The woody growth of sweet clover as it reaches maturity and the bitter taste due to coumarin have been the principal causes for live stock refusing to eat it at first. On this account many farmers have assumed it to be worthless as a feed. It is a fact that stock seldom eat the hard, woody stems of mature plants, but it is true also that stock eat sparingly of the coarse, fibrous growth of such legumes as red or mammoth clover when they have been permitted to mature and have lost much of their palatability. All kinds of stock will eat green sweet clover before it becomes woody, or hay which has been cut at the proper time and well cured, after they have become accustomed to it. Many cases are on record in which cattle have refused alfalfa or red clover when sweet clover was accessible. Milch cows have been known to refuse a ration of alfalfa hay when given to them for the first time. Western range cattle which have never been fed corn very often refuse to eat corn fodder, or even corn, for a short time, and instances have come under observation in which they ate the dried husks and left the corn uneaten. When these cattle were turned on green grass the following spring they browsed on the dead grass of the preceding season's growth, which, presumably more closely resembled the grass to which they were accustomed. Such preliminary observations should never be taken as final, even when they represent the results of careful investigators. When cowpeas were first introduced into certain sections of this country much trouble was experienced in getting stock to eat the vines, either when cured into hay or made into ensilage. This difficulty, however, was soon overcome.

It is very true that stock which have never been pastured on sweet clover or fed on the hay must become accustomed to it before they will eat it, but the fact that sweet clover is now being fed to stock in nearly every State indicates that the distaste for it can be overcome easily and successfully. As sweet clover usually starts growth earlier in the spring than other forage plants and as the early growth presumably contains less coumarin than older plants, stock seldom refuse to eat it at this time. Properly cured hay is seldom refused by stock, especially if it is sprinkled with salt water when the animals are salt hungry.

COMPOSITION OF SWEET CLOVER.

Sweet clover, like most legumes, contains a relatively high percentage of protein, thus making it a source of that valuable constituent of feeds needed for growing stock and for the production of milk. [Table IV] shows the relative composition and digestibility of sweet clover as compared to some other feeds.

Table IV.—Composition and digestibility of sweet clover compared with that of other forage crops.

AVERAGE PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF SWEET CLOVER AND OTHER FORAGE CROPS.

Kinds of forage.Number of
analyses.		Constituents (per cent).
Water.Ash.Crude
Protein.		Carbohydrates.Fat.
Fiber.Nitrogen-
free
extract.
Green crop:
Sweet clover[10]1875.62.14.47.010.20.7
Alfalfa[10]14374.72.44.57.010.41.0
Red Clover[10]8573.82.14.17.311.71.0
Hay (moisture-free basis):
White sweet clover[11]37....8.217.628.243.03.0
Yellow sweet clover[11]3....6.415.835.639.02.6
Alfalfa[11]211....9.617.429.840.32.9
Red clover[11]99....7.015.627.744.93.9
Timothy[11]194....6.28.232.549.93.2

DIGESTIBLE NUTRIENTS OF SWEET CLOVER AND OTHER FORAGE CROPS WHEN FED TO SHEEP.[12]

Kinds of forage.Dry matter in 100 pounds.Digestible nutrients in 100 pounds
of air-dried hay.		Nutritive ratio.[13]
Protein.Carbo-
hydrates.		Fat.Dry matter.
White sweet-clover hay92.211.8836.680.4956.11:3.2
Pea hay93.111.2448.55.7162.51:4.5
Alfalfa hay (second cutting)92.211.7342.38.7260.901:3.8

[10] Analyses taken from Henry and Morrison's "Foods and Feeding."