Transcriber Note Text emphasis is denoted as _Italics_. Whole and fractional parts of numbers as 123-4/5. SWEET CLOVER HARVESTING AND THRASHING THE SEED CROP H. S. COE Assistant Agrononmist, Office of Forage-Crop Investigations [Illustration] FARMERS' BULLETIN 836 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief Washington, D. C. July, 1917 Show this bulletin to a neighbor. Additional copies may be obtained free from the Division of Publications, United States Department of Agriculture WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1917 SWEET CLOVER should be cut for seed when three-fourths of the seed pods have turned dark brown to black. At this time some flowers and many immature pods will be found on the plants, but the field will have a brownish cast. Sweet-clover seed pods shatter badly when mature. For this reason every precaution should be taken to cut the plants at the proper stage and to save as much of the shattered seed as possible. Shattering may be reduced to a minimum by cutting the plants when they are damp from rain or dew. No machine thus far placed on the market has given entire satisfaction in cutting sweet clover for seed. The ordinary mower should not be used for harvesting the seed crop. The seed crop is usually cut with a self-rake reaper, grain binder, grain header, or corn harvester. The self-rake reaper and the grain binder have been most satisfactory. The seed crop should be stacked unless it can be thrashed within two weeks after cutting. Much shattered seed will be saved if a wagon with a tight floor is used for hauling the plants. If the wagon bed is not tight it should be covered with a tarpaulin or canvas. The seed may be flailed from the plants, as is customary in the South, or it may be thrashed with a grain separator or clover huller, as is the practice in the North. The ordinary grain separator may be adjusted so that it will hull 90 per cent of the seed. Sweet-clover straw has considerable feeding value. SWEET CLOVER: HARVESTING AND THRASHING THE SEED CROP.[1] [1] This bulletin discusses only the harvesting and thrashing of the sweet-clover seed crop. The growing of sweet clover and its utilization are discussed in Farmers' Bulletin 797, entitled "Sweet Clover; Growing the Crop," and Farmer's Bulletin 820, entitled "Sweet Clover: Utilization," respectively. CONTENTS. Page. The crop to harvest for seed 3 Time to cut the seed crop 4 Loss of seed from shattering 4 Machinery used for harvesting the seed crop 5 Stacking the sweet-clover seed crop 17 Thrashing the sweet-clover seed crop 18 Yields of sweet-clover seed 21 Sweet-clover straw 23