The results of these various experiments are being duplicated every year by many feeders. Each year in the Middle West and Northwest many cattle that bring high prices are being fed with no other roughage than sweet-clover hay. Steers which have been pastured entirely on sweet clover have brought in the Chicago market $1 per hundredweight more than ordinary grass-pastured stock marketed from the same locality and at the same time.
Excellent results were obtained in Lee County, Ill., from feeding steers sweet-clover silage made from plants which had matured a seed crop. For this experiment 91 head of steers 2 and 3 years old, averaging 1,008 pounds per head, were purchased at the Kansas City stock yards on November 16, 1915, at a cost of $6.30 per hundred. These steers were shipped to a farm at Steward and immediately turned on 120 acres of cornstalks. They were fed nothing in addition to the cornstalks until January 14, 1916, when they were put into the feed lot. While they were not weighed when turned into the feed lot, the owner of the steers stated that in his estimation they had gained but little, if any. During the 60 days these steers were in the feed lot they were fed 25 bushels of snapped corn twice a day and as much sweet-clover silage as they would eat. These animals had access to sweet-clover straw during the first part of the feeding period, but after this was consumed they had only oat straw as roughage. At the end of the feeding period they were sold on the Chicago market at the average price of $8.25 per hundred, netting approximately $30 per head. The average weight of these steers in the Chicago yards was 1,177 pounds, 169 pounds more than when purchased in Kansas City.
A most remarkable feature of this experiment is the fact that the steers were fed almost entirely material which would have been considered of little value by the average farmer. The corn which was fed tested 44 per cent moisture at the Rochelle, Ill., elevator, and 20 cents per bushel was the best price offered for it.
Presumably on account of wet weather during the fall of 1915, the sweet-clover seed crop was a failure in that section; in fact, the crop had been cut for seed and part had been thrashed before it was decided that the seed yield was not sufficient to pay for the thrashing. The remainder of the crop was then run into the silo and fed to the steers. The leaves fall and the stems of this plant become hard and woody as the seed matures. The crop therefore would have been worthless for feed had it not been placed in the silo. As a rule, stock readily eat sweet-clover straw when the stems are broken and crushed by the hulling machines. The sweet-clover straw which was used as roughage during the first part of the feeding period was from that part of the seed crop which had been thrashed.
An interesting feeding experiment was conducted on a farm at Rochelle, Ill. On September 7, 1913, 29 head of 2-year-old steers, averaging 836 pounds, were turned on 40 acres of sweet clover which had been seeded that spring with barley. These animals were pastured on the sweet clover until November 1 without additional feed. During this time they made exceptionally large gains. From November 1 to December 11, 28 head of these steers had access to an 80-acre field of cornstalks. On December 11 they were put into the feed lot. During the time these steers were on the cornstalks they barely held their gain, but during the first 30 days they were in the feed lot they made an average daily gain of almost 3 pounds. In this period they received 215 bushels of corn-and-cob meal and 163/4 tons of silage made from the first-year growth of sweet clover. During the next 30 days they received 388 bushels of corn-and-cob meal and much less sweet-clover, silage. During this time they made an average daily gain of 2 pounds. When the corn-and-cob meal ration was increased the steers ate less silage. These cattle dressed 551/8 per cent at a Chicago packing house.
SWEET CLOVER AS A SOIL-IMPROVING CROP.
Unlike many legumes, sweet clover will make a good growth on soils too depleted in humus for profitable crop production. In addition to its ability to grow and to produce a considerable quantity of forage on such soils, it will add much humus to them. The extensive root systems do much toward breaking up the subsoil, thereby providing better aeration and drainage. The effect of the large, deep roots in opening up the subsoil and providing better drainage is often very noticeable in the spring, as the land upon which sweet clover has grown for several years will be in a condition to plow earlier than the adjacent fields where it has not been grown. The roots are often one-eighth of an inch in diameter at a depth of 3 feet, and they decay in five to eight weeks after the plants die. (Figs. [12] and [13].) The holes made by the roots are left partly filled with a fibrous substance which permits rapid drainage. Sandy soils are benefited materially by the addition of humus and nitrogen, while hardpan often is broken up so completely that alfalfa or other crops will readily grow on the land. The roots add much organic matter to the layers of soil below the usual depth of plowing, while those in the surface soil, together with the stubble and stems, when the crop is plowed under, add more humus than possibly any other legume which may be grown in short rotations. Not only does this crop add organic matter to the soil, but in common with other legumes it has the power of fixing atmospheric nitrogen by means of the nitrogen-gathering bacteria in the nodules on the roots.