The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1914-01-01
SWEET CLOVER As 4 CROP
FORMERLY CONSIDERED A. PEST,
TITS NOW MUCH CULTIVATED.
BY c. 3. Hutchinson, Professor OF
Agronomy, College Of AsrIeul.
ture, University ct Missouri.

Oldest known plants, but it has been
only within comparatively recent
years that they have come into any
great prominence as cultivated crops.
A great deal OF interest is being map
!fested i'll this crop by Missouri farm
ers, and. while some still consider it
a pest. others are apparently obtain
ing good results with it.
The two most important species arr
white sweet clover, frequently re-
ferred to simply as sweet clover or as
Bokhara clover, and yellow sweet
clover. Both species are biennial, pro
ducing tall, erect, branching plants
with coarse. woody stems when ma
ture. and rather sparsely- supplied
with leaves, The white-blossome1
species is the larger and more vigor-
Gus growing of the two, making
growth OF from five to. twelve feet
during the second year, while the ye'-
low-blossomed kind is more decumb-
ent and spreading, reaching height
of three to five feet. The white-blos-
sOmed kind is usually preferred both
for hay and green manuring.
Sweet clover grows in all parts of
The United States and on soils of vari-
Gus kinds In Missouri it grows wild
in waste places and apparently is not
able to compete with other plants I'M
der favorable conditions. as it does
not spread into fields or pastures. 1t
may be sown on most any kind OF
soil. but since it grows so web on thin
lands it is most commonly sOWn there,
the better lands being retained for
other crops.
The fact that sweet clover grows so
we'll in heavy clay soils along the
roadsides indicates that it should be
seeded on a well-compacted seeded,
and this is borne ont by the expert
ence of those who have grown it. It
may be sown- in the spring, either
alone or with a nurse crop, much Ike
red clover, or in late summer or early
iall like alfalfa. Care should be taken
80 have the seeded well-compacted
and to avoid seeding on freshly
plowed land II sown in the fall, the
land should be plowed early in July
and worked" down in good shape bv
subsequent disking and narrowing and
seeded the latter par, OF August
Both hulled and unhulled seed are
on the market. 1t usually requires ~
to 90 pounds of hulled seed and at
least five pounds more OF unhuIled
seed an acre. A less amount Of seed
would be sufficient We're it not for
I the fact THAT often 0ne-falf OF tho
seed. or more. has such hard seed
coats that IT does not germinate the
first season. and hence is practically
useless. Two crops of hay, or a hay
and seed crop. may usually be OBJ
tanned the second season.
The CHIEF value of sweet clover for
Missouri conditions is as a green ma
nuring crop Being legume, it has
the power of gathering nitrogen out
of the air and storing it in the soil by
means of the bacteria which live upon
it's roots. Since it makes such a heavy
growth and does well on thin lands, Il
makes good crop 70 turn under to
improve the soil.
The value of sweet clover as a pas
ture or hay crop is much disputed
Some farmers regard it as practically
worthless and consider it a weed
while others have had good success
with feeding it. Its foliage has a bit
ter taste, due to the cumarin it con.
tains. Its stems have a tendency to
become woody as they mature. If not
allowed to become TOO rank before
pasturing, or if cut for hay before the
first bloom buds appear, these two OBJ
1ectionable factors may be eliminated
to a considerable extent, and very
good feed obtained from sweet clover.
It has been found, too. that live stock
will learn to eat it.
Since it is biennial, sweet clover
may take the place of red clover in
the rotation on those lands where the :
latter does not thrive well. but on the
best lands it cannot compete with I
either red clover or alfalfa for hay.
The fact that the bacteria on its
roots are capable Of inoculating al I.
faifa has led to the idea that it Is a
valuable crop to occupy the land I'M
mediately before seeding alfalfa. This
may be done, but usually lands that
have never grown sweet. clover need T.
incubation for it as well as for al.
falfa. It has been found necessary to I
inoculate the soil on the experiment
station field at the University OF Mis-
souri,, Columbia, for sweet clover, and
even with this precaution consider
able difficulty has been experienced
in getting a stand 1t is evident, then.
that It is frequently more difficult to
obtain a good stand than one might
expect from general survey of the 4
habits and characteristics Of the
plant
II farmers will cooperate in fight i