crops of clover seed and
pasturing the same with sheep. It has been claimed that so great is the
increase of seed in some instances from pasturing with sheep till about
June 1st, say, in the latitude of Ohio, that the farmer who has no sheep
could afford to give the grazing to one who has, because of the extra
return in seed resulting. The best crops of seed are obtained when the
growth is what may be termed medium or normal. Summers, therefore, that
are unusually wet or dry are not favorable to the production of clover
seed.

If weeds are growing amid the clover plants that are likely to mature
seed, they should, where practicable, be removed. The Canada thistle,
ragweed, plantain and burdock are among the weeds that may thus ripen
seeds in medium clover. When not too numerous they can be cut with the
spud. When too numerous to be thus cut, where practicable, they should
be kept from seeding with the aid of the scythe. To prevent them from
maturing is important, as the seeds of certain weeds cannot be
separated from those of clover with the fanning mill, they are so alike
in size.

The crop is ready for being cut when the heads have all turned brown,
except a few of the smaller and later ones. It may be cut by the mower
as ordinarily used, by the mower, with a board or zinc platform
attachment to the cutter bar, by the self-rake reaper, or by the grain
binder. The objection to the first method is that the seed has to be
raked and that the raking results in the loss of much seed; to the
second, that it calls for an additional man to rake off the clover; and
to the third, that the binder is heavier than the self-rake reaper. The
latter lays the clover off in loose sheaves. These may be made large or
small, as desired, and if care is taken to lay them off in rows, the
lifting of the crop is rendered much easier.

When the clover is cut with the mower, it should be raked into winrows
while it is a little damp, as, for instance, in the evening. If raked in
the heat of the day many of the heads will break off and will thus be
lost. From the winrows it is lifted with large forks. When the crop is
laid off in sheaves it may be necessary to turn them once, even in the
absence of rain, but frequently this is not necessary. In the turning
process gentle handling is important, lest much of the seed should be
lost. The seed heads of a mature crop break off very easily in the hours
of bright sunshine. Rather than turn the sheaves