Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1919-02-05
Sweet Clover Gains
FAVOR on Many Farms

Sweet clover, long rcsardcd as
troublesome weed, has COINED favor on
many farms in the corn belt. where u
Is now being successfully grown poth
In rotation for stock feed and as a
eaten crop to be plowed under to en-
rich the soil. f..
| II has proved excellent for hay and
pasture and la uneaualed by any other
| leyumc as q soil lmprover. Mixed with
| bluegrass. II makes n pasture OF nearly
double the Carrying capacity OF blue
grass alone. II may be used to GOOD
advantage for silage. and on some
farms with proper management, IT Is u
profitable crop.
Hitherto sweet clover has been
grown mainly on odd fields outside OF
any set rotation or cropping system
| says the bulletin, but the fact that II
| la found growing as n weed alohk
| roadsides is no indication that 1t Will
| thrive In adjacent fields.
Limo Often Lacking.
Success with this legume, the
bulletin adds, Is rare, unless three et-
sentials for its success have been pro-
vided. They are lime, incubation, and
! scarifled seed; that is. seed that mas
| been treated to scratch or crack the
| hard coat and make II easy for mois-
| ture to penetrate and hasten sermina-
| ton.
Probably more failures with sweet
clover in the corn belt can be traced
| directly to lack of lime than to ~any
other cause. In some sections ton
| Of finely ground limestone, or one-halt
| that amount Of hydrated lime. well
| worked into the soil, will be sufficient
| to prepare it for growing sweet clover.
But in other localities more may be
needed The required bacteria are
sometimes present in the soil, but un-
less this fact has been fully determined
failure to inoculate either the seed or
the soil adds big element Of uncer-
tainty. While it is true that much OK
the seed raised in some sections OF the
corn belt is sown locally without nav
ing the tough seed coat roughened and
that good stands are secured. generally
more seed Is required and the practice
entails unnecessary risk. Scarfied seed
usually can be secured thru local seed
men ut slight additional expense, or
home grown seed can be sent to seed
houses for this treatment at a nomi-
nal cost.
Seed May Bring Cash.
On grain or crop farms usually a
small acreage Of sweet clover fur
nishes all the hay and pasture needed,
leaving the greater part OF the crop to
be plowed under to enrich the soil.
After the details of handling the crop
have been worked out the sale of sweet
clover seed may become an added
source of cash income. Usually in the
beginning it is better practice to plow
under most of the crop rather than at
tempt seed production. But where the
seed crop can be managed properly
sweet clover will serve both purposes
to good advantage. On combination
grain and live stock farms sweet clover
serves even better purpose. It pro-
notes the keeping of live stock oe-
cause Of the hay and pasture it pro-
duces as part OF the rotation, and
as a"mixed seeding with bluegress it
furnishes a pasture with greatly in
creased carrying capacity.
Rotations Suggested.
A good example of a two-year rota-
ton practice on an Illinois farm and
referred to in the bulletin consists Of
corn the first year, and small grains
such as oats or wheat, with a seeding
Of sweet clover the second year. The
one objection to this crop system. how
ever, is that the sweet clover must be
left growing until about May 10 in
order to obtain the most suitable
growth for blowing under. At this
time Of the year the combination Of
dry weather and the strong sweet
| clover roots in the soil often make
blowing very difficult and when left
until this date the blowing must be
done quickly in order to get the corn
planted in the proper season.
A successful and effective three year
| rotation on grain and live stock farm
consists Of: First year. corn: second
year, oats, barley, or spring wheat with
a seeding of sweet clover and timothy:
third year. sweet clover and timothy.
A good four-year rotation for a hog
farm Is: Corn the first two years; oats
with a seeding of sweet clover alsike
and timothy the third year. which Is
left for pasture during the fourth year.
Another four-year rotation with sweet
clover is: First year, corn: second
year, oats with seeding of sweet
clover as a catch crop; third year.
wheat with seeding Of sweet clover:
fourth year sweet clover for hay and
seed. For a general live stock farm
the following four-year rotation is sug-
Sested: Corn. soy beans, wheat with a
seeding Of sweet clover and mixed pas
ture. the pasture crop being allowed to
remain the fourth year. A flve-ycar
rotation is also suggested which allows
the land to be set aside for alfalfa. 1t
consists Of corn the first year, oats
with a seeding of mammoth clover as
a catch crop the second year, corn the
first year oats with seeding of seed
ing Of mammoth clover as a catch
crop the second year, corn the third