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This will frequently be found the preferable mode of sowing it when sown in the autumn.

When sown to provide hay, mammoth clover and timothy make an excellent combination for the reasons, first, that they mature about the same time; second, that more of this clover is likely to survive the first year of cutting than of the common red; and third, that more food, it is believed, will be furnished to the timothy in the dead roots of this clover than of the medium red. The first year of cutting, the hay crop is likely to be nearly all clover; the second year, clover and timothy mixed, and the third year, timothy. But if alsike is sown in the mixture, though it may be little in evidence the first year, it will show itself the second year and probably the third year. When sown for pasture in short rotations, this clover may be sown alone or with other varieties of clover, timothy or tall oat grass being added. When sown for seed, it is probably better to sow it alone, but there is no very strong objection to sowing timothy alone with the clover, since the latter may aid in sustaining the clover, and it is not difficult to separate mammoth clover seed and timothy seed.

When mammoth clover is sown alone for hay or for seed, not fewer than 12 pounds per acre of seed should be used. When sown with timothy, 6 and 8 pounds, respectively, would be an average seeding. If alsike clover is added, the seed of the mammoth may be reduced by one pound, and the same amount of alsike added to the mixture. When sown with the medium red variety to provide short

rotation pastures, about 6 pounds of each may be sown. The pasture furnished will be more continuous than where only one kind is sown. If timothy or tall oat grass is added, a pound of one or the other of these should be added for every pound of the clover withheld from the mixture. For permanent pastures 6 pounds of the mammoth clover may be set down as the maximum to sow per acre, varying the quantity with varying conditions. And when the clover is sown with small grain to be plowed under in the fall or early in the spring, usually only very moderate amounts of seed ought to be used, especially where the hazard is considerable that the dry weather may cause failure in the catch of the seed.

Pasturing. Mammoth clover furnishes much pasture when it is grazed, on into July and sometimes even into August, because of the vigorous character of the growth, but after that season the growth is usually light. Nor is there generally much growth after the crop has been cut for hay. The palatability of the pasture is much the same as that of the medium red variety. More grazing is furnished where the crop is fairly well grown before the pasturing begins, but it is not so palatable, and when unduly rank, to defer pasturing thus long would result in a considerable waste of pasture, which the stock would tread under foot. When the crop is wanted for hay, there may be instances in which it may be advantageous to pasture it for a time to prevent the growth from becoming overly luxuriant. There have been instances in which the

clover has grown so rankly that the lodged clover killed nearly all the plants by excluding the air from the roots. When grown on soils that in a normal season produce a rank growth, the quality of the hay will, in nearly all instances, be improved by grazing. This, however, should be done soon after the growth begins and should not be long continued, and it should be close, in order to promote evenness and uniformity in the growth of the hay crop.

When grown for seed, mammoth clover is quite frequently pastured. In fact, in a majority of instances it is either pastured or cut with the mower when a seed crop is wanted. The pasturing usually continues until June 1st, but in some instances it is prolonged far on into June. The duration of the pasturing season should be gauged largely by the character of the soil and weather. The better the conditions for growth in the plants, the longer may the pasturing be continued, and vice versa. There are also conditions in which such pasturing may not be necessary. But when the grazing is not close, the mower should be run over the field, otherwise the seeds will not ripen evenly.

There is the same danger from bloating that is present when pasturing medium red clover. (See page 94.) To avoid this danger, cattle that are being thus pastured are in some instances given access to cured clover hay. In other instances the haulm of the seed is left in the field so that the cattle have access to it. But the second season of grazing, the danger from bloat is not so great as

the first season, as usually more of other pasture plants grow amid the clover.

Horses, cattle, sheep or swine may be used in grazing off the clover for seed. All of these may be used at the same time. Horses bite the crowns of the plants so closely as to somewhat injure subsequent growth; sheep also crop rather closely; cattle do not crop the plants so closely; consequently, they are so far preferable to horses or sheep for such grazing. On the other hand, sheep will prove far more destructive to weed growth in the pasture.

Harvesting for Hay.-Ordinarily, the methods of making the hay crop are the same as those followed in curing medium red clover. The mammoth variety, however, frequently requires a longer season in which to cure, owing, first, to the heavier character of the growth, and second, to the larger stems of the latter. After it has been mown there is greater reason for using the tedder in getting it ready for being raked, and it calls for more curing before it is put into cocks. The larger the proportion of the timothy in the crop, the more easily it is cured. It is ready for cutting when in full bloom, and loses more than the medium red when cutting is too long deferred, because of the larger proportion of coarse stems in the crop. It is also relatively more injured by rain in the cocks, since it sheds rain even less readily than the medium red clover, and the same is true of it in the stack.

Some farmers cure mammoth clover in its green form in the mow as they also cure the medium red variety, but the same objections apply to curing it

thus that apply to the similar curing of the medium red. (See page 102.) Others cure it in the mow by storing good bright straw, preferably oat straw, in alternate layers along with the clover. From onethird to one-half the quantity of the straw as compared with the hay will suffice for such curing, varying with the degree of the wilting in the hay. Clover cut in the morning after the dew has lifted may be thus stored the same day. Where the facilities are present such a method of curing mammoth clover may be eminently wise in showery weather. The natural color of the hay and blossoms is thus preserved and the straw is eaten with avidity, because of what it has imbibed from the clover.

Securing Seed. It has been already intimated more seed will be obtained when the clover has been pastured or cut back with the mower. (See page 233.) When the mower is used, it should not be set to cut quite low, or the subsequent growth will not be so vigorous as it would otherwise be. The state of growth at which the clover ought to be cut will be influenced by the luxuriance of the growth, but ordinarily clover seed should not be more than 6 to 8 inches high when the mower is used. What is thus cut by the mower is left on the ground as a mulch. Mowing the crop thus will also be helpful in destroying weeds, but some weeds will sprout again and mature seed as quickly as the clover.

When mammoth clover is neither pastured nor mown early in the season, when grown for seed some kinds of weeds may be prevented from going

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