When spring-sown, May 15 to June 30, barley or oats is commonly used as a nurse crop, in which case it is usually advisable to cut the nurse crop green for hay. When weeds are a serious fac tor, especially in the eastern part of the coun try, sainfoin should be sown in early fall. It is not advisable to mix sainfoin with other forage plants, owing to the weakness of the young seed lingo.
Sainfoin is not well adapted for use in rotations owing to its perennial character and the difficulty of establishing it. For this reason it should be planted only where it can be left permanently. Under favorable conditions fields will remain pro ductive for twenty years, and some fields in France are said to have produced continuously for one hundred years.
Harvesting and uses.
Sainfoin is harvested in much the same way as red clover, but it cures out much more readily. To prevent loss of leaves it should be turned as little as possible. It should not be allowed to get too dry before cocking but should cure in the cock some time before stacking. The average yield of
hay is one to one and one-half tons per acre. The protein content of the hay is higher than that of alfalfa.
Sainfoin is not well adapted to pasturing, owing to the slowness with which the plant sends out new shoots. It is said that when used as pasture it does not cause bloating, as is the case with most related plants.
Literature.
Stebler and Schroter, The Best Forage Plants, pp. 93-99, Translation by McAlpine ; Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, Annual Report 1890, p. 29 ; United States Department of Agri culture, Division of Agrostology, Bulletin No. 22 ; Wyoming Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 16; Washington Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 41 ; Missouri Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 2; Bu reau of Plant Industry, Bulletin No. 13 ; South Dakota Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 40; Ten nessee Experiment Station, Vol. XI, Bulletin No. 3 ; California Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 147 ; Kentucky Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 98; North Carolina Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 98.