One of the greatest difficulties in curing sweet clover is the fact that the plants usually are ready to be cut for hay at a time of the year when weather conditions are likely to be unfavorable for haymaking. Little trouble is experienced in curing this crop in the drier sections of the country where the methods used for alfalfa are employed. The curing of sweet clover is more difficult than the curing of either red clover or alfalfa, as the leaves are very apt to shatter before the stems are cured. Every possible means should be employed to save the leaves, as these constitute the best part of the hay. (See Table II.) Table II.--Average analyses of the leaves of four samples of well-cured white sweet-clover hay. [Analyses made by the Bureau of Chemistry.] --------+------------------------------------------------------------- | Constituents (per cent). +----------+-------+---------+---------+-------+-------------- Samples.| Moisture.| Ash. | Ether | Protein.| Crude | Nitrogen-free | | | extract.| | fiber.| extract. --------+----------+-------+---------+---------+-------+-------------- | | | | | | Leaves. | 8.70 | 10.92 | 3.09 | 28.20 | 9.28 | 39.78 Stems. | 8.70 | 8.08 | .70 | 10.16 | 39.45 | 33.06 | | | | | | --------+----------+-------+---------+---------+-------+-------------- The hay collected for the above analyses represented the first cutting the second season. The plants had made a 30 to 36 inch growth at the time of cutting. It will be seen that the protein content of the leaves is almost three times as great as that of the stems. In the drier sections of the country or when the first crop of the year of seeding is cut for hay in the North-Central States the mower may be started in the morning as soon as the dew is off. The hay should remain in the swath until the following day, or until it is well wilted, when it should be raked into small windrows. After remaining in the windrows for a day it may be placed in small cocks to cure. Cocks made from hay which has dried to this stage will not shed water well and therefore should be covered if it is likely to rain. It is important that the cocks be made small enough to be thrown on the rack entire, as many leaves will be lost if it is necessary to tear them apart. [Illustration: Fig. 8.--Sweat clover curing in the cock.] When sweet clover is permitted to dry in the swath, a large percentage of the leaves will be lost in windrowing and loading unless handled with the utmost care. Hay in this condition should never be raked while perfectly dry and brittle, but should be raked into the windrow in the early morning or in the evening, when it is slightly damp from dew. It may then be hauled to the barn or stack after remaining in the windrow for a day.