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Cultural Tourism in Latin America The Politics of Space
and Imagery 1st Edition Michiel Baud Digital Instant
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Author(s): Michiel Baud, Annelou Ypeij
ISBN(s): 9789004176409, 9004176403
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Year: 2009
Language: english
Cultural Tourism in Latin America
Cedla Latin America Studies
General Editor
Michiel Baud, Cedla

Editorial Board
Anthony Bebbington, University of Manchester
Edward F. Fischer, Vanderbilt University
Anthony L. Hall, London School of Economics
and Political Science
Barbara Hogenboom, Cedla
Barbara Potthast, University of Cologne
Eduardo Silva, University of Missouri at St. Louis
Patricio Silva, Leiden University
Rachel Sieder, University of London

Cedla
Centrum voor Studie en Documentatie van Latijns Amerika
Centro de Estudios y Documentación Latinoamericanos
Centro de Estudos e Documentação Latino-Americanos
Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation

The Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation

(Cedla) conducts social science and history research, offers
university courses, and has a specialised library for the study of
the region. The Centre also publishes monographs and a journal
on Latin America.

Keizersgracht 395-397
1016 EK Amsterdam
The Netherlands / Países Bajos
www.cedla.uva.nl

VOLUME 96
 Cultural Tourism in
Latin America

The Politics of Space and Imagery

Edited by
Michiel Baud and Annelou Ypeij

LEIDEN • BOSTON
2009
This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cultural tourism in Latin America : the politics of space and imagery / edited by
Michiel Baud and Annelou Ypeij.
p. cm. — (Cedla latin america studies; v. 96)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-17640-9 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Heritage tourism—Social
aspects—Latin America. 2. Heritage tourism—Political aspects—Latin America.
3. Culture and tourism—Latin America. 4. Cultural property—Latin America—
Social aspects. 5. Latin America—Cultural policy. 6. Latin America—Social
conditions—21st century. I. Baud, Michiel, 1952– II. Ypeij, Johanna Louisa.
III. Title. IV. Series.

G155.L3C85 2009
306.4’819098—dc22

2009010951

ISSN 1572-6401
ISBN 978 90 04 17640 9

© Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission
from the publisher.

Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by

Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to
The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910,
Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.

printed in the netherlands

 CONTENTS

Acknowledgments .............................................................................. ix
List of Illustrations ............................................................................. xi

Chapter One Cultural Tourism in Latin America:

An Introduction ............................................................................. 1
Michiel Baud and Annelou Ypeij

PART ONE

CULTURE AND THE PRODUCTION OF REGIONAL

AND NATIONAL IDENTITIES

Chapter Two Tourism, Folklore and the Emergence of

Regional and National Identities ................................................. 23
Zoila S. Mendoza

Chapter Three The ‘Three Roots’ of Panama’s Cultural

Heritage: The Construction of Racial and National Identities
in Theme Parks .............................................................................. 45
Carla Guerrón Montero

Chapter Four Through the Othering Gaze: Yucatecan Trova

Music and ‘the Tourist’ in Yucatán, Mexico .............................. 69
Gabriela Vargas-Cetina

Chapter Five ‘A Symbol of Wisdom and Love’? Counter-

cultural Tourism and the Multiple Faces of María Sabina in
Huautla, Oaxaca ............................................................................. 93
Ben Feinberg
vi contents

PART TWO

LOCAL LIVELIHOODS AND TOURIST ENCOUNTERS

Chapter Six Sacamefotos and Tejedoras: Frontstage

Performance and Backstage Meaning in a Peruvian
Context ............................................................................................ 117
Beatrice Simon

Chapter Seven Tourism, the State and the Marketing of

Traditional Andean Artesanías: Problematic Encounters,
Pitfalls, and Competing Interests ................................................ 141
Lynn A. Meisch

Chapter Eight Dishing up the City: Tourism and Street

Vendors in Cuzco .......................................................................... 161
Griet Steel

Chapter Nine Caught Between Nature and Culture: Making

a Living within the World Heritage Site of Machu Picchu,
Peru .................................................................................................. 177
Keely B. Maxwell and Annelou Ypeij

PART THREE

POLITICS OF HERITAGE TOURISM

Chapter Ten Trivializing Culture, Social Conflict and

Heritage Tourism in Quito .......................................................... 199
Alan Middleton

Chapter Eleven Contesting Heritage in Antigua,

Guatemala ....................................................................................... 217
Walter E. Little

Chapter Twelve Hacienda Hotels and Other Ironies of

Luxury in Yucatán, Mexico .......................................................... 245
Lisa Breglia
 contents vii

Chapter Thirteen Heritage and Indigeneity: Transformations

in the Politics of Tourism ............................................................. 263
Quetzil E. Castañeda

Bibliography ........................................................................................ 297

List of Contributors ........................................................................... 317
Index .................................................................................................... 321
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In June 2007, the Centre for Latin American Research and Documen-
tation (Cedla) in Amsterdam organized an international conference
on cultural tourism entitled Indigenous Culture, Heritage and Tourism
in Latin America. Between Globalization and Local Development. This
conference was organized in the framework of Cedla’s multidisciplinary
research programme Incatourism in the Andean Highlands: Prospects
and Ambivalences of the Idea of Sustainable Tourism (Bolivia, Peru)
that ran from September 2003 to September 2007 and was financed by
WOTRO Science for Development. This programme aimed at analysing
the linkages between tourism and globalization with a regional focus
on the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes. It especially tried to understand
the local responses to the increasing number of tourists that visit the
region and the implications of tourism for sustainable development. In
the framework of this programme several conferences and seminars
have been organized, both in the region and in the Netherlands. The
June 2007 conference on cultural tourism was the symbolic closure of
the research programme. Its focus was on the Andean Highlands and
Central America and it brought together European, Latin American and
North American scholars with a long research experience in the field of
cultural tourism. These scholars were invited to present their empirical
research on the management of cultural heritages sites, discourses of
identity, nation and belonging and development possibilities of cultural
tourism. The present volume is the direct result of the conference.
This book is the product of a collective effort, and without the hard
work of many it would not have been possible to publish it. We espe-
cially wish to express our gratitude to the participants of the conference
for their inspiring work and insights. The research staff of Cedla have
provided many ideas and suggestions that have substantially improved
the research programme and this book. We thank Jolanda van den Boom
and Patricia Dekker for their skills and support during the organization
of the conference. We are grateful to Ted Fisher for his constructive
and wise comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Kathleen
Willingham generously helped us with the definitive manuscript. Finally,
we are grateful to WOTRO Science for Development for the financial
x acknowledgments

support that enabled us to develop, execute and successfully conclude the

research programme on cultural tourism. To all of the people who col-
laborated, we say: We hope that this book fulfils your expectations!

Michiel Baud and Annelou Ypeij

 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Illustration 1 ( for Chapter Two by Zoila S. Mendoza)

1. Artistic folkloric group in Cuzco in the 1940s.

Illustration 1–4 ( for Chapter Five by Ben Feinberg)

1. Map of the Sierra Mazateca of Oaxaca.
2. Doña Julieta Casimiro, a Mazatec curer who has a large international
clientele, during the Day of the Dead.
3. Ché Guevara and María Sabina in the 20 de Noviembre Market,
Oaxaca.
4. Image of María Sabina that appeared two blocks north of the Zócalo.
The image was erased three days later.

Illustration 1–7 (for Chapter Six by Beatrice Simon)

1. A tourist taking a picture of sacamefotos.
2. Sacamefotos outside the town hall.
3. Mother and daughter from Paru Paru.
4. Sacamefoto from Amaru.
5. Sacamefoto-tejedoras performing at the ruins.
6. Sacamefotos waiting for their audience.
7. Changing costumes in the plaza.

Illustration 1–3 ( for Chapter Seven by Lynn A. Meisch)

1. Artesanías for sale in the Otavalo market.
2. Knit and woven sweaters and jackets for sale in Otavalo.
3. Members of the Conterón and Cabascango families in the Otavalo
market with tapestry purses and embroidered blouses for sale.

Illustration 1–4 ( for Chapter Eleven by Walter E. Little)

1. Three Antigua houses in violation of UNESCO and city codes: one
property split into three with corrugated steel and poorly maintained
roofs.
2. The corner of the Portal on the Central Plaza in violation for having
a corrugated-steel roof in poor repair.
3. Old movie theatre, now handicraft marketplace, in the Central Plaza
violates codes for having two stories and having a corrugated-steel
roof.
xii list of illustrations

4. Anthropology students led support to the Maya street vendors in a

meeting with the Mayor and City Council.

Illustration 1–7 ( for Chapter Thirteen by Quetzil E. Castañeda)

1. Map of Chichén Itzá showing historical changes in the location of
entrances and market venues.
2. Wood carvers sit on a rock outcrop in the parking lot of the Cubertizo
(1985).
3. These vendors begin wrapping up their sales of the day, while tourists
walk to the Parador Turístico on the path to the left.
4. Vendors from the first invasion were given the option to rent stalls in
the Tianguis.
5. A vendor sells hats and parasols in the plaza area between the Tianguis
and the Parador.
6. T-shirts hang from the gate where the road ends at the Mayaland
entrance to Chichén Itzá.
7. The Coca-Cola can used to promote Mexicans to vote for Chichén
Itzá as a new Seven Wonder of the World.
 CHAPTER ONE

CULTURAL TOURISM IN LATIN AMERICA:

AN INTRODUCTION

Michiel Baud and Annelou Ypeij

Tourism—‘voluntary, temporary travel for rest or recreation’, as Lynn

Meisch defines it in this volume—is an increasingly important source
of income for both states and local populations in Latin America. It can
be seen as an integrated element of globalization in which international
travel and cultural discovery have become part of global consumption
patterns. In regions that have a large indigenous population (basically
the Andean highlands and Central America), tourism growth primarily
concerns ‘cultural tourism’, whereby the indigenous (and to a lesser
extent, Spanish colonial and republican) heritage and customs form the
principle tourist attractions. As a complement to global tourism, national
and regional tourism has also become increasingly important in Latin
America. This is a result of an increasingly affluent middle class and a
growing awareness of, and admiration for, the indigenous past among
national politicians and populations.
Cultural tourism does not take place in enclaves or far-away resorts,
but in Latin American societies and among populations themselves.
It reaches the core of local societies and confronts them with unprec-
edented influxes of people, influences and investments. This book is
not so much about cultural tourism as about its complex and often
ambiguous consequences at the local level. The contributing authors
look at these consequences in the Andes and in Central America, where
(mostly foreign) tourists arrive with the explicit purpose of connecting
to indigenous cultures, in the form of both their material traces (herit-
age) and the people who carry that real or supposed culture. They see
tourism as a force in which the global and the local coalesce, and as
such as a privileged field of study of the effects and local expressions
of globalization. The issues this book examines are the implications of
cultural tourism on local societies, when and how these tourist activi-
ties are integrated into local societies, and how successful these efforts
have been in the long run.
2 michiel baud and annelou ypeij

Tourism in Latin America

Tourism in Latin America became a mass activity from the late 1960s
onwards, as a consequence of cheaper air travel and the establishment
of large beach resorts (Mowfort et al. 2008: 13–14). The tourists who
booked their holidays at these resorts were attracted by the promise of
sun, sand, sea and (possibly) sex. They could enjoy these under rather
luxurious circumstances and without much awareness of daily life
outside the resorts. In the same period, cruise-ship tourism started to
blossom in the Caribbean.
In addition to these organized forms of tourism, ‘backpack tourism’
emerged. Starting in the early 1970s, backpackers and hippies began to
explore Latin America in an individual way. In search of remote and
‘authentic’ places, they left the beaten track and set off on adventurous
journeys. By doing so, they opened up the routes that had first been
explored at the beginning of the twentieth century by anthropologists
and other researchers who wanted to do in situ research in the indig-
enous heartlands of Latin America (Beals 1976; Baud 2003; Mendoza,
this volume). These backpackers were the first tourists to explore exotic
cultures and discover new tourist sites. Nowadays, past and present
traces of indigenous culture comprise one of the continent’s main tour-
ist attractions. Each year, hundreds of thousands of tourists visit such
areas as Peru’s Sacred Valley (whose principal attraction is the ruins of
Machu Picchu) or the Yucatán Peninsula in southern Mexico.1
Many Latin American governments regard tourism as consistent
with the neoliberal economic development agenda: tourism opens up
new markets, generates foreign currency and creates employment. It
also adds economic value to the continent’s abundant but previously
unexploited resources, such as its warm climate, natural beauty, inter-
esting cultures and heritage from many eras. And indeed, tourism has
turned into a booming sector: while in 1950 some 1.3 million tourists
visited Latin America and the Caribbean, by 1980 this figure was 18
million and in 2006 it reached more than 45 million. Tourism receipts
rose from USD 392 million in 1950 to USD 13 billion in 1980, and

1
Between 1997 and 2006, the number of tourists visiting the Inca archaeological
site of Machu Picchu each year rose from 294,032 to 691,623 (www.Mincetur.gob.pe,
accessed September 2008).
 cultural tourism in latin america: an introduction 3

to more than USD 41 billion in 2006 (Keune & Vugt 2002: 21–23;
UNWTO 2008: 22–25).
Although Latin American tourism has grown in an impressive way
and become an important source of revenue, foreign entrepreneurs and
transnational companies dominate the sector. Keune and Vugt (2002:
32) speak in this respect of the ‘far-reaching concentration of control
by international companies in the subsectors of transportation, tour
operators, travel agents and hotel accommodation’, while Mowforth
and Munt (2003: 51) use the term ‘new imperialism’. The result of this
foreign economic domination is severe economic leakage due to the
export of profits, the import of materials and goods, the interest paid
on foreign loans, the general exploitation of resources and people, and
increasing inequality (Keune & Vugt 2002: 34).
In recent years, there has been growing awareness of the potential
problems of a one-sided focus on tourism as an instrument for devel-
opment. Many people have argued that the beneficiaries of tourism
development should be local communities and national and regional
governments, not just foreign companies. In this context, the idea of
sustainable tourism has become very popular. Policy makers, plan-
ners and tourists perceive it as an alternative to mass tourism and the
negative effects that are generally associated with it (Mowforth & Munt
2003). Many initiatives labelled ‘community-based’ or ‘sustainable tour-
ism’ have been implemented to promote the participation, empower-
ment, control and ownership of local communities. Corresponding
with a shift in development thinking in general and with the UN’s
Millennium Development Goals in particular, poverty elimination has
become an explicit goal of sustainable tourism development (Mowfort
et al. 2008: 3).2
Despite these laudable objectives, the consequences of cultural tour-
ism at the local level are not always positive. As the chapters of this
book show, cultural tourism presents many challenges. It has become
clear that there is a contradiction not only between the interests of
local communities and large tourism enterprises, but also between local
populations and state institutions. Promoting tourism often means
sanitizing spaces and excluding local populations. Increased benefits

2
Pro-poor tourism is a new form of tourism that has poverty eradication as its main
policy target. The UNWTO’s ‘Sustainable Tourism—Eliminating Poverty’ (ST-EP)
programme is an exponent of this new approach to tourism development.
4 michiel baud and annelou ypeij

for local governments often come at the cost of marginalizing petty

commerce. In addition to these ambiguities, it is clear that the flows
of tourists and finances are both volatile and unpredictable. Although
tourism can generate large benefits, it has proven to be very difficult to
insert any sustainability into this sector, and especially into the cultural
tourism subsector.

Cultural tourism

Cultural tourism has become an important economic sector in many

parts of Central America and the Andes. As such, it has had important
consequences for local and especially indigenous communities. Its eco-
nomic success has led to political and economic conflicts at local and
national levels, and sometimes to changes in existing social and politi-
cal relations. There is growing pressure on scarce ‘cultural’ and other
resources and the revenues generated by tourism often provoke political
and economic tensions. At the same time, tourists introduce new ideas
on political and moral issues, not only by being themselves but also by
talking to people or expressing their opinions, thus influencing local
views and perceptions and generating new forms of social struggles.
Cultural tourism is as much about images, heritage and culture as
it is about material relations, income and profit. Cultural tourism is
defined in this book as the kind of tourism in which the cultural herit-
age, both past and present, stands central. The intercultural encounter
that is an essential feature of this kind of tourism has consequences for
both the tourist and the receiving society. This book focuses on what
Edward Bruner has called the ‘touristic border zone’ in which mobile
and ever-changing groups of tourists encounter local populations that
are more or less spatially bound (Bruner 2005: 17–18).
Cultural tourism and the experience it offers is specific in that it, in
one form or another, involves living people and their cultures. The peo-
ple the tourists are looking for have their own experiences, perspectives,
agendas and agency. Tourism creates articulation and connectivity both
in real life and in the creation of images. For the tourists, the ‘real-life’
experience and direct cultural contact is the essential purpose of their
endeavour. The study of cultural tourism thus also entails the study
of intercultural contact and the creation of counter-cultural images
and new social relations. But while Bruner is interested primarily in
the cultural implications of these interactions, the contributors to this
 cultural tourism in latin america: an introduction 5

book extend his analysis to the fields of social and political relations.
They are interested mainly in the varied responses and adaptations to
tourism in these societies and their social and political implications (as
well as, of course, their cultural implications).
The case studies in this book contribute to the ongoing debate on the
relationship between global processes of change and their expressions
and consequences at the local level. Using the increasing importance of
tourism in Latin America as the point of departure, the contributors to
this book examine the interaction between global and local processes
of change. As Urry (2001: 3) notes, ‘the global’ and ‘tourism’ are not
two separate entities but ‘part and parcel of the same set of complex
and interconnected processes’. This has a number of consequences for
this book.
First, despite taking tourism as the point of departure, the explicit
purpose of this book is not to isolate the sector from other social
and economic realms of society. It has become increasingly clear
that tourism is connected to multiple changes in fields as different as
urban reconstruction, livelihood possibilities, social exclusion, political
reshuffling, business development, migration, etc. The consequences of
cultural tourism can be understood only in the context of these other,
often concomitant developments.
Second, we hope that this book will contribute to the expanding
discussion on what may be called international cultural policies, which
are embodied most visibly in UNESCO but are also apparent in such
organizations as the International Development Bank, the World Bank
and a wide array of NGOs, as well as in such ‘actors’ as Lonely Planet
or tourism agencies. All these international actors present and promote
visions on the value of heritage and culture, the consequences of which
can be understood only at the level of local societies and the ways in
which they respond to these international interventions. This leads to
a struggle over the meanings and uses of heritage sites, and this can
have far-reaching political consequences.
Third, and connected to the previous point, tourism has increasingly
become an important source of state income and an important part of
the development strategies of Latin American states. There is a strong
political side to the development of tourism in contemporary Latin
America: local and national actors compete for and debate the future
development of tourism and the distribution of the income it gener-
ates. At a local level, the benefits of tourist activities are certainly not
divided equally among the local populations. It is especially important
6 michiel baud and annelou ypeij

to understand the existence and development of new power relations

and possibly new forms of conflicts and competition that result from
the development of cultural tourism. In many tourism studies, the com-
mon view is that local populations cannot control the consequences
of tourism. They are seen as either marginalized or oppressed by the
tourism industry and those controlling it, including local elites and
brokers. However, in this book the active participation and resistance
of local populations stands central. Without denying the importance of
the new inequalities and exclusions that result from tourism, the initial
assumption of this book is that local populations are active participants
in the development of cultural tourism and, in more or less overt ways,
decisively influence its outcomes (see Cheong & Miller 2004: 244).
Fourth, it is important to stress in this context that the nature and the
political importance of cultural tourism often lead to important spatial
consequences and the reordering of tourist-scapes. These processes of
reordering could be the result of policies of the state and international
organizations, definitions of heritage sites, competition over tourist
circuits, etc. (cf. Breglia 2006). Whatever their background, however,
they are crucial for the study of tourism and should be considered an
integral part of the struggle for the benefits of tourism.
Finally, tourism is about the creation of images and identities. Paul
Fussell (1980: 43) suggested a long time ago that the majority of tour-
ists are not looking for ‘real’ exotic places, but feel most comfortable
in ‘pseudo-places’, which ‘entice by their familiarity and call for instant
recognition’. Although his book refers to stereotypic resorts in Europe,
in the Internet age the concept may also be applied to cultural tourism.
Today’s cultural tourists hope to find the exotic ‘other’ cultures, but
they often define such cultures in terms of romanticized images that are
constantly reproduced by today’s image industry (e.g. Vich 2007). States
have traditionally been eager to influence and even actively construct
national and ethnic images and identities presented in the context of
international tourism. This is no less the case now than it was in the
past. As Herbert (1995: 1) reminds us ‘tourism is [also] an ideological
framing of history, nature and tradition; a framing that has the power
to reshape culture and nature to its own needs’.
Because of this specific feature of cultural tourism, this book is as
much about imagery and images as about processes of historical and
social change. An important element of this book is the analysis of
images and identities that result from the development of tourism. We
can perhaps take advantage of Fischer and Benson’s idea of different
 cultural tourism in latin america: an introduction 7

types of ‘desires’ that coalesce in the process of tourism. Tourism may

be called a ‘desire machine’, an enormous ideological apparatus with
which a great variety of actors try to satisfy the real or supposed desires
of the tourist consumer. Paraphrasing Fischer and Benson (2006: 12),
we could say that: ‘Along the tourist trail, we do not find disinterested
actors’.
As pointed out, although these desires and images originate in state
activities, the process is just as visible among local populations, which
create and perform all kinds of new images, many of which refer
to more or less well-defined traditional histories and authenticities.
The elements of this new imagery can be ideological (intangible) or
material (tangible). The contributions in this book demonstrate how
interesting it can be to focus on the local producers of these images,
for example public employees, local intellectuals or representatives of
cultural groups. This focus allows us to understand local perceptions
of the tourist experience and the ways reactions to the explosion of
tourist activities are framed in local contexts.

Cultural tourism in the context of Latin American history

The Latin American continent is characterized by a very long period

of colonialism. Three centuries of Spanish and Portuguese colonial
domination had profound consequences for the political, social and
cultural make-up of the continent. During the two centuries following
independence, indigenous societies experienced state interventions and
agrarian reforms, as well as increased rural poverty and large-scale
processes of migration. This has profoundly transformed the content
and meaning of indigenous cultures, but also led to differences in their
ideological embedding in various regions in Latin America. Th is is
clear in the specific position of a place like Cuzco, which has become
an icon of national identity in Peru—and stands in stark contrast to
the regions inhabited by Maya-speaking people in Central America,
which epitomize backwardness and violence. It is important to keep
these differences in mind.
This is even more important in the light of the dramatic events and
processes that have taken place in modern Latin America. The twentieth
century was a period of identity and nationalism, as well as of repression
and violence. Tourism started to develop from the 1930s onwards, and
accelerated in the 1960s. However, it experienced a sharp interruption in
8 michiel baud and annelou ypeij

the 1970s and 1980s when authoritarian regimes, violence and human
rights violations kept foreign visitors away.
In Peru and some Central American countries, the violence was
clearly directed against the indigenous populations. In Guatemala, the
state repression has rightly been labelled ‘genocide’: between 1966 and
1990, more than 200,000 indigenous citizens were killed. Although the
civil war engendered by Sendero Luminoso in Peru was not aimed
at the indigenous population, in 2004 the Comisión de la Verdad y
Reconciliación concluded that around 85 per cent of the victims of the
war were or had been part of that population. It was only after the end
of the ethnic violence and the consolidation of democratic politics that
the indigenous culture could be used on a large scale for purposes of
tourism. This was also connected to the expansion of the international
demand for indigenous rights and the dramatic growth of indigenous
social and political movements.
The long history of social, cultural and political relations have led
to ambiguous meanings of indigenous heritage or indigenous culture.
Much that is now considered and presented as indigenous should
be seen as a result of a long process of change and transformation.
Although this makes these elements no less important or urgent, it
does stress the fact that ethnicity and culture in Latin America should
be seen as elements of the present and not as some kind of heritage
of the past.
This is an important point, because in the imagery that accompa-
nies cultural tourism the emphasis is normally reversed. Indigenous
cultures are then presented as a unique vestige of the past that has
been preserved over the years to be admired by the tourist gaze. The
reinvention of lo indígena thus plays an especially important role in
Andean and Central American cultural tourism. Indigenous culture
has been the issue around which most of the political and intellectual
debates have revolved, and this continues to be visible in tourism’s
iconography. It could be said that this reinvention of the indigenous
culture started around the turn of the twentieth century when urban
intellectuals reconceptualized the indigenous heritage and started to
reconstruct it as a building block for new nationalist ideas. There is
no doubt that this ideological redirection did not initially have much
impact on the situation of the indigenous rural masses, although it
did gradually change the political position of the indigenous popula-
tion and its culture and created the platform on which new forms of
citizenship were construed.
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Utilization
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Title: Sweet Clover: Utilization

Author: H. S. Coe

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SWEET CLOVER:

UTILIZATION ***
SWEET CLOVER:
UTILIZATION
 H. S. COE
Assistant Agronomist, Forage-Crop Investigations

FARMERS' BULLETIN 820

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Contribution from the Bureau of Plant

Industry
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief
Washington, D. C. May 1917

WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1917

S WEET CLOVER may be utilized for feeding purposes, as

pasturage, hay, or ensilage. With the possible exception of
alfalfa on fertile soil, sweet clover, when properly handled, will
furnish as much nutritious pasturage from early spring until late fall
as any other legume. It seldom causes bloat.
Stock may refuse to eat sweet clover at first, but this distaste
can be overcome by keeping them on a field of young plants for a
few days.
As cattle crave dry roughage when pasturing on sweet clover,
they should have access to it. Straw answers this purpose very
well.
An acre of sweet clover ordinarily will support 20 to 30 sholes.
On account of the succulent growth, it is often difficult, in
humid climates, to cure the first crop of the second season into a
good quality of hay.
When seeded without a nurse crop, one cutting of hay may be
obtained the first year in the North and two or three cullings in the
South. Two cuttings are often obtained in the South after grain
harvest. The second year a cutting of hay and a seed crop usually
are harvested.
Sweet clover should never be permitted to show flower buds
before it is cut for hay. It is very important that the first crop of the
second season be cut so high that a new growth will develop.
When the plants have made a growth of 36 to 40 inches it may be
necessary to leave the stubble 10 to 12 inches high.
In cutting the first crop of the second season it is a good plan to
have extension shoe soles made for the mower, so that a high
stubble may be left. In some sections of the country sweet clover
as a silage plant is gaining in favor rapidly.
This crop has given excellent results as a feed for cattle and
sheep. Experiments show that it compares favorably with alfalfa.
Sweet clover has proved to be a profitable soil-improving crop.
The large, deep roots add much humus to the soil and improve the
aeration and drainage. As a rule, the yield of crops following sweet
clover is increased materially.
Being a biennial, this crop lends itself readily to short rotations.
Sweet clover is a valuable honey plant, in that in all sections of
the country it secretes an abundance of nectar.
This bulletin discusses only, the utilization of sweet clover. A
discussion of the growing of the crop may be found in Farmers'
Bulletin 797.
SWEET CLOVER: UTILIZATION.[1]
[1] The growing of this crop has been discussed in a previous
publication, Farmers' Bulletin 797, entitled "Sweet Clover; Growing the
Crop."
 CONTENTS.
Page.
General statement of the uses of sweet clover 3
Sweet clover as a pasture crop 4
Sweet clover hay 10
Sweet clover as a silage crop 20
Sweet clover as a soiling crop 22
Sweet clover as a feed 23
Sweet clover as a soil-improving crop 28
Sweet clover in rotations 31
Sweet clover as a honey plant 32
GENERAL STATEMENT OF THE USES
OF SWEET CLOVER.
The utilization of sweet clover as a feed for all classes of live
stock has increased rapidly in many parts of the country, owing
primarily to the excellent results obtained by many farmers who
have used this plant for pasturage or hay, and also to the fact that
feeding and digestion experiments conducted by agricultural
experiment stations show that it is practically equal to alfalfa and red
clover as a feed.
As a pasture plant, sweet clover is superior to red clover, and
possibly alfalfa, as it seldom causes bloat, will grow on poor soils,
and is drought resistant. The favorable results obtained from the
utilization of this crop for pasturage have done much to promote its
culture in many parts of the United States. On account of the
succulent, somewhat stemmy growth of the first crop the second
year, difficulty is often experienced in curing the hay in humid
sections, as it is necessary to cut it at a time when weather
conditions are likely to be unfavorable. When properly cured the hay
is relished by stock.
At the present time sweet clover is used to only a limited extent
for silage, but its use for this purpose should increase rapidly, as the
results thus far obtained have been very satisfactory.
In addition to the value of sweet clover as a feed, it is one of the
best soil-improving crops adapted to short rotations which can be
grown. When cut for hay, the stubble and roots remain in the soil,
and when pastured, the uneaten parts of the plants, as well as the
manure made while animals are on pasture, are added to the soil
and benefit the succeeding crops. In addition to humus, sweet
clover, in common with all legumes, adds nitrogen to the soil. This
crop is grown in many sections of the country primarily to improve
soils, and the benefits derived from it when handled in this manner
have justified its use, as the yields of succeeding crops usually are
increased materially.
The different species of sweet clover are excellent honey plants,
as they produce nectar over a long period in all sections of the
United States.

Fig. 1.—Cattle pasturing on sweet clover.

 SWEET CLOVER AS A PASTURE CROP.
With the possible exception of alfalfa on fertile soils, no other leguminous crop will
furnish as much nutritious pasturage from early spring until late fall as sweet clover
when it is properly handled. Live stock which have never been fed sweet clover may
refuse to eat it at first, but this distaste is easily overcome by turning them on the
pasture in the spring, as soon as the plants start growth (fig. 1). Many cases are on
record where stock have preferred sweet clover to other forage plants. The fact that it
may be pastured earlier in the spring than many forage plants and that it thrives
throughout the hot summer months makes it a valuable addition to the pastures on
many farms. Sweet clover is an especially valuable forage plant for poor soils where
other crops make but little growth, and it is upon such soils that thousands of acres of
this crop are furnishing annually abundant pasturage for all kinds of live stock. In
many portions of the Middle West, where the conditions are similar to those of
southeastern Kansas, it bids fair to solve the serious pasturage problems. Native
pastures which will no longer provide more than a scant living for a mature steer on 4
or 5 acres, when properly seeded to sweet clover will produce sufficient forage to
carry at least one animal to the acre throughout the season. In addition to this, a crop
of hay or a seed crop may be harvested from a portion of the land when it is so fenced
that the stock may be confined to certain parts of the field at specific times. Land
which is too rough or too depleted for cultivation, or permanent pastures which have
become thin and weedy, may be improved greatly by drilling in, after disking, a few
pounds of sweet-clover seed per acre. Not only will the sweet clover add considerably
to the quality and quantity of the pasturage but the growth of the grasses will be
improved by the addition of large quantities of humus and nitrogen to the soil.
Sweet clover has proved to be an excellent pasture crop on many of the best farms
in the North-Central States. In this part of the country it may be seeded alone and
pastured from the middle or latter part of June until frost, or it may be sown with grain
and pastured after harvest.
When sweet clover has been seeded two years in succession on separate fields,
the field sown the first year may be pastured until the middle of June, when the stock
should be turned on the spring seeding. When handled in this manner excellent
pasturage is provided throughout the summer, and a hay or seed crop may be
harvested from the field seeded the previous season.
Some of the best pastures in Iowa consist of a mixture of Kentucky bluegrass,
timothy, and sweet clover. On a farm observed near Delmar, Iowa, stock is pastured on
meadows containing this mixture from the first part of April to the middle of June.
From this time until the first part of September the stock is kept on one-half to two-
thirds the total pasture acreage. The remainder of the pasture land is permitted to
mature a seed crop. After the seed crop is harvested the stock again is turned on this
acreage, where they feed on the grasses and first-year sweet-clover plants until cold
weather. The seed which shatters when the crop is cut is usually sufficient to reseed
the pastures. By handling his pasture land in this manner, the owner of the farm has
always had an abundance of pasture and at the same time has obtained each year a
crop of 2 to 4 bushels of recleaned seed to the acre from one-third to one-half of his
pasture land. This system has been in operation on one field for 20 years and not until
the last two year's has bluegrass showed a tendency to crowd out the sweet clover. It
is essential that sufficient stock be kept on the pastures to keep the plants eaten
rather closely, so that at all times there will be an abundance of fresh shoots.
Whenever the first crop of the second year is not needed for hay or silage it can be
used for no better purpose than pasturage. In fact, it is better to pasture the fields
until the middle of June, as this affords one of the most economical and profitable
ways of handling the first crop. In addition to its value for pasture, grazing induces the
plants to send out many young shoots close to the ground, so that when the plants
are permitted to mature seed a much larger number of stalks are formed than would
be the case if the first crop were cut for hay. The hay crop is likely to be cut so close
to the ground that the plants will be killed, whereas but little danger of killing the
plants arises from close pasturing early in the season. Excellent stands of sweet clover
will produce an abundance of pasturage for two to three mature steers per acre from
early spring to the middle of June.
Cattle which are pasturing on sweet clover alone crave dry feed. Straw has been
found to satisfy this desire and straw or hay should be present in the meadow at all
times, After stock are removed from the field it is an excellent plan to go over it with a
mower, setting the cutter bar so as to leave the stubble 6 to 8 inches high. This will
even up the stand, so that the plants will ripen seed at approximately the same date.
Experiments by many farmers in the Middle West show that sweet clover is an
excellent pasture for dairy cattle. When cows are turned on sweet clover from grass
pastures the flow of milk is increased and its quality improved. Other conditions being
normal, this increase in milk production will continue throughout the summer, as the
plants produce an abundance of green forage during the hot, dry months when grass
pastures are unproductive. If pastures are handled properly they will carry at least one
milk cow to the acre during the summer months.
In many parts of the country sweet clover has proved to be an excellent pasturage
crop for hogs. When it is utilized for this purpose it usually is seeded alone and
pastured for two seasons. The hogs may be turned on the field the first year as soon
as the plants have made a 6-inch growth. From this time until late fall an abundance
of forage is produced, as pasturing induces the plants to send out many tender,
succulent branches. Pasturing the second season may begin as soon as growth starts
in the spring. If the field is not closely grazed the second season it is advisable to clip
it occasionally, leaving an 8-inch stubble, so as to produce a more succulent growth.
An acre of sweet-clover pasture ordinarily will support 20 to 30 shotes in addition
to furnishing a tight cutting of hay (fig. 2). For the best growth of the hogs, they
should be fed each day 2 pounds of grain per hundredweight of the stock. Hogs are
very fond of sweet clover roots and should be ringed before being turned on the
pasture. The tendency to root may generally be overcome by adding some protein to
the grain ration. Meat meal serves this purpose very well.
The Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station conducted an interesting pasturing
experiment with spring pigs in 1910, In this experiment, pigs weighing approximately
38 pounds each were pastured for a period of 141 days on two plats of red clover, a
plat of Dwarf Essex rape, and a plat of yellow biennial sweet clover. The pigs pasturing
on each plat received a ration of ear corn. The ration given to the pigs on one plat of
red clover and on that of rape was supplemented with meat meal to the extent of one-
tenth of the ear corn ration. The feed given to the pigs pasturing on sweet clover was
supplemented with meat meal at the same rate during only the last 57 days of the
test. The red clover was seeded in 1908 and reseeded in 1909, so that the plat
contained a very good stand of plants at least one year old. The sweet clover was
seeded in the spring of 1910, while the rape was sown on April 4, 1910, in 24-inch
rows. The pigs were turned on the forage plats on June 22.

Fig. 2.—Hogs pasturing on sweet clover.

The results of this experiment, as presented in Table I, show that sweet clover
carried more pigs to the acre and produced cheaper gains and a greater net profit per
acre than either red clover or rape. To judge from the date of seeding of the plants
tested, it was to be expected that the pigs pasturing on the sweet clover would not
gain as rapidly at first as those pasturing on the other forage plants, as the growth of
the sweet clover at this time was undoubtedly much less than that of the other crops.
This assumption is borne out by the results given for the first 84 days of the test.
During this period the pigs on the rape made a net gain of $11.55 per acre and those
on the red clover $6.86 per acre more than those on the sweet clover. In these
computations corn was valued at 50 cents per bushel and hogs at $6 per
hundredweight. During the latter part of the experiment there was but a scant growth
of red clover on the plats, while the sweet clover produced an abundance of forage,
and during this period of the experiment the pigs pasturing on sweet clover made a
net gain of $10.14 per acre more than those pasturing on red clover and $17.41 per
acre more than those pasturing on rape. (Table I.) The difference in net profits
probably would have been greater had white sweet clover been used instead of yellow
sweet clover, as it makes a larger growth and contains approximately the same ratio of
food elements.
Table I.—Relative merits of Dwarf Essex rape, red clover, and yellow sweet clover
when pastured by spring pigs for 141 days, June 22 to November 10, 1910.
Supplementary Total
Average feed required cost of Net
Initial Total
Number daily for 100 100 profit
Forage tested, plat area, weight gain,
of gain pounds of pounds per
and ration. per all
hogs. per gain. of acre.
hog. hogs.
hog. Shelled Meat gain. [3]
corn. meal. [2]
Rape (Dwarf Essex, 0.9
acre), and ear corn[4]
plus one-tenth meat
meal. 18 37.8 2,801.7 1.10 292.5 33.99 $3.79 ......
Reduced to acre basis. 20 .... 3,113.0 .... ..... ..... ..... $88.64

Clover (medium red, 0.8

acre) and ear corn
alone[4]. 15 39.0 1,790.0 .84 370.6 None. 3.71 ......
Reduced to acre basis. 18.75 .... 2,237.5 .... ..... ..... ..... 51.20

Clover (medium red, 0.8

acre) and ear corn[4] plus
one-tenth meat meal. 15 39.0 2,394.0 1.13 299.3 34.77 3.84 ......
Reduced to acre basis. 18.75 .... 2,992.5 .... ..... ..... ..... 64.55

Sweet clover[5] (yellow

biennial, 0.8 acre) and
ear corn[4] plus one-
tenth meat meal. 18 37.8 2,594.0 1.02 313.6 24.70 3.70 ......
Reduced to acre basis. 22.60 .... 3,242.5 .... ..... ..... ..... 74.50
[2] Corn valued at 50 cents per bushel, meat meal at $2.50 per hundredweight.
[3] Hogs valued at $6 per hundredweight.
 [4] During the first 84 days of the test, practically two-thirds of the time, a
limited ration of corn was given, while during the last 57 days the pigs received a
full feed.
[5] The pigs pasturing on sweet clover received meat meal only during the last
57 days of the experiment.

An experiment reported by the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station shows

that a mixture of rape and sweet clover makes an exceptionally fine pasture for hogs.
In this experiment the mixture of rape and sweet clover produced more pasturage
than alfalfa and was preferred to alfalfa by the hogs. It was seeded at the rate of 6
pounds of Dwarf Essex rape and 10 pounds of sweet clover to the acre.
Sheep relish sweet clover and make rapid gains when pastured on it. Care must be
taken to see that pastures are not overstocked with sheep, as they are likely to eat the
plants so close to the ground as to kill them. This is especially true the first year,
before the plants have formed crown buds. Yellow biennial sweet clover probably
would not suffer from this cause as much as the white species, because the plants
make a more prostrate growth and are not likely to be eaten so closely to the ground.
Horses and mules do well on sweet-clover pastures. On account of the high protein
content sweet clover provides excellent pasturage for young stock. No cases of
slobbering have been noted with horses.

TAINTING MILK AND BUTTER.

Milk may be tainted occasionally when cows are pasturing on sweet clover.
However, the large majority of farmers who pasture sweet clover on an extensive scale
report very little or no trouble. The flavor imparted to milk at times is not disliked by
all people, as some state that it is agreeable and does not harm the market value of
dairy products in the least. This trouble is experienced for the most part in the early
spring. The tainting of milk may be avoided by taking the cows off the pasture two
hours before milking and keeping them off until after milking the following morning.

BLOATING.
Unlike the true clovers and alfalfa, sweet clover seldom causes bloat; in fact, with
the exception of the summer of 1915, only a few authentic cases of bloat have thus
far been recorded in sections where large acreages are pastured with cattle and
sheep. A number of cases of bloat wore reported in Iowa during the abnormally wet
season of 1915. No satisfactory explanation for this comparative freedom from
bloating has been offered. It is held by some that the coumarin in the plants prevents
bloating, but this has not been established experimentally.

TREATMENT FOR BLOAT.

Cattle.—If the case of bloat is not extreme, it may be sufficient to drive the animals
at a walk for a quarter or half an hour. In urgent cases the gas must be allowed to
escape without delay, and this is best accomplished by the use of the trocar. In
selecting the place for using the trocar, the highest point of the distended flank equally
distant from the last rib and the point of the hip must be chosen. Here an incision
about three-fourths of an inch long should be made with a knife through the skin, and
then the sharp point of the trocar, being directed downward, inward, and slightly
forward, is thrust into the paunch. The sheath of the trocar should be left in the
paunch as long as any gas continues to issue from it. In the absence of a trocar an
incision may be made with a small-bladed knife and a quill used to permit the gas to
escape. Care must be taken to see that the quill does not work down out of sight into
the incision.
Another remedy consists in tying a large bit, the diameter of a pitchfork handle, in
the mouth, so that a piece of rubber tubing may be passed through the mouth to the
first stomach to allow the gas to escape.
When the animal is not distressed and the swelling of the flank is not great, or
when the most distressing condition has been removed by the use of the trocar, it is
best to administer internal medicine. Two ounces of aromatic spirits of ammonia
should be given every half hour in a quart of cold water, or half an ounce of chlorid of
lime may be dissolved in a pint of tepid water and the dose repeated every half hour
until the bloating has subsided.[6]
[6] See "Diseases of Cattle," a special report of the Bureau of Animal Industry.
For acute bloating the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station recommends 1
quart of a 11/2 per cent solution of formalin, followed by placing a wooden block in the
animal's mouth and by gentle exercise if the animal can be gotten up.
Sheep.—Gas may be removed quickly from bloated sheep by using a small trocar.
The seat of the operation is on the most prominent portion of the left flank.
 SWEET-CLOVER HAY.
When sweet-clover hay is cut at the right time and cured
properly it is eaten readily by all classes of live stock. As the hay is
rich in protein, growing stock make gains on it comparable to the
gains of those fed on alfalfa. The quantity and quality of the milk
produced when the hay is fed to cows are approximately the same
as when other legumes are used. Hay which is cut the first year is
fine stemmed and leafy and resembles alfalfa in general appearance.
Unless it is cut at the proper time the second year, it will be stemmy
and unpalatable. Feeding experiments show that it contains
practically as much digestible protein as alfalfa and more than red
clover, but the hay is not as palatable as red clover or alfalfa when
the plants are permitted to become coarse and woody. When sweet
clover is seeded in the spring without a nurse crop in the northern
and western sections of the United States, a cutting of hay may be
obtained the same autumn. When it is seeded with a nurse crop in
these regions, the rainfall during the late summer and early fall will
largely determine whether the plants will make sufficient growth to
be cut for hay. On fertile, well-limed soils in the East, in the eastern
North-Central States, in Iowa, and in eastern Kansas a cutting of hay
is commonly obtained after grain harvest when the rainfall is normal
or above normal. In many sections of the country two, and at times
three, cuttings of hay may be obtained the second year (fig. 3).
In the South two, and sometimes three, cuttings may be
obtained the first year if the seeding is done without a nurse crop.
When the seed is sown in the spring with oats, two cuttings may be
secured after oat harvest. Three cuttings may be obtained the
second year, although it is the common practice to cut the first crop
for hay and the second crop for seed.
 YIELDS OF SWEET-CLOVER HAY.
The total yields of sweet clover per acre for the season are
usually less than those of alfalfa except in the semiarid unirrigated
portions of the country. Sweet clover ordinarily yields more to the
acre than any of the true clovers.

Fig. 3.—Cutting sweet clover for hay in western Kansas.

When the seed is sown in the spring in the North without a nurse
crop, yields of 1 to 3 tons of hay of good quality may be expected
the following autumn, The Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment
Station obtained 2,700 pounds of hay per acre in the fall from spring
seeding, while the United States Department of Agriculture obtained
3,000 pounds of hay per acre in August from May seeding in
Maryland. Yields of 1 to 2 tons, and occasionally 3 tons, have been
obtained in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, the Dakotas, and other
States. In Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas yields of 1 to 11/2 tons are often
obtained after grain harvest when weather conditions are favorable.
The first crop the second season yields 11/2 to 3 tons of hay to
the acre in the northern and western sections of the United States.
The second crop of the second season will yield from three-fourths
to 11/2 tons to the acre, although this crop usually is cut for seed.
When sweet clover is seeded in the South without a nurse crop
on fairly fertile soil that is not acid, three cuttings of hay, averaging
at least a ton to the cutting, may be secured the year of seeding.
When the seed is sown in the early spring on winter grain, two
cuttings, yielding at least 1 ton to the cutting, may be obtained. The
first crop the second season yields on an average 11/2 to 3 tons of
hay to the acre. In 1903 the Alabama Canebrake Station obtained
21/2 tons of hay after oat harvest and a total yield of 3 tons per acre
from the same field in 1904.

TIME TO CUT SWEET CLOVER FOR HAY.

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.

HEIGHT OF STUBBLE TO BE LEFT WHEN

CUTTING FOR HAY.
It is not necessary to leave more than an ordinary stubble when
cutting the sweet-clover hay crop in the fall of the year of seeding. A
stubble 4 or 6 inches in height, however, will serve to hold drifting
snow and undoubtedly will be of some help in protecting the plants
from winter injury. While sweet clover without question is more
hardy than red clover, usually more or less winterkilling occurs, and
any protection which may be afforded during cold weather will be of
considerable benefit.
While the first crop in the second year comes from the crown
buds, the new branches which produce the second crop of the
second year come from the buds formed in the axils of the leaves on
the lower portions of the stalks which constitute the first crop, as
shown in figure 4. These branches usually commence growth when
the plants are about 24 inches high. In fields where the stand is
heavy and where the lower portions of the plants are densely
shaded, these shoots are soon killed from lack of necessary light.
(Figs. 4 and 5.) The branches which are first to appear and which
are first to be killed are those closest to the ground. It is therefore
very important when cutting this crop to cut the plants high enough
from the ground to leave on the stubble a sufficient number of buds
and young branches to produce a second crop.
Fig. 4.—Sweet-clover plants, showing the
direct relation that exists between the
thickness of stand, the time of cutting,
and the height at which the stubble must
be cut if a second crop is to be expected.
The plant at the left was cut 10 day later
than the plant at the right. Note the
height at which it was necessary to cut
this plant so that a second crop would
develop and also the scars on the stubble
where young shoots had started earlier
and were killed from lack of sunlight.
When the stand is thin the young shoots
will survive, as they did on the plant at
the right, even though the field is cut at a
later date.
 Examination of hundreds of acres of sweet clover in different
sections of the United States during the summers of 1915 and 1916
showed that the stand on at least 50 per cent of the fields was
partly or entirely killed by cutting the first crop the second season
too close to the ground. A direct relation exists between the
thickness of the stand, the height of the plants, and the height at
which the stubble should be cut if a second crop is to be harvested.
It is very essential to examine the fields carefully before mowing, so
as to determine the height at which the plants should be cut in order
to leave at least one healthy bud or young branch on each stub. In
fact, the stand should be cut several inches above the young shoots
or buds, the stubble may die back from 1 to 3 inches if the plants
are cut during damp or rainy weather.
 Fig. 5.—Stubble of sweet clover collected in
fields where 90 per cent of the plants had
been killed by cutting too closely to the
ground. The heavy stands in these fields
were not cut until the plants had made a
growth of 36 to 40 inches. Note the scars
on the stubble where young shoots started,
but died from lack of light.
When fields of sweet clover contain only a medium-heavy stand
and when the plants have made no more than a 30-inch growth, a 5
to 6 inch stubble usually will be sufficient to insure a second crop,
but where fields contain heavy stands—15 to 25 plants to the square
foot—it may be necessary to leave an 8-inch stubble. In many fields
examined in northern Illinois in June, 1916, heavy stands had been
permitted to make a growth of 36 to 40 inches before cutting. In a
number of these fields a very large percentage of the plants were
killed when an 8 to 12 inch stubble was left. (See fig. 5.) A careful
examination of such fields showed that the young branches had
started on the lower portions of the stalks and had died from lack of
light before cutting. In semiarid regions, where the plants do not
make as rapid growth as in humid sections, they may, as a rule, be
clipped somewhat closer to the ground without injury.
On account of the difference in the growth that sweet clover
makes on different types of soil and on account of the difference in
the thickness of the stand obtained in different fields, it is impossible
to give any definite rule as to the proper height to cut the first crop.

Fig. 6.—Shoe sole to be placed on the inner shoe of the mower, so

that a high stubble may be left when mowing sweet clover: A,
End view of the back part of the sole; B, side view of the sole,
showing general shape; C, shape of the front end of the pole
when it is to be used on mowers having shoes of the type used
on Deering machines; D, forward end of the sole represented in
B. The toward end of the sole shown in B and D should be
made for machines having shoes of the type used on McCormick
mowers.
 MOWER CHANGES FOR CUTTING SWEET
CLOVER.
It is good practice to replace the shoe soles of the mower with
higher adjustable soles, so that a stubble up to 12 inches in height
may be left when cutting sweet clover, Shoe soles such as are shown
in figures 6 and 7 may be made on any farm provided with a
blacksmith's forge, or they can be made at any blacksmith shop at a
cost which should not exceed $2.50. Preferably they should be of
strap iron, about one-fourth of an inch thick and 2 inches wide;
however, old pieces of iron or steel which may be found on the farm
will serve the purpose.

Fig. 7.—Shoe sole to be Used on the outer shoe of the mower, so

that a high stubble may be left when cutting sweet clover; A,
End view of the back part of the sole; B, side view of the sole,
showing general shape; C, forward end of the sole to be used
on certain Deering machines; D, end view of the front part of
sole shown in B.
Then these soles are to be placed on machines that have shoes
of the type used on the Deering mower, the forward 8 inches of the
sole for the inner shoe should be tapered gradually to a blunt point
and bent in such a manner that it will hook into the slot in the shoe.
(Fig. 6, C.) When the soles are to be placed on mowers having shoes
of the type used on McCormick machines, the forward 8 inches of
the sole for the inner shoe should be tapered gradually to about 1
inch in width, bent forward so that it will fit against that portion of
the shoe where it is to be bolted, and have a hole of the proper size
bored for the bolt three-fourths of an inch from the end. (Fig.6, B
and D.) The bottom of the sole should be rounded, so as to run
smoothly on the ground when the cutter bar is raised to cut at
different heights. The back portion of the sole should be upright and
should have holes bored in it, so that it may be set for the cutter bar
to rest at different heights from the ground. Preferably the lower
hole of the upright should be located so that when the bolt in the
shoe is run through it the cutter bar will be 6 inches from the
ground. It should be long enough to permit four or five holes, 1 inch
apart, to be bored above the lower one. (Fig. 6, A.)
With some makes of machines it is not advisable to raise the
cutter bar higher than 10 inches from the ground, but when this is
true the cutter bar may be tipped upward, so that a 12-inch stubble
is left.
The forward end of the shoe sole to be used on the outer shoe
should be tapered gradually to 1 inch from the end. The forward
inch should be one-fourth of an inch in width and bent slightly
upward and inward, so that a hook will be formed to fit into the slot
in the front end of the shoe. (Fig. 7, B.) The rest of the sole should
curved, so that it will run smoothly on the ground when the cutter
bar is set to cut at different heights. The upright which is bolted to
the sole should preferably be made of three-eighths by 1 inch
material and should have six holes, 1 inch apart, bored in it, so that
the outer end of the cutter bar may be raised to the same height as
the inner end. On practically all standard makes of mowers the outer
shoe sole hooks into the shoe instead of bolting to it, as is the case
with the inner sole on some machines. A wheel is used in place of a
shoe sole on the outer end of the cutter bar on some machines.
When this is the case, the upright to which this wheel is attached
should be lengthened. On other machines the forward end of the
sole hooks into a slot in the shoe in the same manner as the inner
sole. In this event the front end of the sole should be bent slightly
upward and outward. (Fig. 7, C.)
Before shoe soles are made for any mower a careful examination
should be made of the shoes to determine the exact size required
and the manner in which they should be attached to the forward
ends of the shoes.

CURING AND HANDLING SWEET-CLOVER HAY.

One of the greatest difficulties in curing sweet clover is the fact
that the plants usually are ready to be cut for hay at a time of the
year when weather conditions are likely to be unfavorable for
haymaking. Little trouble is experienced in curing this crop in the
drier sections of the country where the methods used for alfalfa are
employed. The curing of sweet clover is more difficult than the
curing of either red clover or alfalfa, as the leaves are very apt to
shatter before the stems are cured. Every possible means should be
employed to save the leaves, as these constitute the best part of the
hay. (See Table II.)
Table II.—Average analyses of the leaves of four samples of well-
cured white sweet-clover hay.
[Analyses made by the Bureau of Chemistry.]
Constituents (per cent).
Nitrogen-
Samples. Ether Crude
Moisture. Ash. Protein. free
extract. fiber.
extract.
Leaves. 8.70 10.92 3.09 28.20 9.28 39.78
Stems. 8.70 8.08 .70 10.16 39.45 33.06
The hay collected for the above analyses represented the first
cutting the second season. The plants had made a 30 to 36 inch
growth at the time of cutting. It will be seen that the protein content
of the leaves is almost three times as great as that of the stems.
In the drier sections of the country or when the first crop of the
year of seeding is cut for hay in the North-Central States the mower
may be started in the morning as soon as the dew is off. The hay
should remain in the swath until the following day, or until it is well
wilted, when it should be raked into small windrows. After remaining
in the windrows for a day it may be placed in small cocks to cure.
Cocks made from hay which has dried to this stage will not shed
water well and therefore should be covered if it is likely to rain. It is
important that the cocks be made small enough to be thrown on the
rack entire, as many leaves will be lost if it is necessary to tear them
apart.

Fig. 8.—Sweat clover curing in the cock.

When sweet clover is permitted to dry in the swath, a large
percentage of the leaves will be lost in windrowing and loading
unless handled with the utmost care. Hay in this condition should
never be raked while perfectly dry and brittle, but should be raked
into the windrow in the early morning or in the evening, when it is
slightly damp from dew. It may then be hauled to the barn or stack
after remaining in the windrow for a day.
One of the most successful methods for handling sweet-clover
hay, especially in regions where rains are likely to occur at haying
time, is to permit the plants to remain in the swath until they are
well wilted or just before the leaves begin to cure. The hay should
then be raked into windrows and cocked at once (fig. 8). The cocks
should be made as high and as narrow as possible, as this will
permit better ventilation. In curing, the cocks will shrink from one-
third to one-half of their original size. It may take from 10 days to 2
weeks to cure sweet clover by this method, but when well cured all
the leaves will be intact and the hay will have an excellent color and
aroma. When sweet clover is cocked at this time the leaves will cure
flat and in such a manner that the cocks will readily shed water
during heavy rains (fig. 9).
 Fig. 9.—A cock of sweet-clover hay which has cured
in excellent condition and retained all of its leaves.
When sweet-clover hay is to be stacked it is highly desirable that
some sort of foundation be made for the stack, so as to prevent the
loss of the hay which otherwise would be on the ground. Several
feet of straw or grass are often used for this purpose, but still better
is a foundation of rails, posts, or boards placed in such a manner
that air may circulate under the stack.
A cover should be provided for the stacks, either in the form of a
roof, a canvas, or long green grass. If none of these means is
practicable a topping of perfectly green sweet clover will cure with
the leaves flat and will turn water nicely.
It is well known that hay made from either red clover or alfalfa
will often undergo spontaneous combustion if put into the barn with
too much external moisture upon it. No instances of spontaneous
combustion in sweet-clover hay have been noted, but this may be
due to the fact that comparatively little sweet-clover hay is stored in
barns. The same precautions, therefore, should be taken with sweet-
clover hay as with red clover or alfalfa.
SWEET CLOVER AS A SILAGE CROP.
In some sections of the country sweet clover is gaining in favor
as a silage crop, either alone or in mixtures with other plants. The
silage made from this plant will keep better than that made from
most legumes, as it does not become slimy, as is so often the case
with red clover or alfalfa silage. It produces a palatable feed, which
should contain more protein than well-matured corn silage.

Fig. 10.—Filling the silo with sweet clover.

When sweet clover makes sufficient growth after grain harvest,
or when seeded alone, it is not necessary to cut it for silage until fall.
At this time it may be run into the silo alone or in mixture with corn.
Excellent results have been obtained by placing alternate loads of
corn and sweet clover in the silo. (Fig. 10.)
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