The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1917-08-10
Sveet-CIoyer Pasture.

crop will furnish as much nutritious
nasturage from early spring until
late fall as sweet clover, when 1t is
properly handled. Live stock thrive
on il. Animals which have never
been fed sweet clover may refuse 10
eat il at first, bat this distaste can
be overcome by turning them on the
pasture as sosn as the plants start
growth. There is practically no dan
ger from bloat from sweet clover, ac-
cording to Farmers Bulletin $50.
Sweet Glover: Utilization, which has
lust been issued by the United states
Department of Agriculture.
Pasturing Stock on Sweet Clover.
When sweet clover has been seed
ed two years in succession on sep
arate fields, the fields sown the first
year may be pastured until the mid
die of June, when the stock should
be turned on the spring seeding.
When handled in this manner excel
lent pasturage is provided through
out the summer and hay or seed
crop may be harvested from the
field the previous season.
Some of the best pastures in Iowa
consists of mixture of Kentucky blue
grass, timothy, and sweet clover. On
one large farm stock is pastured on
meadows containing this mixture
from the first part of April to the
middle of June. From this time I'M
til the first part of September the
stock is kept on one-half to two
thirds the total pasturage acreage.
The remainder of the pasture land is
permitted to mature seed crop.
Usually from 2 to 4 bushels per acre
of recleaned seed is obtained from
this portion of the pasture. After
the seed crop is harvested, the stock
again is turned on this acreage where
they feed on the grasses and first
year sweet clover plants until cold
weather The seed which skaters
when the crop is out is usually suffi-
cient to reseed the pasture.
1t is essential that sufficient stock
be kept on the pasturage to keep
the plants eaten rather closely, so
that at all times there will be an
abundance of fresh shoots. Grazing
induces the plants to send out many
young shoots to the ground, so that
when the plants are permitted to ma
ture seed a much larger number of
stalks are formed than would be the
case if the first crop were cut for
hay. Excellent stands of sweet
clover will produce an abundance of
pasturage for to mature animals
per acre, from early spring to the
middle of June. Cattle which are
pastured on sweet clover alone crave
dry food. Straw or hay should be
present in the meadow at all times.
Experiments by many farmers in
the Middue West show that sweet
clover is an excellent pasture for
dairy cattle. When cows are turned
on sweet clover from grass pastures
the flow of milk Is increased and its
quality improved. Other conditions
being normal, this increase in milk
production will continue throughout
the summer as the plants produce an
abundance of green forage during the
hot, dry months. If pastures are
handled properly they will carry at
least one mich COW to the acre dur
ing the summer months. Tainting
of milk and butter, sometimes re-
ported, may be avoided by taking
the cows off the pasture two hours
before milking and keeping them off
until after milking the following
morning, i-''
I = Excellent For Hogs.
Sweet clover has proven to be an
excellent pasturage crop for hogs. 1t
is unusually seeded alone and pas
tured for two seasons. The hogs
may be turned on the fields the first
year as soon as the plants have made
a 6-inch growth. From this time UNI
Ill late fall an abundance of forage
is produced as pasturing induces the
plants to send out many tender, sue
culent branches. Pasturing the sec
Ond season may begin as soon as the
growth starts in the spring. II the
field is not closely grazed the second
season it is advisable to clip it occa-
sionally, leaving an S-inch stubble,
so as to produce a more succulent
growth.
An acre of sweet clover pasture
ordinarily will support 20 to 30
shotes, in addition to furnishing n
light cutting of hay. For the best
growth of the hogs they should be
fed each day pounds of grain per
hundred weight of the stock. Hogs
are very fond of sweet clover roots
and should be ringed before being
fuppaI m, tho naGtupa Tho tpn1pn-