disproven as ID
indicated by the yields which I have
mentioned above. :
The machine made especially foF
clover hulling. known as the clover
huller, is the only satisfactory ond
to thresh It. Some have done reason
ably we'll by using the ordinary sepa1
rator and making a special provision
for It's pounding out the seed by putt
ting in special concave with rough
ened teeth and by running the straw
through the machine twice. Some d
our farmers have secured very high