Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 144, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1917 — SOME HESITATE TO TRY SWEET CLOVER [ARTICLE]

SOME HESITATE TO TRY SWEET CLOVER

No Foundation for Fear That . There Will Be Difficulty in Eradicating Crop. (From the United States Department of Agriculture.) Some farmers hesitate to plant sweet clover on their farms for fear they will have difficulty in eradicating It when the fields are planted to other crops. The results obtained annually by hundreds of farmers are sufficient proof that there is no foundation for such fear; in fact, farmers are experiencing much difficulty in cutting the first crop the* second season so high that the plants will not be killed. The

new crop of sweet clover, unlike that of red clover and alfalfa, must come from the buds left on the stubble, so when the plants are cut below these buds they will be killed. As sweet clover is a biennial, the plants die as soon as the seed crop Is produced. When the first year’s growth of sweet clover is turned under for green manure it is recommended that the field be plowed after the plants have made some growth the following spring rather than in the fall of the year of seeding. When the first year’s growth is plowed under the same fall many of the plants will not be entirely covered, and these will make a vigorous growth the following spring. When the plowing is delayed until the plants have made some growth the following spring no trouble will be experienced in eradicating them.