Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1913-08-01
NEWS
Continued from first page

Continued from first page
forage plant suited to this locality.
We have been informed that sweet
clover, which grows luxuriantly and
strong along our roadsides in this
locality, Is a good fertilizer and forage
plant. Our farmers are afraid to SOW
1t fearing it will become a nuisance.
We wish you would please send US a
bulletin or any information you have
at yOnr command that will enable US
to form a proper conception OF the
feed value, its usefulness al a fertliz-
er and also a statement as to It's per-
sistency and amount Of labor required
to kill it out after IT. has been sown.
Also kindly let US know the value of
this plant In the matter of preparing
the ground for alfalfa" Reply by DR.
A. N. Hume, Agronomist.
There are two principal kinds OF
sweet clover. One is "white lowered
and one is ''yellow lowered" II n
wishes to know their botanical names,
they are Melilotus alba, and Melilotu,
~af1cianalis. When they are grown
either as weeds along the roadside or
as field crops, they are easily told
from each other by the two different
colored flowers. The white lowered
k ind Is the most common as a road
side plant In these parts. A great
many people are asking questions
about sweet clover as a prospective
forage crop. Although 1t Is new, so
far as its s In cropping systems Is
concerned, there are many favorable
reports concerning 1t. The writer
remembers that the Iowa..Experiment
Station reported favorably on sweet
clover as a pasture for pigs, and
Wyoming Experiment. Station fed it
to lambs with good results. Various
farmers from several parts of the
United States have reported that
they raised and feed sweet Glove r for
roughage successfully.
1t Is possible that the South Da-
kota Experiment Station has acquir-
ed as much definite data on this
seemingly useful plant as any station.
In the fall Of 1911 the Agronomy De-
partment secured sweet clover seed
by gathering plants that had been cut
along the roadsides. Some OF these
plants grew In the country, and some
of them grew In town. But they
were just common roadside plants.
The seed vas threshed out of them
with an ordinary little threshing
machine, and the threshing was
rather q mean job because of the
stiffness OF the stems. At any rate a
considerable quantity of seed with
some bulls was secured. Some of this
seed was sown into standing corn in
August. 1t was put on at about
twelve to fifteen pounds per acre
rather an ample amount. Some of
the seeds terminated and came up in
the fail. Perhaps they were frozen
but more came up In the spring.
Last summer (l912) this stand OF
sweet clover made 3 to S tons Of air.
dry hay per acre in two cuttings. 1t
should be added that the first cutting
was considerably mixed with corn
stalks, which had been left standing
In the field from the year before. Re-
Gently (19l3) this same field has been
again harvested, yielding 8 tons of
air-dry hay per acre. 1t Is expected
there will be a yield of seed later In
the season.
In addition to the field described,
sweet clover was also sown into
Durum wheat In the spring. The
method Of sowing was much the same
as the usual method for sowing clover
with small grain. The yield this
season was nearly q ton per acre. Last
tall the sweet clover hay described
above was turned over to the Animal
Husbandry Department. The hay
was used as roughage for lambs and
was comparable to alfalfa hay In
quality.
CATALOGs ARE OUT
The annual catalog of the State
College has been received from the
printer and Is being mailed out to
prospective students. The new law
sOmewhA delayed the book, conse-
quently there are something like two
thousand requests on hand. The In
creassng interest In the College makes
probable an early exhaustion Of the
edition. Last year was the first time
the annual catalog was exhausted be-
fore school opened. Many Important
changes make the 1918 catalog of es-
pecial interest.
CROP ADDITIONS
The farmer who divides his fields
about equally between hot and cool
weather crops Is sure Of fair return
nearly every season. Some crops thrive
In hot weather, others In cold or cool
weather. We get seasons Of both
kinds.
During the recent heated term, In
the central part Of the state. l was
asked many questions as to whether
there is any remedy for farm crops
under such conditions. Aside from
tillage and corp rotations which have
been wildly discussed there is q remedy
In the matter Of the kind Of crops,