Shattering may be reduced to a minimum by cutting the plants when they are damp from rain or dew.
No machine thus far placed on the market has given entire satisfaction in cutting sweet clover for seed.
The ordinary mower should not be used for harvesting the seed crop. The seed crop is usually cut with a self-rake reaper, grain binder, grain header, or corn harvester. The self-rake reaper and the grain binder have been most satisfactory.
The seed crop should be stacked unless it can be thrashed within two weeks after cutting.
Much shattered seed will be saved if a wagon with a tight floor is used for hauling the plants. If the wagon bed is not tight it should be covered with a tarpaulin or canvas.
The seed may be flailed from the plants, as is customary in the South, or it may be thrashed with a grain separator or clover huller, as is the practice in the North.
The ordinary grain separator may be adjusted so that it will hull 90 per cent of the seed.
Sweet-clover straw has considerable feeding value.