Oxford Democrat., 1918-11-26
pIazsrIBIE NUTRIENTS PER TON.

| These figures show that both red and
alsike clover contain 2 1.2 times ~ much
protein % timothy hay. Two tons Of
clover hay can easily be produced Dor
acre. This would contain a. much pro-
teiu ~ 10 bushels of shelled corn. and
can be grown with considerable less
expense than corn. Farther west, where
the clovers are more generally grown,
red clover often forms the main part Of
the protein feeds for young stock. =
All the leading dairymen OF the state
agree that We ought to produce moro
clover. They agree that clover saves
grain bills because 1t furnishes part Of
the protein which must be fed In grain
| il grass hay is used instead. There
must be reasons Why more clover is not
produced. Probably the most impor-
tsnt reasons are as follows: ~ Many
farmers fail to seed clover. They seed
down to timothy 10 the fall or spring,
and do not include clover in the mix
ture. OF course, In such cases little or
no clover grows.
(2) Clover 10 short-lived, crop, and
most farmers practice long rotation.
Consequently for several years no clover
is growing In their fields.
(3) Many farmers have not been sue
csssful with clover, and have therefore
stopped trying to grow 1t. The season
may have been bad; perhaps the soil
needed lime or drainage. II . failure
resulted there must have been some
thing wrong with either the season or
soil, because for the most part our cli-
mate is suitable for clover, and it does
not usually winterkill.
O Many farmers do their seeding
late in the fall with only timothy and
redtop, and hence get no clover.
In order to produce more clover than
we do at present, these difficulties must
be remedied. II q soil is sour, We,
should find 1t out and use lime; We may
have to practice q shorter rotation to
keep clover. II the seeding is done in
the fall, clover may be sown the follow
ing March or April on the newly seeded
land without narrowing.
Red clover is adapted to most Of the
soils of this state. 1t does best on q
soil which Ia not sour. II the soil is
inclined to be sour or poorly drained,
alsike clover should be included In the
mixture. The rate of seeding clover 10
II to 20 pounds of red clover when
seeded alone, and 10 pounds of red and
5 pounds of alsike when mixed. In the
northern part of the state, slsike is often
seeded alone at the rate of 10 pounds
per acre.
Glover is usually seeded In the spring
1t may be sown on winter wheat or rye
or fall.sown timothy any time after
March 20, before the frost IL out Of the
ground, and while the soil 10 still honey
combed. Later on 1t may be seeded
with oats or barley on . well-prepared
seed bed, as nurse crop. Some farm
ers seed clover In corn at the last culti-
vatiou with good results. 1t may be
seeded in the fall, but If 1t 10, 1t should
be done early to allow it to obtain suf-
ficient growth to cover the ground be.
fore winter sets In.
We are not producing as much as We
should, however. The farmers Of New
Hampshire produce annually about
Is, 900 acres of small grains. There 10
no reason why every acre Of this should
10, be seeded to clover. II 1t were, We
would be producing 50, 900 tons OF clover
hay instead of the 5000 tons that we now
produce. Statistics show that our clover
area 10 slowly increasing. II should bs
the aim of every dairy farmer In the
state to seed few acres to clover this
year, and avoid q shortage Of protein
feeds.