J Pike

Rich, I got my soil test done at the PSU. coop extension office in East York its just off RT. 30 same exit as the Galleria mall (MT. Zion rd.) about 10 minutes from the river, make a left off the exit, come to the 2nd redlight make a left onto Concord Rd., you will pass the York Co. Prison on your right ( You know the place were they took you when you had a little too much to drink and didnt behave. on 2nd thought you might not remember because you had alot more than a little too much to drink that night) and then the Post office on your right its just past the Post office, You will get your results mailed back to you in about a week and it cost $8.00. Pike

P.S. incase you dont know how to get to RT 30, drive to the entrance of your trailor park, make a right, head south a few miles, you will go up a huge steep hill, look to your right you might see that 27pt non typical Pie Ball buck, at the top of the hill you will start going down a steep hill, near the bottom, make a left onto the RT. 30 on ramp, cross over the big river and keep heading east.

germain

Farm hunter,actually it' s field that was stripped mined.No shade all sun.1500 feet long sounds about right.

Thanks Jeff for the directions.I' m glad you told me how to get to route 30 because sometimes I get lost.The trailer park always helps me remember though.I' m pretty sure I was there once to get tested,the old ph level was too high.

Oh yeah Jeff,don' t smoke the clover when it drys out,man bad stuff.I saw a 27 point buck charging straight at me and then luckily I passed out.[8D]

Dan O.

germain; you' ll probably want to take 2 or 3 samples from a plot that long. The soil could be very different from one end to the other.

Dan O.

J Pike

Rich, [8D]!!Pike

germain

OK Dan...thanks

Jeff,last week I was bragging to you about my plot now it looks bad,at least not like it did.Guess I sort of stuck my foot in my mouth.[X(]

Question,would a doe and two young ones put a hurting on an acre plot like this?Is that possible?

germain

And another question,can I lime existing clover or will it burn the leaves?

Dan O.

germain; that' s 3 deer that you see. There are probably many more feeding at night. If your clover was young and tender it wouldn' t take that much to strip it.

I don' t add any dry chemical fertilizers etc. if the weather is dry and hot. If you get dust on the leaves the dew will form a concentrated solution on the leaves that can burn them.

Dan O.

germain

Dan,If the deer did eat the clover to the ground would my next step be the deer repellant and will the clover come back?

Dan O.

Farmhunter, or anyone else that' s had this problem?

I' d assume that the clover will grow back if it developed enough of a root system before before they ate it. As if you gave it a low mowing. But, I' ve never had deer clean a planting out.

Dan O.

farm hunter

We have alot of deer and I' ve never seen even sections of a plot eaten down to bare earth. In one 900 ft x 75ft (1-1/2 acres) - I leave 6-8" growth going into winter - and in the spring, before growth restarts with any vigor - its like a putting green from late winter feeding - but it comes back strong.

Germain - You really need to build a test cage - even if its only 2 ft x 2ft and put it in a section. At least you know whether overbrowsing is the problem.

In the spring where I am, you cannot see any difference in growth inside or outside the cage - the deer simply cannot keep up with the fast growth of an established clover field. - especially in a wet spring - food is everywhere.

If it turns out that the deer are repeatedly cutting it to the ground - you may have to explore other options - like planting more acreage - or going with a faster growing crop (like crimson clover/brassica mix). You may have other problems like TOO manay deer for the type of land. For example - if its all open lots, and strip mines, with open woodlots - the area might only sustain 20 deer/square mile - and you could have 3x that amount - In that case - with farm fields scarce or far away - a 1 acre food plot will never be enough until the deer herd is thinned. More plots would help (thats what I did - 20 acres now are planted into " something" at any given time - you should see the undergrowth build back up as food becomes more available).

Good luck - try the cage.