Dewey County advocate. [volume] (Timber Lake, S.D.) 1910-1913, 1913-04-04
SEEDING GRASS LANDS
Too Much Importance Cannot Be
Given to Pure Seed.
Valuable Characteristic Of Alslke
Glover Is That It Will Stay In
Soil Several Years and Will
Re-Seed Itself.
By r. q. wEATHERsToNE.)

Too much Importance cannot be
given to the selection of pure grass
seed, for there Is no greater failure or
disappointment in farm management
than TO fail to secure good stand of
grass or clover.
Every year am becoming more
and more favorably impressed with
the value of alsike clover, although we
have used it for a number Of years in
all of our grass and seed mixtures.
We have repeatedly failed to secure
a favorable stand of common red
clover, and to our surprise the alsike
would come along and make good
stand and we would be enabled to
harvest very profitable grass crop.
Many times red clover will not thrive
for the reason that the soil has be-
como somewhat acid, but the alsike
will make very good crop notwith-
standing the acid condition of the soil.
Another valuable characteristic of
alsike clover is the fact that it will
stay in the soil several years, and If
permitted it will reseed itself. Alsike
clover grows but little after moving
and no second crop can be expected
from it. Both in this respect, as well
as the longer time it requires to ma
ture its maximum crop, alsike clover
stands after red clover.
Its great and undeniable advantage,
on the other hand, lies in the fact
that it is more hardy than the COM
mon red clover and can be success
fully cultivated on moist soils and
land that is flooded at certain times
during the year, on which red clover
will not grow.
If alsike clover seed is mixed with
pasture grass mixtures, it yields rich
and certain grazing crops, and when
cultivated on arabic land red clover
seed should be sowed with the mix
ture with which the field is seeded.
In this way a great advantage is
gained in the fact that the first year
after sowing the fodder may be har-
vested chiefly consisting of the red
clover and in the following years after
the red clover begins to deteriorate
the alsike comes in, in its place, aud
yields rich and certain crops, together
with the timothy and other gross
seeds with which the meadow is
seeded.
While alsike does not yield as large
crops to the acre as common red
clover of equal stand, yet it is very
profitable, and in actual feeding value
I have found but little difference ton
for ton when it was being fed to a
herd Of dairy cows, and for feeding
horses and all kinds of young stock
have found it greatly superior. The
time Of cutting and curing will make
more real difference than the variety.
Alsike clover is not considered by
soil experts to be as good soil Inn
proving crop as common red clover
for the reason that it lacks the
branching root system of the red
clover, but it is legume nitrogen
gatherer) and hence will build up
the soil and thrive on many soils
where the red variety cannot be used
as a nitrogen gatherer.
It is my honest opinion that there
are many farmers who have given up
growing clover who could make a
success Of growing alsike clover in
stead Of experimenting with red
clover.
have found in actual practice that
it is a better business proposition to
SOW a mixture of grass seed that will
make a certain stand under the usual
conditions than to spend large
amounts of hard-earned money to ex-
pertinent with crop so uncertain as
red clover, on any field where it is
not practically sure to make a good
stand.