Depth To Bury The Seed

The depth to bury the seed varies with the

conditions of soil, climate and season. Clover seeds, like those of

grasses, are buried most deeply in the light soils of the prairie so

light that they sink, so as to make walking over them unusually tiresome

when working on newly plowed land, and in other instances so light as to

lift with the wind. On such soils the seeds may be buried to the depth

of 2 to 3 inches. On loam soils, a covering of 1 inch or less would be

ample, and on stiff clays the covering may even be lighter under normal

conditions.



Clover seeds are buried more deeply in dry than in moist climates, and

also more deeply in dry portions of the year than when moisture is

sufficient. While it may be proper in some instances to scatter the

seeds on the surface without any covering other than is furnished by

rain or frost, it will be very necessary at other seasons to provide a

covering to insure a stand of the seed.



When clover seed is sown on ground honeycombed with frost, no covering

is necessary. When sown on winter grain in the spring, the ground not

being so honeycombed, covering with the harrow is usually advantageous.

When sown on spring crops and early in the season, it may not be

necessary to cover the seed, except by using the roller, even though the

seed should fall behind the grain tubes while the grain crop is being

sown, or should be sown subsequently by hand. In other instances the

harrow should be used, and sometimes both the roller and the harrow.

Under conditions such as appertain to New England and the adjacent

States to Ontario and the provinces east and to the land west of the

Cascade Mountains, clover and also grass seeds do not require so much of

a covering as when sown on the prairie soils of the central portion of

the continent.