The first season's growth of sweet clover does not usually get coarse
and woody and therefore may be cut when it shows its maximum growth in
the fall, In regions where more than one crop may be obtained the first
season, the first crop should be cut when the plants have made about a
30-inch growth.
The proper time to cut the first crop the second season will vary
considerably in different localities, depending very much upon the
rainfall, the temperature, and the fertility of the soil. In no event
should the plants be permitted to show flower buds or to become woody.
In the semiarid sections of the country sweet clover does not grow as
rapidly as in more humid regions. Neither do the plants grow as rapidly
on poor soils as upon fertile soils. In the drier sections the best
results usually are obtained by cutting the first crop when the plants
have made a growth of 24 to 30 inches. On fertile, well-limed soils in
many sections of the country a very rapid growth is made in the spring,
and often the plants will not show flower buds until they are about
5 feet high. On such soils it is very essential that the first crop
be cut when the plants have made no more growth than 30 to 32 inches
if hay is desired which is not stemmy and if a second growth is to be
expected.