Amounts Of Seed To Sow

The amounts of clover seed to sow are

influenced by the object sought in sowing; by combinations with which

the seeds are sown, and by the relative size of the seeds. The soil and

climate should also be considered, although these influences are

probably less important than those first named.



When clovers are sown for pasture only, or to fertilize the soil

speedily and to supply it with humus, the largest amounts of seed are

sown. But for these purposes it is seldom necessary to use more than 12

pounds of seed per acre. These amounts refer to the medium red and

mammoth varieties, which are more frequently used than the other

varieties for the purposes named. They also include the crimson sown

usually to fertilize the soil. When sown to provide seed only, 12 pounds

per acre of the medium red, mammoth and crimson varieties will usually

suffice. Half the quantity of alsike will be enough, and one-third the

quantity of the small white, or a little more than that. Whether alfalfa

is grown for seed, for hay or for pasture, about the same amounts of

seed are used; that is, 15 to 20 pounds per acre. When sown with nurse

crops and simply to improve the soil, it is customary to sow small

rather than large quantities of seed, and for the reason that the hazard

of failure to secure a stand every season is too considerable to justify

the outlay. From 4 to 5 pounds per acre are frequently sown and of the

medium or mammoth variety.



When the mammoth and medium varieties of clover are sown for hay with

one or two kinds of grass only, it is not common to sow more than 6 to 8

pounds of either per acre. The maximum amount of the seed of the alsike

required when thus sown with grasses may be set down at 5 pounds per

acre. These three varieties are chiefly used for such mixtures. With

more varieties of grass in the mixtures, the quantities of clover seed

used will decrease. When clovers are sown with mixtures intended for

permanent pastures, it would not be possible to name the amounts of seed

to sow without knowing the grasses used also, but it may be said that,

as a rule, in those mixtures, the clovers combined seldom form more than

one-third of the seed used.



The seeds of some varieties of clover are less than one-third of the

size of other varieties. This, therefore, affects proportionately, or at

least approximately so, the amounts of seed required. For instance,

while it might be proper to sow 12 pounds of medium or mammoth clover to

accomplish a certain result, less than one-third of the quantity of the

small white variety would suffice for the same end.



The influences of climate and soil on the quantities of seed required

are various, so various that to consider them fully here would unduly

prolong the discussion. But it may be said that the harder the

conditions in both respects, the more the quantity of seed required and

vice versa.