The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1920-10-12
IRRIGATION A n |
CLOVER
by re, bert A. shearer)

|
irrigation. A great deal of the land
in irrigation districts lacks nitrogen
but 1t is rich in lime and all the |
Jther elements of plant food. Such |
soil always is deficient in humus. |
Glover supplies both humus and nit J
rogen, so that after growing clover |
for two or three years those volcanic
ash soils will produce immense crops
OF cereals In the meantime the
clover supplies considerable pasture
and large crop of excellent seed.
Seed grown under irrigation in dry
atmosphere usually has strong ger
minating qualities. 1t should de-
mand a premium in the seed market
The valleys of the mountains
where great deal Of clover is
grown for seed lie at attitudes OF
from 5000 to 5000 feet. Late frosts
in spring and early frosts in fall
} shorten the season so that 1t is hard
ly possible to cut a full crop Of red
clover hay and then to obtain a good
crop OF seed from the second cut
ting. II works best to pasture the
first year clover in the fall and
again in the spring until about the
first or the middle of June then run
over the field with moving ma
chine to clip the more forward plants
to even the stand. Bundle bees are
new in mountain valleys that have
not produced clover, but they come
almost simultaneously with the first
clover. They are there in great num-
bers the second or third year work
ing in the clover fields in summer,
making their nests along road sides
and in waste places near irrigation
bitches and their chief work is to
pollinate the blossoms of red clover.
When the clover crop is properly
handled the yield of seed in the fav-
ored valleys often measures up to six
or eight bushels per acre. A few
years later when clover is grown ex-
tensively and clover insects have mul
tiplied 1t is noticeable, however, that
one farmer will have eight bushels
of seed the same year that his neigh
Dor threshes two bushels from a sim
liar stand on the same kind of land.
On the western slope OF the Rocky
mountains there is little or no rain
during the summer months so that
clover may be grown and harvested
and hulled without interference from
the weather. Because the land Is
new there are few damaging insects.
Another advantage in the irrigated
sections is that water may be turned
on as needed SO that clover never
suffers from drought. It may be
given q good start early and the wa
ter withheld later until the ground
Is rather dry which condition is IA
vorable to the maturing of seed, be-
cause a mature plant will exhaust its
last resources to reproduce itseR
when threatened with famine.
In all clover seed sections the time !
OF cutting the first crop for hay has
a good deal to do with the amount OF
seed. The value OF early cutting
depends on number Of different pc
culiarities Of the clover plant and
the insects that infest clover fields.
In one experiment cutting one side
OF field Of clover for hay the 18th
OF June resulted in yield of five
bushels OF seed per acre in August.
Another part of the same field. not
cuff or hay until the goth of June
yielded per acre less than two BUSH
els OF seed which was not ready to
harvest until September.
There are various reasons to ac-
count or this difference. In the
opinion OF practical men the vitality
OF the clover plant is one of the
main reasons why early clipping en-
courages seed production in the sec
ond growth. During the period
While tho flnuap "a,