Harvesting Strawberry Clover Seed

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 59, Issue 5, 15 November 1939, Page 417

Harvesting Strawberry Clover Seed

Methods Adopted by • ') Hawke's Bay Farmers

-By

R. P. HILL,

Fields Instructor, Hastings.

* I—llli—nil— Illi —llli— mi——nil—mi—mi—•mi—il«|« | High prices rule for strawberry J ! clover seed, of which insuf- J 1 ficient quantities are harvested j 1 locally for New Zealand require- | I merits. The harvesting of the = j seed presents many difficulties, 1 I but several farmers in Hawke's ! ? Bay have recently harvested I 1 areas for seed purposes, and j ! the procedure followed in that j b district is described in this | I article. j An—.mi—mi—mi—mi—mi—llli—llli——nil Illi—l •£>

IN VIEW of the great value of strawberry clover as a pioneer clover for the reclamation of tidal areas, its ability to thrive under salty conditions, and its great drought-resisting properties, jt is not surprising that farmers are concerned at their inability to purchase the seed and at a reasonable price. Insufficient quantities of this seed are harvested locally to meet New Zealand requirements, and it is frequently necessary to import seed from Australia. The retail price has been about 4s 6d per lb. for the past few years. A certain amount is harvested in Canterbury, where harvesting conditions are good, and recently in Hawke’s Bay, where harvesting conditions are equally good, several farmers have harvested their areas of strawberry clover for seed purposes. Difficulties \ The harvesting of this clover presents many difficulties. The seed is difficult to extract from the pod, and the growing and seeding stage of the plant is very prolonged. It begins seeding in December, and • continues throwing up seed heads until the end of April. It is therefore, unwise to close up paddocks too early. Rather is it better to graze with stock until dry weather sets in and no further growth is probable from the other clovers and grasses which are associated in the paddock with the straw-

berry clover which, with its deep rooting system, is capable of producing leaf and flower under very dry conditions. On ' the farms under review the strawberry clover was growing on land which, many years ago, had been salty, and fortunately the competition from other species was not great. The ryegrass had already seeded, but some trouble was experienced with white clover and English trefoil. Two Methods Two different methods were adopted in the harvesting. In one case the paddock was mown for hay in Februaryunfortunately rather too early to obtain the maximum ripened seed — and the hay was allowed to remain in the swathe for five weeks before stacking. After about a week in the stack the hay was put through a clover

huller. Much of the seed, -not being ripe, remained' in the hay, and only 200 lb. of mixed strawberry clover, English trefoil, and white clover seed per acre was obtained. This was later machine-dressed, - and resulted in a yield of approximately 100 lb. of

strawberry clover seed per acre. However, to obtain this yield the seed had to be put through the machines several times to eliminate the white clover, and the costs were necessarily high.

On the second farm the paddock was closed up after Christmas. The weather remained dry, and it was not mown until late in February. It was left in the swathe for a month and then hand-raked into ’ narrow windrows, where it was allowed to remain for .a further two weeks. It was then threshed by a “pick-up” mill, and the crop again yielded approximately 200 lb. of mixed clover seeds to the acre, approximately half white and half strawberry. This was also machinedressed and reduced to about 100 lb. of strawberry clover.

It is difficult to advise which procedure is the most satisfactory, as a great deal depends on the ' weather. Strawberry clover seed is very slow in ripening, and, if left in the swathe, requires dry, hot weather, which is also

necessary to make the seed thresh out of the pods. The ideal time to harvest with the “pick-up” mill is in the hot sunlight immediately the dew has evaporated. Unfortunately, this mill is not able to pick up anything like all the seed. The stalks are short, ranging from about 9 inches down to 3 inches in length, and until some means is devised whereby

all the seed heads may be harvested much of the crop will be left in the field. When the crop is stacked a method sometimes employed is to thresh after a short period in the stack, then stack again and leave for a year, when the straw is again threshed. By this means it is claimed that more seed ripens and, as the pod softens, greater yields are obtained. -

Strawberry clover and white clover seeds are much the same size, and, as there is generally much of the white clover present in the dressing, costs are heavy. It will readily be seen that the saving of this , crop is not a simple matter, and this no doubt is the principal reason why the seed is so scarce and the price high.