Mountain advocate., 1920-03-05
prepared by the United States Depar
ment Of Agriculture.)

ment Of Agrlcuture.)
Clover seed Is high priced and
scarce, and good samples will COM
mand prices that many farmers VIII
be lOath to pay. The United States
department of agriculture. however,
urges the seeding of as large an acre
age as possible. The best information
obtainable shows that the foreign mar
ket Is quite as bare of clover seed as
is our own. The French and italian
supplies are sold out, and there APP
pears to be no surplus in Germany or
in Russia. This means that clover seed
will he high for ut least two years to
come ii not more, and those farmers
who seeded last spring or who seed
in 1920 will have chance to sell their
clover seed crop ar good figure. This
is a time to look ahead, and for Ameri-
can farmers to get the benefit of the
high prices. before Europe has been
able to get back to normal production
and the prices fall.
Watch Quality Of Seed.
In view of the high price of clover
seed. II is especially important that
farmers pay careful attention 10 the
quality of seed they buy. The relation
between the purity and termination
Of sample of clover seed and its val
ne to the farmer has been so fire.
quently discussed that II Is not neces-
sary to enter into details. A farmer
paying a low price for a poor lot OF
seed, may really be pay.7g more fol
the good seed that will grow than he
would have in sample of higher
price. The only way to decide this is
to secure samples and quotations from
reliable firms. and have the seed an
alyzed by the state seed laboratory OIL
by the seed laboratory of the United
States department of agriculture.
The attention of farmers is also coll
ed very especially to the fact tina
| French and Italian seed has been anC
! is being imported into this country ant
| that the experiments so far conducted
| by the department of agriculture in
| dictate that this seed will produce
| punt ouDJtNN W anu lNS'
hardy under American conditions thar
plants from our own seed.
| In sections where there is no diScas,
and if the winter is moderate a sue
Cessful stand of clover may be secured
! with imported seed, but the chances
| against success are always create
! than when using American seed. Farm
ers are urged, therefore, to insist upoi
Il statement showing where the seet
| offered them was harvested.
| II Is also time to consider will
more than usual care the means neceS
sary for getting the most out of tn,
seed sown. Ii will not pay to throw
expensive seed in poorly prepares
ground as was so often done whel
clover was cheap. The seed bed shOul,
be we'll prepared. The best way is no
to SOW the seed In early spring on tn
wheat, but to harrow il In on tn
wheat or to seed with a spring graf
in a well prepared seed bed. Seedin
alone without companion or nurs
grain crop will often be better, bu
ilOl ii"us II sCNNAhS must NC bOlC "
rather worn soil, II Is better to see
alone especially II the field is not yer
wecdv If special seed bed Is pre-
pared II should be well compacted.
freshly plowed and narrowed field
too open for the best results. The sol
must be compacted or the seed bed Wi
dry out before the young plants &c
their roots down far enough.
Be Sure Whether Lime 10 Needed.
Another matter of the utmost in
portance is to consider whether or nc
the field It is proposed to seed need
lime. Unless the farmer is sure, h
should send a sample of the soil to hi
state station and inquire Not far fror
rs per cent of the arabic land east O
the Mississippi and north OF the south
ern boundary of Tennessee needs lin
20 bring a good crop OF clover. Thl
fact can not be too strongly en-
phasized. II the soil is "sOur" do nc
waste expensive red clover seed o