Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-05-04
DEPARTMENT URGES
PROBATION De TAKEN
TO SAVE CLOVER CROP

While clover to be seeded with win
ter grain is already in the ground. and
a considerable acreage annually put
in with oats, the United States de.
partment of agriculture calls attention
at this time to the need for using
every care to get stand OF clover.
Red clover seed is high in price now
and there is no reason to think that
considerable importations from Eu-
rope can be looked for during the COM
ing year. 1t is highly desirable that
the failure Of clover seedlings be mini
mixed as much as possible, both from
the standpoint of conserving our seed
supplies and Of assuring satisfactory
hay crop for the year 191741S. The
following suggestions are therefore
made at this time when land Is being
prepared for seeding oats.
Uss Of Lime.
Many fields. especially in the east.
are benefited BY lime. The application
Of lime alone will not always. insure
catch OF clover, but on the greater
part of the farms on which clover fire.
quently falls. lime may be applied pro-
fitably Probab bly, at least half of the
clover failures could be prevented were
plenty Of lime used. The kind Of
lime to be used will depend on the
price, freight charges, land cost OF
hauling. Roughly twice as much
ground limestone must be applied as
Of burnt lime and where freight and
hauling charges are high. the smaller
olya
burnt lime cheapest. The state expert
ment station or the county agent car
best advise In particular cases.
The use of lime in some form when
preparing the land for oats with clover
is urged as an important step toward
assuring a stand of clover.
Use Early Variety Of Oats.
Use an early variety of oats and do
not seed heavily. The oat crop Is hard
on the clover growing with II in that
IS shades the latter and draws heavily
on the supply of moisture Oats are
harvested during hot weather and
droughts are not unlikely nj that time
ii is az this time that the greatest
mortslity occurs among the young
clover plants. II the stand Of oats Is
thick. there is more yhsding and there
is eisn greater draft on the water
supply To minimize the chances OF
loss OF catch Of clover, use an early
cat and sow relatively thin. A bushel
of oats per acre may not give quite
the yield that 2is bushels VIII. but
there Is twice the chance for the
clover. and where seeded 1t is import
ant enough TO be given a fair shown
Handling Of Oats.
( # oats have been seeded thickly and
the season turns dry X will be worth
while to consider whether the ost crop
would not better be cut for hay than
TO be allowed to mature. Dat hay is
good hay and the clover will certainly
have more chance II the oats are ,ut
in the dough than If they are allowed
to ripen. or course, each farmer must
balance the arguments for himself In
each case, but in deciding he should
give due weight to the Importance OF
the stand OF clover.
A!sike Glover With Red.
Sowing some aisike clover with the
red is practiced great deal and is
good partial insurance. The alsike
will often catch on poor or sour spots
where the. red win not and this makes
the field more. uniform. Sometimes,
indeed, a field OF this SORT comes out
pure alsike. when. If only red had been
seeded there would have been no
stand This is especially true of low
lands that may be oSerfiowed or
out in wet year. Red clover
will not stand such conditions. but al
sike viii. A seeding Of four pounds
II aIs.ke with eight pounds OF red
makes good amount for an acre.