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Show County Agent's Department j SWKKT CLOVER HAY KEQLIKES DIFFERENT CAKE THAN ALFALFA Professor J. C. Hogenson of the U. S. A. C. says: "Sweet clover has a different habit of growth than does alfalfa; therefore, it should be handled differently. The alfalfa plant when cut for hay, dies to the crown and new shoots which are to form the next irop, start from the crown of the plant. This is not true with sweet clover for the new shoots, which rre to form the next crop, come irom buds in the stubble left in the field. If, therefore, the sweet clover is i cut close to the ground, as is usual- j ly the case with alfalfa, there are ! not enough buds in the stubble to grow and produce a corp. When cut in this way the plants usually die. In cutting sweet clover for hay, raise the cutter-bar of the mower high enough to leave the ' stubble six or seven inches high. Sweet clover hay is a little more difficult to .cure for hay than is , alfalfa, owing to its larger and more succulent stems. It should be cut before it gets too coarse and woody; usually before it begins to bloom. It should be allowed to lie in the swath until the-leaves have wilted but not until they are dry and break off when handled. Then pile in small, high and narrow, cocks and allow it to cure. In good weather it usually takes about, three days to cure the hay In this way. , . , - |