Transcriber Note Text emphasis is denoted as _Italic_. SWEET CLOVER: UTILIZATION H. S. COE Assistant Agronomist, Forage-Crop Investigations [Illustration] FARMERS' BULLETIN 820 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief Washington, D. C. May 1917 WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1917 SWEET CLOVER may be utilized for feeding purposes, as pasturage, hay, or ensilage. With the possible exception of alfalfa on fertile soil, sweet clover, when properly handled, will furnish as much nutritious pasturage from early spring until late fall as any other legume. It seldom causes bloat. Stock may refuse to eat sweet clover at first, but this distaste can be overcome by keeping them on a field of young plants for a few days. As cattle crave dry roughage when pasturing on sweet clover, they should have access to it. Straw answers this purpose very well. An acre of sweet clover ordinarily will support 20 to 30 sholes. On account of the succulent growth, it is often difficult, in humid climates, to cure the first crop of the second season into a good quality of hay. When seeded without a nurse crop, one cutting of hay may be obtained the first year in the North and two or three cullings in the South. Two cuttings are often obtained in the South after grain harvest. The second year a cutting of hay and a seed crop usually are harvested. Sweet clover should never be permitted to show flower buds before it is cut for hay. It is very important that the first crop of the second season be cut so high that a new growth will develop. When the plants have made a growth of 36 to 40 inches it may be necessary to leave the stubble 10 to 12 inches high. In cutting the first crop of the second season it is a good plan to have extension shoe soles made for the mower, so that a high stubble may be left. In some sections of the country sweet clover as a silage plant is gaining in favor rapidly. This crop has given excellent results as a feed for cattle and sheep. Experiments show that it compares favorably with alfalfa. Sweet clover has proved to be a profitable soil-improving crop. The large, deep roots add much humus to the soil and improve the aeration and drainage. As a rule, the yield of crops following sweet clover is increased materially. Being a biennial, this crop lends itself readily to short rotations. Sweet clover is a valuable honey plant, in that in all sections of the country it secretes an abundance of nectar. This bulletin discusses only, the utilization of sweet clover. A discussion of the growing of the crop may be found in Farmers' Bulletin 797. SWEET CLOVER: UTILIZATION.[1]