Difficulty may be experienced in cutting sweet clover with a binder when the first crop has been permitted to mature, as the plants may be so tall that the machine will not handle them properly. This difficulty may be overcome entirely in most sections of the country by pasturing the field until the first part of June or by cutting the first crop for hay. It is recommended that the stubble be left as high as possible when cutting sweet clover for seed. Not only will this greatly facilitate harvesting but it will leave many of the woody, unpalatable portions of the plants on the ground, where they will decay quickly, and help to increase the humus content of the soil. (See the illustration on the title-page.) When the seed crop is cut with a binder it is best to shock the bundles as soon as possible, so as to avoid unnecessary shattering. Conditions should determine whether the bundles be placed in long narrow shocks or in round shocks. The plants will cure somewhat faster in long narrow shocks, and this form should be preferred when grasshoppers are not troublesome. Sweet-clover shocks should not be capped, as capping will cause some seed pods to shatter. [Illustration: Fig. 10.--A grain binder equipped with pans and extensions to the rear elevator plate and binder deck to save the sweet-clover seed which is shattered while cutting the crop.] THE GRAIN HEADER. Grain headers have been used successfully for harvesting the sweet-clover seed crop in several sections of the United States, especially in western Kansas. The principal advantages in using this machine are that a larger acreage may be cut in a given time than with either a grain binder or a self-rake reaper and that a high stubble may be left. The greater acreage which may be cut with a header is important when large acreages are to be harvested, as much seed is lost by shattering if the crop is not cut at the proper stage for harvesting, while the high stubble which may be left when cutting the seed crop with a grain header is a decided advantage, as it not only reduces greatly the weight and bulb of the plants which must be thrashed, but it also leaves the hard, woody portions on the ground, where they will decay and be of some value as a fertilizer. It is best to remove only those portions of the plants which contain sufficient seed to thrash, but this is not always possible, even with a header, unless the field contains a fairly thin stand and the plants are not more than 4-1/2 to 5 feet high. When the seed crop is to be cut with a grain header, it usually is permitted to stand somewhat longer than when other machines are used. A tin pan or some other receptacle should be placed at the lower end of the header elevator in order to save the seed which otherwise would be lost at that place.