H. S. Coe

“ When the seed is flailed from the plants the straw may be easily and quickly spread over the land at the time of flailing, but when the crop is thrashed with a grain separator or a clover huller it will be necessary to haul the straw and scatter it over the field. When the crop is thrashed in this manner the straw will be broken and crushed so that stock will eat it freely. The straw may be run directly from the thrashing machine into the silo, where, by adding sufficient water, it can be made into good silage. ”

“ The ordinary mowing machine is one of the most unsatisfactory devices used for harvesting this crop, as the subsequent handling necessary to place the plants in windrows or cocks causes much of the seed to shatter. ”

“ A grain separator (fig. 13) is used more than any other machine for thrashing sweet clover. This is because more grain separators than clover hullers are found in localities where sweet clover is grown and because the ordinary clover huller will not handle a large growth of sweet clover satisfactorily. When the grain separator is operated carefully no trouble should be experienced in removing the seed from the plants, but it is necessary to make certain adjustments if the seed is to be hulled. The adjustments required will vary somewhat with the make of machine and the dryness of the crop. ”

“ The type of root growth has much to do with the quantity of water the plants are able to obtain during droughty weather. When sweet clover is planted on soil that has a tendency to be wet, the plants will produce a much-branched shallow root system instead of the normal deep roots which are found on well-drained soils. ”

“ Smaller sleds sometimes are used, but a larger one is to be preferred if two or more persons are to flail on it at one time. If the floor of the sled is not perfectly tight, it should be covered with canvas and the edges of the canvas thrown over the sides and ends of the sled, so as to avoid losing any of the seed and to facilitate its removal. A sled so equipped may be drawn from pile to pile, the plants pitched on it, the seed flailed from them, and the straw returned to the land for soil improvement. ”

“ This is due for the most part to the inability of the large plants to obtain sufficient water for seed production. The much smaller plants of the second crop do not require as much moisture as the larger plants of the first crop, as the vegetative growth is seldom more than half as much. ”

“ White sweet clover and biennial yellow sweet clover are harvested for seed the year following seeding. In localities where those species will produce two cuttings the second year, either the first or the second crop may be harvested for seed. As the plants die when mature, only one cutting will be obtained if the first crop is permitted to ripen. It is becoming a general practice in many sections of the country to utilize the first crop of the second season for pasture, ensilage, or hay, and the second crop for seed. ”

“ Those are exceptional cases, and hulled seed should not be expected unless more rows of concave teeth are used. If hulled seed is desired it is recommended that a full set be used and that these be set to run closer to the cylinder teeth than is customary when thrashing grain. Some operators replace two rows of the smooth, concave teeth with corrugated teeth. This practice is recommended wherever possible, as the corrugated teeth will facilitate greatly the hulling of the seed. Even where these changes are made, only a small percentage of the seed will be hulled if the pods are damp. ”

“ During hot, dry weather the plants may not be able to absorb from the soil sufficient water to supply the « 22 » excess required by them for seed production. In this event many of the seed pods will abort and fall when partly mature. Pods abort and fall in a very short time, so that partly shriveled ones seldom are found on the plants, although the extent of the aborting is shown by the number of barren racemos. When such weather conditions prevail, the second crop usually will produce a heavier yield than the first crop. ”

“ From one-fifth to three-fourths of the total seed yield of sweet clover is lost from shattering. The percentage of the loss which occurs before harvesting will depend largely on the time the crop is cut. ”

“ It is the custom in some localities to run the sweet clover through a thrashing machine without adjusting the concaves and then to run the unhulled seed as delivered by the grain separator through a clover huller. ”

“ Unless there are a forge and drill on the farm it will be necessary to have the braces and supports for the pans made at a blacksmith shop. The strap iron used in connection with the pans may vary in size, but for the most part it need not be heavier than one-eighth inch in thickness, and seven-eighths inch in width. The supports for the pan under the binder deck preferably should be one-quarter inch thick, as this pan will have much more strain on it than the pans under the elevators. ”

“ The extension to the elevator should be bolted to the rear elevator plate. This extension should be so wide that the tops of the plants will not reach beyond it. The details for this extension are shown in figure 8. The outer edge and lower end of this extension should be bent upward and slightly inward, so that the seed which falls upon it will be directed to the opening between the platform and lower elevator, where it will fall into the pan beneath. ”

“ The galvanized metal may be purchased at any tin shop or hardware store, and if sufficient strips of iron can not be found around the farm for this purpose strap iron may be purchased at any blacksmith shop. ”

“ The netting used for covering the frame should have meshes 1 inch or loss in diameter. The sled should be at least 7 feet wide and 10 feet long and should have sides and ends approximately 12 inches high. ”