Golden Valley chronicle. (Beach, Billings County, N.D.) 1905-1916, 1910-08-12
GROW GLOVER SEED AT HOME
Necessary to Grow Something Besides
Small Grain Crops to Maintain
Per Acre Yield.


Small Grain Crops to Maintain
Per Acre Yield.
(By J. II. SHEPHERD. Dean and Profess
sor Of Agriculture. Agricultural
College. North Dakota)
People in North Dakota are becom-
Ing interested In. growing clover much
more than the most optimistic Of W
had anticipated. The reason for this
IL not far to search, as We and 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 feld
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 fl that two years in
grass rids us of most Of the 0at seed
that is in the ground.
The growth of corn necessitates live
stock to put it in marketable form.
and the growth of live stock necessi-
tates the growing Of hay crop and
pastures. Clover has made such an
excellent showing in the older part
of the state that we are becoming
quite encouraged with 1t as a crop.
One of the things which make our peo-
pie hesitate to SOW clover seed is the
TACT that they must put in Is pounds
to the acre of seed, which is costing
them about $3.50 per acre. A venture
bf $3.50 per acre for seed of any sort
looks like quite an outlay and makes
The failure to produce a crop 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 q
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 1t almost
necessary for our people to grow
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 inn
of clover are usually we'll filled 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
tion farm at Fargo and the results of
the few farmers who have saved the
seed and threshed it 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. 1t does not naturally ripen
in time for the seed to be fully ma
tured and ready to thresh when 1t ia
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 it to come to the
blossoming staga, as is ordinarily
done when it is to be used as hay
: crop. The growth of clover is very
succulent in the latter part of June
and it 10 a very difficult matter to gel
, 1t cured into hay. 1t Is early enough
IN the season that the weather 10 moi
very hot, and the stems are so full o.
sap that It frequently requires much
: work and entails much risk of spoil
: ing the crop of hay. Some of oul
farmers who have tried saving 1t have
given up the plan and simply allow II
to fall on the ground and act as {
| mulch in the stubble.
If the seed il the crop that is de
sired from clover land, 1t ID. Of course
much better to let the first growth b
wasted than to have one-half, or ever
one-third. Of the seed too green t,
shell out with the huller.
:. People who have come to North Da
: kota from the middle or eastern state
have noticed that there are few bum
BILE bees in the clover field as com
i, pared with those that they have beel
: accustomed to see at home. Charlie
, Darwin's philosophy relative to Glove
. blossoms being fortified by pollel
which is carried by humble bees ha
made deep impression on peopl
n generally and many have taken tn