The seed may be mixed with sand, soil, or granulated superphosphate to facilitate even distribution over the surface of the pasture, and sown from a wheelbarrow or cyclone type of seeder. If the seed is sown sufficiently early, harrowing is unnecessary; but the field may be rolled to advantage. The seed should be inoculated with the type of culture used for red clover.
Some pastures may be improved most effectively by plowing or harrowing, fertilizing, and reseeding as described under the establishment of new pastures by seeding page 30).
The importance of wild white clover in New York pastures is indicated by the results of experiments at Cornell University, which have shown that the addition of 2 pounds to the acre of wild white clover to a seeding of 24 pounds to the acre of Kentucky bluegrass has frequently increased the yield of dry matter by more than 500 per cent, while the content of protein and lime in the herbage has also been raised considerably. The amount of nitrogen supplied by the growth of wild white clover is so great that the herbage removed from an acre of good pasture at Cornell University in a grazing season usually contains nitrogen equivalent to from 1000 to 1500 pounds of sulfate of ammonia to the acre.
In addition to supplying nitrogen, wild white clover, because of the dense sward produced, results in lower and more uniform soil temperatures during the summer months than those in pastures with no clover. This leads to greater productivity. The dense sward also prevents erosion and loss of water by runoff from the surface during heavy rains. Wild white clover is so palatable that the pastures are grazed close and uniformly and weeds are suppressed.
New York wild birdsfoot trefoil is a highly productive perennial legume with a deep taproot. Attention was first directed to the value of this plant for pasture purposes as a result of its discovery by the author near Claverack in Columbia County during a pasture survey made in 1934. Since then it has been found in other extensive areas in the State, especially in Albany, Schenectady, Schoharie, Saratoga, Montgomery, Ulster, and Washington Counties. It frequently contributes more than 50 per cent of the herbage, and is valuable because of its productivity, palatability, and drought resistance.
Experiments with wild birdsfoot trefoil at Cornell University are giving promising results, and it has been found especially valuable because of its ability to continue rapid growth during periods of hot dry weather.
The New York wild variety has been found to differ considerably in habit of growth from the European cultivated variety and the English wild variety, both of which have been obtainable commercially. Because
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