Clovers and how to grow them

STATE NORMAL SCHOOL

LOS ANGELES, CALl*Vttl«A

CLOVERS

AND

How TO GROW THEM

THOMAS SHAW

Author of "Forage Crops Other than Grasses,'

"The Study of Breeds," "Soiling Crops and

the Silo," " Animal Breeding," " Grasses

and How to Grow Them," etc.

NF.W YORK

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY

1913

COPYRIGHT. 1906
By ORANGE JUDD COMPANY

I'RINTKU IN U. S. A.

TO ALL PERSONS
WHO ARE OR MAY BE INTERESTED

IN THE

GROWING OF CLOVERS

THIS WORK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR

St. Anthony Park, Minn.
1906

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In preparing this work, the chief sources of in-
formation beyond the author's experience and obser-
vation have been the bulletins issued by the various
experiment stations in the United States and dis-
cussions in the Agricultural Press.

For the illustrations the author is indebted to
Professor A. M. Soule of the experiment station of
Tennessee, Professor H. H. Hume of the experiment
station of Louisiana and Mr. W. T. Shaw of the
experiment station of Oregon.

THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE

Some books have been written on Clover in the
United States, and as far as they go they serve a
good purpose. Many references and discussions
have also appeared in various bulletins and reports
issued by the experiment stations. These have
proved helpful not only in the States in which they
have been issued, but also in other States where the
conditions are similar. But no book or bulletin has
yet appeared which discusses the growth of clovers
as applicable to all parts of the United States and
Canada. Nor has any been issued which takes up
the subject in orderly and consecutive sequence. It
is evident, therefore, that there is not only room for
a book which will cover the ground with at least
measureable fulness, but also in concise and orderly
succession, but there is great need for it. It has
been the aim of the author to write such a book.

Only those varieties of clover are discussed at
length which are possessed of economic value. The
treatment of the subjects is virtually the same as was
adopted in writing the book on "Grasses and How
to Grow Them." Some references are made to the
history, characteristics and distribution of each
variety. These are followed by discussions with ref-

VI CLOVERS

erence to soil adaptation ; place in the rotation ; pre-
paring the soil; sowing; pasturing; harvesting for
hay; securing seed; and renewing th^ stand.

The book is intended, in some measure at least,
to meet the needs of the students of agriculture, with
reference to the plants discussed and also of all who
are concerned in the tilling of the soil.

St. Anthony Park, Minn.
1906

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. PAGE.

Introductory ----------- i

CHAPTER II.
General Principles for Growing Clovers - - - 6

CHAPTER III.
Medium Red Clover --------57

CHAPTER IV.
Alfalfa -------------114

CHAPTER V.
Alsike Clover ----------- 194

CHAPTER VI.
Mammoth Clover ---------218

CHAPTER VII.
Crimson Clover ---------- 238

CHAPTER VIII.
White Clover - ___.._ 258

CHAPTER IX.
Japan Clover ----------- 279

CONTENTS

CHAPTER X.
Burr Clover -----------291

CHAPTER XL
Sweet Clover - _..... 300

CHAPTER XII.
Miscellaneous Clovers ----... i6

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG. PAGE.

i Alsike Clover — Frontispiece.

Medium Red .__ 61

3 Alfalfa .--115

4 Field of Alfalfa 171

5 Alsike .. - - - - 195

6 Crimson ----------- 239

7 White ----------- 259

8 Japan ----------- 281

9 Sweet --_______-_ 301

10 Sainfoin ------------ 318

11 Beggar Weed (Flower and Seed Stems) - 339

12 Beggar Weed (Root System) - - - « 341

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY

2. S 9 $ S

in this book all the varieties of clover will be dis-
cussed that have hitherto been found of any con-
siderable value to the agriculture of America.
Varieties that are of but little value to the farmer
will be discussed briefly, if discussed at all. The
discussions will be conducted from the standpoint
of the practical agriculturist rather than from that
of the botanist. It is proposed to point out the vari-
eties of clover worthy of cultivation, where and
how they ought to be cultivated, and for what uses.

Definition of Clover. — According to Johnson's
Encyclopaedia^ clover or trefoil is a plant of the
genus Trifolium and the family Leguminoscu. The
Standard Dictionary defines it as any one of several
species of plants of the genus Trifolium of the bean
family Lcginninoscc. Viewed from the standpoint
of the American farmer it may be denned in the
collective sense as a family of plants leguminous in
character, which are unexcelled in furnishing forage
and fodder to domestic animals, and unequaled in
the renovating influences which they exert upon
land. The term Trefoil is given because the leaves
are divided into three leaflets. It is also applied to
plants not included in the genus, but belonging to
the same order.

2 CLOVERS

The true clovers have their flowers collected into
roundish or oblong heads and in some instances into
cone-shaped spikes. The flowers are small and of
several colors in the different varieties, as crimson,
scarlet, pink, blue, yellow and white, according to
the variety, and some are variously tinted. The
stems are herbaceous and not twining. The seeds are
inclosed in pods or seed sacks, each of which con-
tains one, two and sometimes, but not often, three or
four seeds. The plants have tap roots, and in some
varieties these go far down into the sub-soil. The
roots are also in some varieties considerably
branched.

Varieties. — At least twenty varieties, native or
naturalized, are found in Great Britain ; more than
twelve varieties belong to the United States. The
more valuable varieties found in this country have
been introduced from Europe, unless it be the small
white clover (Tri folium re pens}. Viewed from the
standpoint of the agriculturist the varieties that are
most generally useful include medium red clover
(Trifolium pratcnse), alfalfa (Medicago saliva),
alsike (Trifolium hybridum), mammoth (Trifolium
magnum}, crimson (Trifolium incarnatum} and
small white (Trifolium repens). The varieties
which flourish only in'*)' : South include the Japan
(Lespedcsa striata) and the burr clover (Medicago
denticulata) . Sweet clover (Melilotus alba) , some-
times called Bokhara, which will grow equally well
North and South, is worthy of attention because of
its power to grow under hard conditions, in order
to provide honey for bees and to renovate soils.

INTRODUCTORY 3

Other varieties may render some service to agricul-
ture, but their value will not compare with that of
the varieties named.

The most valuable of the varieties named in pro-
viding pasture, include the medium red, the mam-
moth, the alsike and the small white. The most
valuable in providing hay are the medium red, al-
falfa and alsike. The most valuable, viewed from
the standpoint only of soil renovation, are the
medium red, mammoth, alsike, crimson, Japan and
sv/eet. The most valuable in producing honey ac-
cessible to tame bees, are the small white, alsike and
sweet.

Distinguishing Characteristics. — Clovers differ
from one another in duration, habit of growth, per-
sistence in growth, their power to endure low or
warm temperatures, and ability to maintain a hold
upon the soil. Of the varieties named, alfalfa, the
small white and alsike varieties are perennial. That
most intensely so is the first variety named. The
medium red and mammoth varieties are biennial,
but sometimes they assume the perennial quality.
Sweet clover is biennial. The crimson, Japan and
burr varieties are annual.

Some varieties, as alfalfa, crimson and sweet
clover, are upright in their hftbit of growth. Others,
as the small white and the burr, are recumbent.
Others again, as the medium red, alsike and mam-
moth, are spreading and upright. The alfalfa and
medium red varieties grow most persistently through
the whole season. The sweet, small white and alsike
varieties can best endure cold, and the sweet, Japan

4 CLOVERS

and burr varieties can best endure heat. The small
white, Japan, burr and sweet clovers stand highest in
ability to maintain a hold upon the soil.

The minor points of difference are such as relate
to the shape and color of the leaves, the tints of
shade that characterize the leaflets, the shape and
size of the heads and the distinguishing shades of
color in the blossoms.

The characteristics which they possess in com-
mon are the high protein content found in them, the
marked palatability of the pasture and hay, unless
in the sweet and burr varieties, the power which
they have to enrich and otherwise improve soils, and
the honey which they furnish.

Plan of Discussion. — Chapter L, that is, the
present chapter, as already indicated, is introduc-
tory, and outlines the nature, scope and plan of the
work. Chapter II. deals with the general princi-
ples and facts which relate to the growing of
clovers. A close study of these will, in the judg-
ment of the author, prove helpful to those who en-
gage in growing any of the varieties of clover dis-
cussed in the book. Chapters III. to XI. inclusive
treat of individual varieties, a chapter being devoted
to each variety. It has been the aim of the author
to discuss them in the order of the relative impor-
tance which they bear to the whole country and to
devote space to them accordingly.

The following varieties are discussed and in the
order named : Medium Red clover, Alfalfa, Alsike,
Mammoth, Crimson, Small White, Japan, Burr and
Sweet. All of these varieties will be found worthy

INTRODUCTORY 5

of more or less attention on the part of tHe hus-
bandmen in the various parts of this continent.

Chapter XII. is devoted to a brief discussion of
miscellaneous varieties which have as yet been but
little grown in this country, or of varieties of but
local interest. The former are Sainfoin (Onobrychis
sat ha), Egyptian clover (Trifolium Alexandria-
1111111), yellow clover (Medicago lupulina), Sand
Lucerne (Medicago media), and a newly intro-
duced variety of Japanese clover (Lespedeza
bicolor). These may prove more or less
valuable to the agriculture of the United
States when they have been duly tested, a
work which as yet has been done only in the most
limited way. The latter include Florida clover
(Desinodiitm tortuosum), more frequently called
Beggar \Yeed, Buffalo clover (Trifolium reftexuwi},
and Seaside clover (Trifolium invulneratum) .
These may be worthy of some attention in limited
areas where the conditions are favorable, but it is
not likely that they will ever be very generally
grown. They are dwelt upon rather to show their
small economic importance and with a view to pre-
vent needless experimentation with plants possessed
of so little real merit.

CHAPTER II

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES WHICH APPLY TO THE
GROWING OF CLOVERS

In growing clovers, as in growing other crops of
the same species, which embrace several varieties,
certain features of management will apply more or
less to all of these in common. It will be the aim
to point out the chief of these in the present chapter.

Adaptation in Clovers — Adaptation in the va-
rieties of clover considered will be more fully given
when discussing these individually, but enough will
be said here to facilitate comparisons. Clover in one
or the other of its varieties can be grown in almost all
parts of the United States and Canada. Speaking in
a general way, the medium and mammoth varieties
can be grown at their best between parallels 37° and
49° north latitude. Alfalfa has special adaptation for
mountain valleys of the entire West, but it will also
grow in good form in parts of all, or nearly all,
the other States. Alsike clover grows in about the
same areas as the common and mammoth varie-
ties, but it may also be grown further North, owing
to its greater hardihood. Crimson clover has high-
est adaptation to the States east of the Alleghany
Mountains and west of the Cascades, but will also
grow in the more Central States south, in which
moisture is abundant. Small white clover will grow

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES ?

in any part of the United States or Canada in which
moisture is sufficiently present. Japan and burr
clover grow best south of parallel 37° and east of
longitude 98°. Sweet clover will grow in all the
States and provinces of the United States and Can-
ada, but has highest adaptation for the Central and
Southern States.

With reference to adaptation to soils, medium
and mammoth clover grow best on upland clay loam
soils, such as have sustained a growth of hardwood
timber, and on the volcanic ash soils of the Western
mountain valley. Alfalfa flourishes best on those
mountain valley soils when irrigated, or when these
are so underlaid with water as to furnish the plants
with moisture. Alsike clover has much the same
adaptation to soils as the medium and mammoth
varieties, but will grow better than these on low-
lying soils well stored with humus. Crimson clover
has highest adaptation for sandy loam soils into
which the roots can penetrate easily. Small, white
clover has adaptation for soils very similar to that
of alsike clover. Japan clover and burr clover will
grow on almost any kind of soil, but on good soils
the growth will, of course, be much more vigorous
than on poor soils. Sweet clover seems to grow
about equally well on sandy loams and clay loams,
but it has also much power to grow in stiff clays and
even in infertile sands.

Place in the Rotation — All the varieties of
clover discussed in this volume may be grown in
certain rotations. Their adaptation for this use,
however, differs much. This increases as the natu-

CLOVERS

ral period of the life of the plant lessens and vice
versa. Consequently, the medium red variety, the
mammoth, the crimson, the Japan and the burr
varieties stand high in such adaptation. The alsike,
living longer, is lower in its adaptation, and alfalfa,
because of its long life, stands lowest in this respect.
The small, white variety is almost invariably grown
or found growing spontaneously along with grasses,
hence no definite place has been or can be assigned
to it in the rotation. Sweet clover being regarded
by many as a weed has not had any place assigned to
it in a regular rotation, although in certain localities
it may yet be grown for purposes of soil renovation.
(See page 306.)

All these crops are leguminous without any excep-
tion. This fact is of great significance where crops
can be rotated. They have power to gather nitrogen
from the air and store it in the soil in tubercles
which form on their roots, in all soils in which they
produce a vigorous growth. This fact indicates
where they should come in the rotation. They
should be grown with a view to gather food for
other crops made to follow them, which have not the
same power. They should, therefore, be made to
precede such crops as the small cereals, corn, the
sorghums, the millets and cotton. But since these
clover plants have the power to bring nitrogen from
the air, it must not be supposed that they will grow
with sufficient vigor in soils destitute of this element.
They must be able to appropriate enough from the
seed soil to give them a good start before they can
draw nitrogen from the air, hence, though they may.

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 9

be made to follow almost any kind of crop, it may
sometimes be necessary to apply some nitrogen-
ous fertilizer before they will make a vigorous
growth.

The clovers, unless in the case of some of the
smaller varieties, are more commonly sown to pro-
vide hay than pasture in the first crops obtained
from them. The value of the hay is increased or
lessened in proportion as weeds are present. To in-
sure cleanliness in the hay crop, therefore, the sys-
tem which aims to sow clover seed on land to which
clean cultivation has been given while growing on
them a cultivated crop, as corn or field roots, meets
with much favor. The mechanical condition of the
soil immediately after growing these crops also
favors the vigorous growth of the young clover
plants, more especially when they are sown upon the
surface of the land after some form of surface culti-
vation, rather than upon a surface made by plow-
ing the land after cultivation has been given to it,
but to this there may i>e some exceptions.

Clover in some of its varieties is frequently grown
from year to year in orchards and for the two-fold
purpose of gathering food for the trees and pro-
viding for them a cover crop in winter. The
medium red and crimson varieties are preferred for
such a use. The latter is the more suitable of the
two, since it does not draw on soil moisture needed
by the trees, owing to the season at which it is
grown. Enough of the seed of these crops may be
allowed to mature to re-seed the land from year to
year, and thus keep it producing. The clover plants

HO CLOVERS

not only gather nitrogen for the fruit trees, but in
their decay they increase the power of the soil to
retain moisture for the benefit of the trees.

Some varieties of clover may be grown as catch
crops, that is, as crops which are grown in addition
to some other crop produced the same season. When
thus grown, it is usually for purposes of soil im-
provement rather than to furnish food. The varie-
ties best adapted for this purpose in the Northern
States and Canada are the medium red and the
crimson, the latter being much more circumscribed
in the area where it will grow successfully than the
former. When medium red clover is thus grown, it
is commonly sown along with one of the small cereal
grains, and is buried in the autumn or in the fol-
lowing spring. (See page 75.) The extent of the
advantage is dependent chiefly on the amount of
the growth made, and this in turn is influenced by
the character of the soil, the season and the nurse
crop. In certain areas favorable to the growth of
clover some good farmers sow clover along with
all the small cereal grains which they grow. Crim-
son clover is usually sown in the late summer after
some crop has been reaped and it is plowed under the
following spring. (See page 250.)

In the Southern States Japan clover and burr
clover will serve the purpose of catch crops better
than the other varieties. The former will follow
a winter crop (see page 284), and the latter a sum-
mer crop. ( See page 294. )

Although alfalfa is not usually looked upon as a
rotation crop in the Rocky Mountain valleys, it

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES II

may be made such a crop. In these it grows so
vigorously as to fill the soil with its roots in one or
two seasons, hence it may be made to rotate profit-
ably with other crops. (See page 135.) In such in-
stances, however, medium red clover would proba-
bly answer the purpose quite as well, and possibly
better, since the labor of burying it with the plow
would be less difficult.

While some varieties of clover may be grown in
various rotations and with profit, one of the best
of these, where the conditions are favorable, is a
three years' rotation. The first year some small
cereal grain is grown and clover is sown along with
it or, at least, on the same land. The next year
the clover is grown for hay or pasture. The third
year a crop of corn, potatoes or vegetables is grown,
and the following year small cereal grain and
clover. The clover may thus be made to furnish
nitrogen indefinitely for the other crops, but in some
instances it may be necessary to add phosphoric
acid and potash.

Preparing the Soil. — Clovers are usually sown
with a nurse crop. The exceptions are crimson
clover, and in many instances alfalfa. When thus
grown, the preparation of soil for the nurse crop
will usually suffice for the clovers also. But there
may be instances in which it would be proper to give
more attention to cleaning and pulverizing the soil
to properly fit it for receiving the clover seed./ The
leading essentials in a seed-bed for clover arefme-
ness, cleanness, moistness and firmness. Ordinarily
black loam soils, sandy loam soils, sandy soils, humus

12 CLOVERS

soils and the volcanic ash soils of the West are made
sufficiently fine without great labor. Clay soils may
call for the free use of the harrow and roller used
in some sort of alternation before they are suffi-
ciently pulverized. Excessive fineness in pulveriza-
tion of these soils is also to be guarded against in
rainy climates, lest they run together, but this con-
dition is present far less frequently than the oppo-
site.

Cleanness can usually be secured when clovers fol-
low cultivated crops by the labor given to these
when the land is not plowed in preparing it for the
clovers. In other instances the longer the land is
plowed before putting in the seed and the more fre-
quently the surface is stirred during the growing
part of the season, the cleaner will the seed-bed be.

In the spring the land is usually sufficiently moist
for receiving the seed. In the autumn moisture is
frequently deficient. Stirring the surface of the
soil occasionally with the harrow will materially in-
crease the moisture content in the soil near the sur-
face, even in the absence of rain. As crimson
clover is usually sown in the late summer and alfalfa
is frequently sown in the autumn, it may sometimes
be necessary to give much attention to securing suf-
ficient moisture to insure germination in the seed.

When clovers are sown in the spring on land
which is also growing a winter crop, no preparation
is necessary in preparing the land for receiving the
seed. On some soils the ground becomes sufficiently
honeycombed through the agency of water and frost
to put it in a fine condition for receiving the seed.

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 13

When this condition is not present, the seed will
usually grow if sown amid the grain and covered
with the harrow.

When clovers are sown on sod land for the pur-
pose of renewing pastures, disking them will pre-
pare them for receiving the seed. The extent of
the disking will depend on such conditions as the
toughness of the sod and the nature of the soil. Usu-
ally disking once when the frost is out a little way
from the surface, and then disking across at an angle
will suffice, and in some instances disking one way
only will be sufficient. On newly cleared lands the
clovers will usually grow without any stirring of
the land before sowing, or any harrowing after
sowing. Clovers that are grown chiefly for pas-
ture, as the small white, the Japan and the burr, will
usually obtain a hold upon the soil if scattered upon
the surface which is not soon to be cultivated.

Fertilizers. — On certain soils low in fertility and
much deficient in humus, it may be necessary to
apply fertilizers in some form before clovers will
grow vigorously. Such are sandy soils that have
been much worn by cropping, and also stiff clays in
which the humus has become practically exhausted.
In such instances green crops that can be grown on
such lands, as rye, for instance, plowed under when
the ear begins to shoot, will be found helpful. If
this can be followed on the sandy soil with some crop
to be fed off upon the land, as corn, for instance, and
the clover is sown, successful growth is likely to
follow. On clays in the condition named it may not
be necessary to grow a second crop before sow-

14 CLOVERS

ing clover, since in these soils the lack is more one of
humus than of plant food. The application of farm-
yard manure will answer the same purpose, if it can
be spared for such a use.

Other soils are so acid that clovers will not grow
on them until the acidity is corrected, notwithstand-
ing that plant food may be present in sufficient quan-
tities. Such are soils, in some instances at least, that
have been newly drained, also soils that grow such
plants as sorrels. This condition will be improved
if not entirely corrected by the application of lime.
On such soils this is most cheaply applied in the
air-slaked form, such as is used in plastering and
in quantities to effect the end sought. These will
vary, and can only be ascertained positively by ex-
periment.

Usually it is not necessary to apply much farm-
yard manure in order to induce growth in nearly
all varieties of clover, and after free growth is ob-
tained, it is not usually necessary to supply any sub-
sequently for the specific purpose named. In some
soils, however, alfalfa is an exception. It may be
necessary to enrich these with a liberal dressing of
farmyard manure to insure a sufficiently strong
growth in the plants when they are young. Hav-
ing passed the first winter, further dressings are not
absolutely essential, though they may prove helpful.

Farmyard manure applied on the surface will al-
ways stimulate the growth of clovers, but it is not
common to apply manure thus, as the need for it is
greater in growing the other crops of the farm.
When thus applied, it should be in a form somewhat

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES IS

reduced, otherwise the coarse parts may rake up in
the hay. It is better applied in the autumn or early
winter than in the spring, as then more of the plant
food in it has reached the roots of the clover plants,
and they have also received benefit from the pro-
tection which it has furnished them in winter.

In a great majority of instances, soils are suf-
ficiently well supplied with the more essential ele-
ments of fertility to grow reasonably good crops of
clover, hence it has not usually been found necessary
to apply commercial fertilizers to stimulate growth,
as in the growing of grasses. In some instances,
however, these are not sufficiently available, espe-
cially is this true of potash. Gypsum or land plas-
ter has been often used to correct this condition, and
frequently with excellent results. It also aids in
fixing volatile and escaping carbonates of ammonia,
and conveys them to the roots of the clover plants.
It is applied in the ground form by sowing it over
the land, and more commonly just when the clover is
beginning to grow. The application of 50 to 200
pounds per acre has in many instances greatly in-
creased the growth, whether as pasture, hay or seed.
The following indications almost certainly point to
the need of dressings of land plaster: i. When the
plants assume a bluish-green tint, rather than a pea-
green, while they are growing. 2. When the plants
fail to yield as they once did. 3. When young plants
die after they have begun to grow in the presence
of sufficient moisture. 4. When good crops can only
be grown at long intervals, as, say, 5 to 8 years.
It has also been noticed that on some soils where

I 6 CLOVERS

gypsum has long been used in growing clover the
response to applications of the plaster is a waning
one, due doubtless to the too rapid depletion of the
potash in the soil.

Potassic fertilizers give the best results when ap-
plied to clovers, but dressings of phosphoric acid
may also be helpful. Applications of muriate or
sulphate of potash or kainit may prove profitable,
but on many soils they are not necessary in growing
clover. Wood ashes are also excellent. They fur-
nish potash finely divided and soluble, especially
when applied in the unleached form. When applied
unleached at the rate of 50 bushels per acre and
leached at the rate of 200 bushels, the results are usu-
ally very marked in stimulating growth in clover.

Seasons for Sowing. — Clovers are more com-
monly sown in the springtime in the Northern
States and Canada than at any other season and they
are usually sown early in the spring, rather than
late. On land producing a winter crop, as rye or
wheat, they can be sown in a majority of instances
as soon as the snow has melted. That condition of
soil known as honeycombed furnishes a peculiarly
opportune time for sowing these seeds, as it provides
a covering for them while the land is moist, and thus
puts them in a position to germinate as soon as
growth begins. Such a condition, caused by alter-
nate freezing and thawing, does not occur on sandy
soils. Where it does not so occur, sowing ought to
be deferred until the surface of the ground has be-
come dry enough to admit of covering with a har-
row. As in sowing the seeds of certain grasses good

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 17

results usually follow sowing just after a light fall
of snow, which, as it melts, carries the seed down
into the little openings in the soil. But there are
areas, especially in the American and Canadian
northwest, where in some seasons the young clover
plants would be injured from sowing the seed quite
early. This, however, does not occur very fre-
quently. When sown on spring crops, as spring
wheat, barley r.nd oats, the seed cannot, of course,
be sown until these crops are sown. The earlier
that these crops are sown the more likely are the
clovers sown to make a stand, as they have more
time to become rooted before the dry weather of
summer begins. In a moist season the seed could be
safely sown any time from spring until mid-sum-
mer, but since the weather cannot be forecast, it i9
considered more or less hazardous to sow clovers in
these northern areas at any other season than that
of early spring. If sown later, the seed will more
certainly make a stand without a nurse crop, since
it will get more moisture. If sown later than
August, the young plants are much more liable to
perish in the winter.

In the States which lie between parallels 40° and
35° north, and between the Atlantic and the looth
meridian west, clover seeds may be sown in one form
pr another from early spring until the early autumn
Without incurring much hazard from winter killing
in the young plants, but here also early spring sow-
ing will prove the most satisfactory. The hazard
from sowing in the summer comes chiefly from want
of sufficient moisture to germinate the seed.

I 8 CLOVERS

In the Southern States the seed is sown in tHe
early spring or in the autumn. If sown late, the
heat of summer is much against theplants. Seeds sown
in the early autumn as soon as the rains come will
make a good stand before the winter, but there are
some soils in the South in which alternate freezing
and thawing in winter, much more frequent than in
the North, would injure and in some instances de-
stroy the plants.

In the Western valleys where irrigation is prac-
ticed, clover seeds may be sown at any time that may
be desired, from the early spring until the early au-
tumn. The ability to apply water when it is needed
insures proper germination in the seed and vigor
in the young plants.

Methods of Sowing. — Clover seed may be sown
by hand, by hand machines,and by the grain drill, with
or without a grass-seed sowing attachment. These
respective methods of sowing will be discussed
briefly here, but since they are practically the same
as the methods to be followed in sowing grass seeds,
and since they are discussed more fully in the book
"Grasses and How to Grow Them" by the author,
readers who wish to pursue the subject further are
referred to the book just named.

When clovers are sown by hand, usually but one
hand is used. Enough seed is lifted between the
thumb and two forefingers of the right hand to
suffice for scattering by one swing of the same. On
the return trip across the field the seed should be
made to overlap somewhat the seed sown when going
in the opposite direction. In other words, the seed

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 1 9

is sown in strips or bands, as it were, each strip being
finished in one round. Some sowers, more expert
at their work, sow with both hands and complete the
strip each time they walk over the field. When the
ground is plowed in lands of moderate width the
furrows will serve to enable the sower to sow in
straight lines. Where the sowing is done on land
sown to grain by the drill, the drill marks may be
made to effect the same result. When sown on light
snows, the foot-marks will serve as guides. In the
absence of marks it will be necessary to use stakes
to guide the sower. Four stakes are used, two of
which are set at each end of the field, and these are
moved as each cast is made. At each round made
over the field, from 12 feet to 15 feet may be sown by
the sower who sows only with one hand. The sower
with two hands will accomplish twice as much.

A comparatively still time should be chosen for
sowing the seed by hand, more especially when grass
seeds, which are usually lighter, are sown at the
same time. In hand sowing much care is necessary
in scattering the seed, so that each cast of the seed
will spread evenly as it falls, leaving no bare spaces
between the cast from the hand or between the strips
sown at one time. Hand sowing, especially in the
Western States, is in a sense a lost art, owing to
the extent to which machine sowing is practised;
nevertheless, it is an accomplishment which every
farmer should possess, since it will oftentimes be
found very convenient when sowing small quantities
of seed, and in sowing seeds in mixtures which can-
not be so well sown by machines.

2O CLOVERS

Hand machines are of various kinds. Those most
in favor for ordinary sowing consist of a seeder
wheeled over the ground on a frame resembling that
of a wheelbarrow. It sows about 12 feet in width
at each cast of the seed. It enables the sower to sow
the seed while considerable wind is blowing and to
sow it quite evenly, but it is not adapted to the sow-
ing of all kinds of grass and clover mixtures, which
it may be desirable to sow together, since they do
not always feed out evenly, owing to a difference in
size, in weight, in shape and in the character of the
covering.

When clover seed is sown with the grain drill,
it is sometimes sown separately from grain; that
is, without a nurse crop, and is deposited in the soil
by the same tubes. But it is only some makes of
drills that will do this. Dover seed, and especially
alfalfa, may be thus sown with much advantage on
certain of the Western and Southern soils, especially
on those that are light and open in character, and
when the seed is to be put in without a nurse crop.
Eastern soils are usually too heavy to admit of de-
positing the seed thus deeply, but to this there are
some exceptions.

When sown with a nurse crop, the seed is in some
instances mixed with the grain before it is sown.
In some instances it is mixed before it is brought to
the field. At other times it is added when the grain
has been put in the seed-box of the drill. This
method of sowing is adapted to certain soils of
the Western prairies and to very open soils in
some other localities, but under average conditions

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 21

it buries seeds too deeply. There is the further
objection that they all grow in the line of the
grain plants and are more shaded than they would
be otherwise. Nevertheless, under some conditions
this method of sowing the plants is usually satis-
factory.

One of the most satisfactory methods of sowing
clover seeds along with a nurse crop is to sow the
clover with a "seeder attachment;" that is, an at-
tachment for sowing small seeds, which will deposit
the same before or behind the grain tubes as may
be desired. The seed is thus sown at the same time
as the grain, and in the process is scattered .evenly
over the surface of the ground. These seeder at-
tachments, however, will not sow7 all kinds of clover
and grass mixtures any more than will hand-sowing
machines do the same.

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 wrorking 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 i 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 por-
tions of the year than when moisture is sufficient.

22 CLOVERS

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 honey-
combed 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 apper-
tain 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.

Sowing Alone or in Combinations. — Whether
clover seed should be sown alone or in combination
with the seeds of other grasses will depend upon
the object sought in sowing it. When sown to pro-
duce seed, it is usually sown without admixture, but
not in every instance: when sown to produce hay,
it is nearly always sown in mixtures, but to this
there are some exceptions ; when sown to produce
pasture, it is almost invariably sown with something

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 23

else; and when sown to enrich the land, it is,
in all, or nearly all, instances, sown without ad-
mixture.

When sown primarily to produce seed, there are
no good reasons why timothy and probably some
other grasses may not be sown with medium red and
mammoth clover, when pasture is wanted from the
land in the season or seasons immediately following
the production of seed.

The presence of these grasses may not seriously
retard the growth of the clover plants until after
they have produced seed, and subsequently they will
grow more assertively and produce pasture as the
clover fails. Moreover, should they mature any seed
at the same time that the clover seeds mature, they
may usually be separated in the winnowing process,
owing to a difference in the size of the seeds. But
timothy should not be sown with alsike clover that is
being grown for seed, since the seeds of these are so
nearly alike in size that they cannot be separated.

When hay is wanted, the practice is very com-
mon of sowing timothy along with the medium red,
mammoth and alsike varieties of clover. Timothy
grows well with each of these; supports them to
some extent when likely to lodge; matures at the
same time as the mammoth and alsike clovers;
comes on more assertively as the clovers begin to
fail, thus prolonging the period of cropping or pas-
turing; and feeds upon the roots of the clovers in
their decay.

Next to timothy, recltop is probably the most use-
ful grass to sow with these clovers, and may in

24 CLOVERS

some instances be added to timothy in the mixtures.
Some other grasses may also be added under certain
conditions, or substituted for timothy or redtop. In
certain instances, it has also been found profitable
to mix certain of the clovers in addition to adding
grass seeds when hay is wanted. The more impor-
tant of these mixtures will be referred to when
treating of growing the different varieties in
subsequent chapters. When growing them, the
aim should be to sow those varieties together
which mature about the same time. The advantages
from growing them together for hay include
larger yields, a finer quality of hay, and a more
palatable fodder.

In the past it has been the almost uniform prac-
tice to sow alfalfa alone, but this practice is be-
coming modified to some extent, and is likely to be-
come more so in the future, especially when grown
for pasture.

When sown to produce pasture, unless for one or
two seasons, clover seed is sown in various mixtures
of grasses in all or nearly all instances. The grasses
add to the permanency of the pastures, while the
clovers usually furnish abundant grazing more
quickly than the grasses. Several of them, however,
are more short-lived than grasses usually are, hence
the latter are relied upon to furnish grazing after
the clovers have begun to fail. In laying down per-
manent pastures, the seed of several varieties is usu-
ally sown, but in moderate quantities. The larger
the number of the varieties sown that are adapted
tp the conditions, the more varied, the more pro-

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 25

longed and the more ample is the grazing likely
to be.

When clovers, except the crimson variety, are
sown for the exclusive purpose of adding to the fer-
tility of the land, they are usually sown along with
some other crop that is to be harvested, the clover
being plowed under the following autumn or the
next spring. These are usually sown without being
mixed with other varieties, and the two kinds most
frequently sown primarily to enrich the land are
the medium red and crimson varieties. The former
grows more quickly than other varieties, and
the latter, usually sown alone, comes after some crop
already harvested, and is buried in time to sow some
other crop on the same land the following spring.

Sowing with or without a Nurse Crop.
— Nearly all varieties of clover are usually sown with
a nurse crop; that is, a crop which provides shade
for the plants when they are young and delicate.
But the object in sowing with a nurse crop is not
so much to secure protection to the young plants
as to get them established in the soil, so that they
will produce a full crop the following season. Two
varieties, however, are more commonly sown alone.
These are alfalfa and crimson clover.

Alfalfa is more commonly sown alone because
the young plants are somewhat delicate and easily
crowded out by other plants amid which they are
growing. Because of the several years during which
alfalfa will produce crops when once established, it
is deemed proper to sacrifice a nurse crop in order
to get a good stand of the young plants. The other

26 CLOVERS

clovers are usually able to make a sufficient stand,
though grown along with a nurse crop. In some
situations alfalfa will also do similarly, as, for in-
stance, where the conditions are very favorable to
its growth. Crimson clover is more commonly
sown alone for the reason, first, that it is frequently
sown at a season when other crops are not being
sown; second, that it grows better without a nurse
crop; and third, that if grown with a nurse crop
the latter would have to be used in the same way
as the clover.

Some have advocated sowing clovers without a
nurse crop under any conditions. Such advocacy
in the judgment of the author is not wise. It is
true that in some instances a stand of the various
clovers is more certainly assured when they are sown
without a nurse crop, but in such situations it is
at least questionable if it would not be better to
sow some other crop as a substitute for clover. But
there may be instances, as where clover will make a
good crop of hay the year that it is sown, when sow-
ing it thus would be justifiable. In a majority of
instances, however, it will not make such a crop, be-
cause of the presence of weeds, which, in the first
place, would hinder growth, and in the second, would
injure the quality of the hay.

The nurse crops with which clovers may be sown,
are the small cereal grains, as rye, barley, wheat and
oats. Sometimes they are sown with flax, rape and
millet. They usually succeed best when sown along
with rye and barley, since these shade them less and
are cut earlier, thus making less draft on moisture

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 27

in the soil and admitting sunlight at an earlier
period. Oats make the least advantageous nurse
crop, because of the denseness of the shade, but if
they are sown thinly and cut for hay soon after they
come into head, they are then a very suitable nurse
crop. One chief objection to flax as a nurse crop
is that it is commonly sown late. The chief virtue
in rape as a nurse crop is that the shade is removed
early through pasturing. The millets are objection-
able as nurse crops through the denseness of the
shade which they furnish and also because of the
heavy draught which they make on soil moisture.
Peas and vetches should not be used as nurse crops,
since they smother the young clover plants through
lodging in the advanced stages of their growth.

Amounts of Seed to Sow — The amounts of
clover seed to sow are influenced by the object
sought in sowing; by combinations with which the
seeds are sown, and by the relative size of the seeds.
The soil and climate should also be considered, al-
though these influences are probably less important
than those first named.

When clovers are sown for pasture only, or to
fertilize the soil speedily and to supply it with humus,
the largest amounts of seed are sown. But for these
purposes it is seldom necessary to use more than
12 pounds of seed per acre. These amounts refer
to the medium red and mammoth varieties, which
are more frequently used than the other varieties
for the purposes named. They also include the
crimson sown usually to fertilize the soil. When
sown to provide seed only, 12 pounds per acre of the

28 CLOVERS

medium red, mammoth and crimson varieties will
usually suffice. Half the quantity of alsike will be
enough, and one-third the quantity of the small
white, or a little more than that. Whether alfalfa is
grown for seed, for hay or for pasture, about the
same amounts of seed are used; that is, 15 to 20
pounds per acre. When sown with nurse crops and
simply to improve the soil, it is customary to sow
small rather than large quantities of seed, and for
the reason that the hazard of failure to secure a
stand every season is too considerable to justify the
outlay. From 4 to 5 pounds per acre are frequently
sown and of the medium or mammoth variety.

When the mammoth and medium varieties of
clover are sown for hay with one or two kinds of
grass only, it is not common to sow more than
6 to 8 pounds of either per acre. The maximum
amount of the seed of the alsike required when
thus sown with grasses may be set down at
5 pounds per acre. These three varieties are chiefly
used for such mixtures. With more varieties of
grass in the mixtures, the quantities of clover seed
used will decrease. When clovers are sown with
mixtures intended for permanent pastures, it would
not be possible to name the amounts of seed to sow
without knowing the grasses used also, but it may
be said that, as a rule, in those mixtures, the clovers
combined seldom form more than one-third of the
seed used.

The seeds of some varieties of clover are less than
one-third of the size of other varieties. This, there-
fore, affects proportionately, or at least approxi-

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 2$

mately so, the amounts of seed required. For in-
stance, while it might be proper to sow 12 pounds
of medium or mammoth clover to accomplish a cer-
tain result, less than one-third of the quantity of
the small white variety would suffice for the same
end.

The influences of climate and soil on the quantities
of seed required are various, so various that to con-
sider them fully here would unduly prolong the dis-
cussion. But it may be said that the harder the con-
ditions in both respects, the more the quantity of
seed required and vice versa.

Pasturing. — When clover seed is sown in nurse
crops that are matured before being harvested, the
pasturing of the stand secured the autumn follow-
ing is usually to be avoided. Removing the cover-
ing which the plants have provided for themselves is
against their passing through the winter in the best
form. In some instances the injury proves so seri-
ous as to result in a loss of all, or nearly all, the
plants. The colder the winters, the less the normal
snowfall and the more the deficiency of moisture, the
greater is the hazard. But in some instances so
great is the growth of the clover plants that not to
graze them down in part at least would incur the
danger of smothering many of the plants, especially
in regions where the snowfall is at all considerable.

But when the seed is sown alone or in mix-
tures of grain and even of other grasses in the
spring, grazing the same season will have the effect
of strengthening the plants. This result is due
chiefly to the removal of the shade that weeds and

3O CLOVERS

other plants would furnish were they not thus eaten
down, but it is also due in part to the larger share
of soil moisture that is thus left for the clover plants.
Pasturing clover sown thus should be avoided when
the ground is so wet as to poach or become impact
in consequence. Unless on light, spongy soils which
readily lose their moisture, such grazing should not
begin until the plants have made considerable
growth, nor should it be too close, or root develop-
ment in the pastures will be hindered.

It would not be possible to fix the stage of growth
when the grazing should begin on clover fields kept
for pasture subsequent to the season of sowing. The
largest amount of food would be furnished if graz-
ing were deferred until the blossoming stage were
reached and the crop were then grazed down quickly.
But this is not usually practicable, hence the graz-
ing usually begins at a period considerably earlier.
In general, however, the plants should not be grazed
down very closely, or growth will be more or less
hindered.

Grazing clover in the spring and somewhat closely
for several weeks after growth begins, has been
thought conducive to abundant seed production.
This result is due probably to the greater increase in
the seed heads that follow such grazing. This would
seem to explain why clover that has been judiciously
grazed produces even more seed than that clipped off
by the mower after it has begun to grow freely.

In nearly all localities th'e grazing of medium red
clover, and even of mammoth clover, somewhat
closely in the autumn of the second year, is to be

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 3!

practised rather than avoided. These two varieties
being essentially biennial in their habit of growth
will not usually survive the second winter, even
though not grazed, he2ice not to graze them would
result in a loss of the pasture.

With nearly all kinds of clover there is some dan-
ger from bloat in grazing them with cattle or sheep
while yet quite succulent, and the danger is inten-
sified when the animals are turned in to graze with
empty stomachs or when the clover is wet with dew
or rain. When such bloating occurs, for the method
of procedure see page 95. The danger that bloat
will be produced is lessened in proportion as other
grasses abound in the pastures.

Harvesting. — All the varieties of clover, except
alfalfa, are best cut for hay when in full bloom.
Here and there a head may have turned brown. If
cut earlier, the crop is difficult to cure, nor will it
contain a maximum of nutriment If cut later it
loses much in palatability. Alfalfa should be cut
a little earlier, or just when it is nicely coming into
bloom, as if cut later the shedding of the leaves in
the curing is likely to be large.

All clovers are much injured by exposure to rain
or dew. They will also lose much if cured in the
swath, without being frequently stirred with the
tedder; that is, it will take serious injury if cured
in the swath as it fell from the mower. If cured
thus, it will lose in aroma and palatability, through
the breaking of leaves and, consequently, in feeding
value. To avoid these losses, clover is more fre-
quently cured in the cock. When cured thus, it pre-

32 CLOVERS

serves the bright green color, the aroma and the tint
of the blossoms, it is less liable to heat in the mow
or stack and is greatly relished by live stock when
fed to them.

To cure it thus, it is usually tedded once or twice
after it has lost some of its moisture. It is then
raked as soon as it is dried enough to rake easily, and
put up into cocks. When the quantity to be cured is
not large caps are sometimes used to cover the cocks
to shed the rain when the weather is showery. These
are simply square strips of some kind of material
that will shed rain, weighted at the corners to keep
them from blowing away. The clover remains in
the cocks for two or three days, or until it has gone
through the "sweating" process. Exposure to two
or three showers of rain falling at intervals while
partially cured in the swath or winrow will greatly
injure clover hay.

When the area to be harvested is large, clover is
sometimes cured in the swath. When thus cured it
is stirred with the tedder often enough to aid in cur-
ing the hay quickly. It is then raked into winrows
and drawn from these to the place of storage. In
good weather clover may be cured thus so as to make
fairly good hay, but not so good as is made by the
other method of curing. It is much more expedi-
tiously made, but there is some loss in leaves, in color
and in palatability.

Some farmers cure clover by allowing it to wilt
a little after it is cut, and then drawing and storing
it in a large mow. They claim that it must be en-
tirely free from rain or dew when thus stored. This

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 33

plan of curing clover has been successfully practised
by some farmers for many years; others who have
tried it have failed, which makes it evident that when
stored thus, close attention must be given to all the
details essential to success.

Clover may also be cured in the silo. While some
have succeeded in making good ensilage, in many
cases it has not proved satisfactory. The time may
come when the conditions to be observed in making
good silage from clover will be such that the element
of hazard in making the same will be removed. In
the meantime, it will usually be more satisfactory to
cure clover in the ordinary way.

Grasses cure more easily and more quickly than
clovers. Consequently, when these are grown to-
gether so that the grasses form a considerable pro-
portion of the hay, the methods followed in curing
the grasses will answer also for the clovers. For
these methods the reader is referred to the book
"Grasses and How to Grow Them" by the author.
The influence that grasses thus exert on the growing
of clovers furnishes a weighty reason for growing
them together.

Storing. — Clovers are ready to store when enough
moisture has left the stems to prevent excessive fer-
mentation when put into the place of storage. Hay
that has been cured in the cock is much less liable to
heat when stored so as to produce mould, than hay
cured in the swath or winfow. The former has al-
ready gone through the heating process or, at least,
partially so. Some experience is necessary to en-
able one to be quite sure as tp the measure of the

34 CLOVERS

fitness of hay for being stored. When it can be
pitched without excessive labor it is ready for being
stored, but the unskilled will not likely be able to
judge of this accurately. If a wisp is taken some
distance from the top of the winrow or cock and
twisted between the hands, if moisture exudes it
is too damp, and if the hay breaks asunder readily
it is too dry. When no moisture is perceptible and
yet the wisp does not break asunder, the hay is ready
to be drawn. Care must be taken that the wisp
chosen be representative of the mass of the hay. To
make sure of this, the test should be applied several
times.

Where practicable the aim should be to store clo-
ver hay under cover, owing to the little power which
it has to shed rain in the stack. This is only necessary,
however, in climates with considerable rainfall dur-
ing the year and where irrigation is practised, as in
the mountain States clover hay may be kept in the
stack without any loss from rain, and it can be cured
exactly as the ranchman may desire, since he is
never embarrassed when making hay by bad
weather. When storing clovers, the time of the day
at which it is stored influences the keeping qualities
of the hay. Hay stored at noontide may keep prop-
erly, whereas, if the same were stored while dew is
falling it might be too damp for being thus stored.

Much care should be taken in stacking clover hay
that it may shed rain properly. The following
should be observed among other rules of less im-
portance that may be given: i. Make a foundation
of rails, poles or old straw or hay that will prevent

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 35

the hay near the ground from taking injury from
the ground moisture. 2. Keep the heart of the stack
highest from the first and the slope gradual and
even from the center toward the sides. 3. Keep the
stack evenly trodden, or it will settle unevenly, and
the stack will lean to one side accordingly. 4. In-
crease the diameter from the ground upward until
ready to draw in or narrow to form the top. 5. Aim
to form the top by gradual rather than abrupt nar-
rowing. 6. Top out by using some other kind of hay
or grass that sheds the rain better than clover.
7. Suspend weights to some kind of ropes, stretch-
ing over the top of the stack to prevent the wind
from removing the material put on to protect the
clover from rain.

Feeding. — The clovers furnish a ration more
nearly in balance than almost any other kind of
food. If the animals to which they are fed could
consume enough of them to produce the desired
end, concentrated foods would not be wanted. They
are so bulky, however, relatively, that to horses and
mules at work, to dairy cows in milk and cattle that
are being fattened, to sheep under similar conditions,
and to swine, it is necessary to add the concentrated
grain foods, more or less, according to the precise
object. But for horses, mules, cattle, sheep and
goats that are growing subsequent to the weaning
stage, and for mature animals of these respective
classes not producing, that is, not yielding returns,
a good quality of clover hay will suffice for a con-
siderable time at least without the necessity of add-
ing any other food.

36 CLOVERS

It is considered inferior to timothy as a fodder
for horses. This preference is doubtless owing
largely to the fact, first, that clover breaks up more
and loses more leaves when being handled, espe-
cially when being transported ; and second, that clo-
ver is frequently cured so imperfectly as to create
dust from over-fermentation or through breaking of
the leaves, because of being over-dried, and the dust
thus created is prejudicial to the health of these ani-
mals. It tends to produce "heaves." This may in
part be obviated by sprinkling the hay before it is
fed. When clover is properly cured, it is a more
nutritious hay than timothy, and is so far preferable
for horses, but since timothy transports in much bet-
ter form, it is always likely to be more popular in
the general market than clover. The possibility
of feeding clover to horses for successive years
without any evils resulting is made very appar-
ent from feeding alfalfa thus in certain areas of the
West.

Clover hay is specially useful as a fodder for
milk-producing animals, owing to the high protein
content which it contains. Dairymen prefer it to
nearly all kinds of fodders grown, and the same is
true of shepherds. When very coarse, however, a
considerable proportion of the stems is likely to be
left uneaten, especially by sheep. Because of this
it should be the aim to grow it so that this coarse-
ness of stem will not be present. This is accom-
plished, first, by growing it thickly, and second, by
growing the clovers in combination with one another
and also with certain of the grasses.

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 37

Clovers are especially helpful in balancing the
ration where corn is the principal food crop grown.
The protein of the clover crop aids greatly in bal-
ancing the excess of carbo-hydrates in the corn crop,
hence much attention should be given to the produc-'
tion of clovers in such areas.

Renewing. — Because of the comparatively short
life of several of the most useful of the varieties of
clover, no attempt is usually made to renew them
when they fail, unless when growing in pasture
somewhat permanent in character. To this, how-
ever, there may be some exceptions. On certain
porous soils it has been found possible to maintain
medium red clover and also the mammoth and al-
sike varieties for several years by simply allowing
some of the seed to ripen in the autumn, and in this
way to re-seed the land, a result made possible
through moderate grazing of the meadow in the
autumn, and in some instances through the absence
of grazing altogether, as when the conditions may
not be specially favorable to the growth of clover.

It is not uncommon, however, to renew alfalfa,
by adding more seed when it is disked in the spring,
as it sometimes is to aid in removing weeds from
the land. The results vary much with the favor-
ableness of the conditions for growing alfalfa or
the opposite.

In pastures more or less permanent in character,
clovers may be renewed by disking the ground, add-
ing more clover seed, and then smoothing the sur-
face by running over it the harrow, and in some
instances also the roller. This work is best done

38 CLOVERS

when the frost has just left the ground for a short
distance below the surface.

Some kinds of clover are so persistent in their
habit of growth that when once in the soil they
remain, and therefore do not usually require re-
newal. These include the small white, the yellow,
the Japan, burr clover and sweet clover. In soils
congenial to these respective varieties, the seeds usu-
ally remain in the soil in sufficient quantities to re-
stock the land with plants when it is again laid down
to grass. Nearly all of these varieties are persistent
seed producers; hence, even though grazed, enough
seed is formed to produce another crop of plants.

Clovers as Soil Improvers — All things consid-
ered, no class of plants grown upon the farm are so
beneficent in the influence which they exert upon
the land as clovers. They improve it by enriching it ;
they improve it mechanically; and they aid plant
growth by gathering and assimilating, as it were,
food for other plants.

All clovers have the power of drawing nitrogen
from the air and depositing the same in the tuber-
cles formed on the roots of the plants. These tuber-
cles are small, warty-like substances, which appear
during the growing season. They are more com-
monly formed on the roots within the cultivable
area, and therefore are easily accessible to the roots
of the plants which immediately follow. Clovers
are not equally capable of thus drawing nitrogen
from the air, nor are the same varieties equally capa-
ble of doing this under varying conditions. The
relative capabilities of varieties to thus deposit nitro-

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 39

gen in the soil is by no means equal, but up to the
present time it would seem correct to say that rela-
tive capability in all of these has not yet been defi-
nitely ascertained. With reference to the whole
question much has yet to be learned, but it is now
certain that in all, or nearly all, instances in which
clovers are grown on land, they leave it much richer
in nitrogen than it was when they were sown upon
the same.

They also add to the fertility of the surface
soil by gathering plant food in the subsoil below
where many plants feed. They have much power to
do this, because they are deep rooted and they are
strong feeders; that is, they have much power to
take up food in the soil or subsoil. Part of the
food thus gathered in the subsoil helps to form roots
in the cultivable area and part aids in forming top
growth for pasture or for hay. If grazed down
or if made into hay and fed so that the manure goes
back upon the land the fertility of the same is in-
creased in all leading essentials. This increase is
partly made at the expense of the fertility in the sub-
soil. But the stores of fertility in the subsoil are
such usually as to admit of thus being drawn upon
indefinitely.

Clovers improve soils mechanically by rendering
them more friable, by giving them increased power
to hold moisture, and by improving drainage in the
subsoil. Of course, they have not the power to do
this equally, but they all have this power in degree
and in all the ways that have been named.

Clovers send down a tap root into the soil and

4O CLOVERS

subsoil as they grow. From the tap roots branch
off lateral roots in an outward and downward Di-
rection. From these laterals many rootlets penetrate
through the soil. When the plants are numerous,
these roots and rootlets fill the soil. When it is
broken up, therefore, particles of soil are so sepa-
rated that they tend to fall apart, hence the soil is
always made more or less friable, even when it con-
sists of the stiffest clays. The shade furnished by
the clover also furthers friability. This friability
makes the land easier to work, and it is also more
easily penetrated by the roots of plants. The influ-
ence on aeration is also marked. The air can more
readily penetrate through the interstices in the soil,
and, in consequence, chemical changes in the soil
favorable to plant growth are facilitated.

The roots of clovers are usually so numerous that
they literally fill the soil with vegetable matter. This
matter, in process of decay, greatly increases the
power of the soil to hold moisture, whether it falls
from the clouds or ascends from the subsoil through
capillary attraction. The moisture thus held is
greatly beneficial to the plants that immediately fol-
low, especially in a dry season and in open soils, and
the influence thus exerted frequently goes on, though
with decreasing potency, for two, three or four
seasons.

Reference has already been made to the tap root
which clover sends down into the soil and subsoil.
In the strong varieties this tap root goes down
deeply. When the crop is plowed up, the roots de-
Cay, and when they 4o, for a time at least, they fur-

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 4!

nish channels down which the surface water perco-
lates, if present in excess. Thus it is that clover
aids in draining lands under the conditions named.
The channels thus opened do not close immediately
with the decay of the clover roots, hence the down-
ward movement of water in the soil is facilitated for
some time subsequently.

It has been stated that clovers have more power
than some other plants to gather plant food in the
soil. In some instances they literally fill the soil with
their roots. When other plants are sown after the
clover has been broken up they feed richly on the
decaying roots of the clover. Thus it is that clover
gathers food for other plants which they would not
be so well able to gather for themselves, and puts it
in a form in which it can be easily appropriated by
these. The nitrogen in clover is yielded up more
gradually and continuously as nitrates than it could
be obtained from any form of top dressings that
can be given to the land. In this fact is found one
important reason why cereal grains thrive so well
after clover.

Since the roots of clovers act so beneficently on
soils, it is highly important that they be increased
to the greatest extent practicable. Owing to the rela-
tion between the growth of the roots of plants and
the parts produced above ground, development in
root growth is promoted much more when the clo-
ver is cut for hay than when it is fed off by graz-
ing. Experiments have also demonstrated that the
development of root growth is much enhanced in
medium red clover by taking a second cutting for

42 CLOVERS

hay or seed. They have also demonstrated that
more nitrogen is left in the soil by clover roots after
a seed crop than after a crop of hay.

From what has been said, it will be apparent
that the extent to which clovers enrich the soil will
depend upon the strength of the growth of the
plants and certain other conditions. It will not be
possible to reduce to figures the additions in plant
food which clovers add to the soil other than in a
comparative way. Dr. Voelker has stated that there
is fully three times as much nitrogen in a crop of
clover as in the average produce of the grain and
straw of wheat per acre. Dr. Kedzie is on record
as having said that in the hay or sod furnished by
a good crop of clover, there is enough nitrogen for
more than four average crops of wheat, enough
phosphoric acid for more than two average crops
and enough of potash for more than six average
crops. He has said, moreover, that the roots and
stubble contain fully as much of these elements as
hay.

It will also be apparent that where clover grows
in good form no cheaper or better way can be
adopted in manuring land, and that in certain areas
the judicious use of land plaster on the clover has-
tens the renovating process. It is thought that in
some instances tHe mere loading and spreading of
barnyard manure costs more than the clover and
plaster. Especially will this tie true of fields distant
from the farm steading. It is specially important,
therefore, that in enriching these, clover will be util-
ized to the fullest extent practicable.

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 43

Clover as a Weed Destroyer. — Where clover
is much grown, at least in some of its varieties, it
becomes an aid in reducing the prevalence of many
forms of weed growth. It is thus helpful in some
instances, because of the number of the cuttings se-
cured ; in others because of its smothering tendencies,
and in yet others because of the season of the year
when it is sown and harvested or plowed under, as
the case may be.

Alfalfa and medium red clover are cut more fre-
quently than the other varieties and, therefore, be-
cause of this, render more service than these in
checking weed growth. The former is cut so fre-
quently as to make it practically impossible for most
forms of annual weed life to mature seed in the
crop. The same is true of biennials and also peren-
nials. But there are some forms of perennial weeds
which multiply through the medium of their root-
stocks that may eventually crowd alfalfa. Medium
red clover is usually cut twice a year, hence, in it
annuals and biennials cannot mature seed, except in
exceptional instances, and because of the short dura-
tion of its life, perennials have not time to spread
so as to do much harm.

The clovers that are most helpful in smothering
weeds are the mammoth, the medium and the alsike
varieties. These are thus helpful in the order
named. To accomplish such an end they must grow
vigorously, and the plants must be numerous on the
ground. When grown thus, but few forms of weed
life can make any material headway in the clover
crop. Even perennials may be greatly weakened,

44 CLOVERS

and in some instances virtually smothered by such
growth of clover. To insure a sufficient growth of
clover it may be advantageous to top dress the crop
with farmyard manure sufficiently decayed, and in
the case of medium red clover to dress the second
cutting with land plaster. If the second growth is
plowed under, subsequent cultivation of the surface
will further aid in completing the work of destruc-
tion.

The crimson variety is sown and also harvested
at such a time that the influence on weed eradica-
tion is very marked. The ground is usually pre-
pared in the summer and so late that weeds which
sprout after the clover has been sown cannot ma-
ture the same autumn. In the spring it is harvested
before any weeds can ripen. When plowed under,
rather than harvested, the result is the same.

When clover is grown in short rotations, its
power to destroy weeds is increased. For instance,
when the medium red or mammoth varieties are
grown in the three years' rotation of corn or some
root crop, followed by grain seeded with clover, the
effects upon weed eradication are very marked, if
the cultivation given to the corn or roots is ample.
Under such a system weeds could be virtually pre-
vented from maturing seeds at any time, especially
if the medium variety of clover were sown, and if
the stubbles were mown some time subsequent to the
harvesting of the grain crop. Such a system of ro-
tation faithfully carried out for a number of years
should practically eradicate all, or nearly all, the nox-
ious forms of weed life.

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 45

Clover Sickness. — On certain of the soils of
Great Britain and probably on those of other coun-
tries in Europe, where clover has been grown quite
frequently and for a long period, as good crops can-
not be grown as previously, and in some instances
the crop is virtually a failure. The plants will start
from seed in the early spring and grow with suffi-
cient vigor for a time, after which they will show
signs of wilting and finally they die. Various theo-
ries were advanced for a time as to the cause before
it was ascertained by experiment what produced
these results. Some thought they arose from lack of
water in the soil, others claimed that they were due
to the presence of parasites, which in some way
preyed upon the roots, others again attributed them
to improper soil conditions. It is now just about cer-
tain that they arose from a deficiency of soluble
potash in the subsoil. Such, at least, was the conclu-
sion reached by Kutzleb as the result of experiments
conducted with a view to ascertain the cause, of clo-
ver wilt.

The cause being known, the remedy is not diffi-
cult. It is to grow clover less frequently on such
soils. Sufficient time must be given to enable more
of the inert potash in the subsoil to become available.
Another way would be to apply potash somewhat
freely to these soils, and subsoil them where this
may be necessary.

It is thought that clover sickness is as yet un-
known in the United States and Canada, although
its presence had sometimes been suspected in some
sections where clover has been much grown. This

46 CLOVERS

does not mean that it may not yet come to this
country. Should the symptoms given above appear
on soils on which clover has been grown frequently
and for a long period, it would be the part of wis-
dom to take such indications as a hint to grow clover
less frequently in the rotation.

Possible Improvement in Clovers. — Some
close observers have noticed that there is much lack
of uniformity in the plants found growing in an
ordinary field of clover, especially of the medium
red and mammoth varieties. Many of the plants
vary in characteristics of stem, leaf, flower and seed ;
in the size and vigor of the plants ; in the rapidity
with which they grow ; and in earliness or lateness in
maturing. So great are these differences that it
may be said they run all the way from almost value-
less to high excellence. Here, then, is a wide-open
door of opportunitv for improving clover plants
through selection. This question has not been given
that attention in the past which its importance de-
mands.

There may be a difference in view as to all the
essential features of improvement that are to be
sought for, but there will probably be agreement
with reference to the following in desirable varie-
ties: T. They will have the power to grow quickly
and continuously under average conditions. This
power will render them valuable as pasture plants in
proportion as they possess it. 2. They will produce
many stems not too coarse in character. This will
affect favorably the character of the hay and will
also have a bearing on increase in the production of

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 47

seed. 3. There should be an abundance of leaves.
Such production will affect favorably palatability in
the pasture and also in the hay. 4. The blossoms
should be so short that the honey which they contain
may be accessible to the ordinary honey bee. The
importance of this characteristic cannot be easily
overestimated. It would not only tend to a great in-
crease in seed production through the favorable in-
fluence which it would have on fertilization, but it
would greatly increase the honey harvest that would
be gathered every year, and 5. They should be pos-
sessed of much vigor and hardihood; that is, they
should have much power to grow under adverse
conditions, as of drought and cold. The person who
will furnish a variety of red clover possessed of these
characteristics will confer a boon on American agri-
culture.

Bacteria and Clovers. — The fact has long been
known, even as long ago as the days of Pliny, and
probably much before those days, that clover, when
grown in the rotation, had the power to bring fertil-
ity to the soil. This fact was generally recognized
in modern agriculture and to the extent, in some
instances, of giving it a place even in the short ro-
tations. But until recent decades, it was only par-
tially known how clover accomplished such fertiliza-
tion. It was thought it thus gathered fertility by
feeding deeply in the subsoil, and through the plant
food thus gathered, the root system of the plants
were so strengthened in the cultivated surface sec-
tion of soil as to account for the increased produc-
tion in the plants that followed clover. According

4 CLOVERS

to this view, the stems and leaves of the plants were
thus equally benefited and, consequently, when these
were plowed under where they had grown these also
added plant food to the cultivated portion of the soil,
in addition to what it possessed when the clover seed
which produced the plants was sown upon it. In
brief, thjs theory claimed that fertility was added by
the clover plants gathering fertility in the subsoil
and depositing it so near the surface that it became
easily accessible to the roots of other plants sown
after the clover and which had not the same power of
feeding so deeply. This theory was true in part.
The three important elements of plant food, nitro-
gen, phosphoric acid and potash, were and are thus
increased in the soil, but this does not account for
the source from which the greater portion of the
nitrogen thus deposited in the soil was drawn, as
will be shown below.

It was also noticed that when the seed of any vari-
ety of clover was sown on certain soils, the plants
would grow with more or less vigor for a time and
then they would fail to make progress, and in some
instances would perish. It was further noticed that if
farmyard manure was applied freely to such land,
the growth made was more vigorous. Yet, again,
it was noticed that by sowing clover at short inter-
vals on such soils, the improvement in the growth
of the plants was constant. But it was not under-
stood why clover plants behaved thus under the con-
ditions named. It is now known that ill success at
the first was owing to the lack of certain micro-
organisms, more commonly termed bacteria, in the

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 49

soil, the presence of which are essential to enable clo-
ver plants to secure additional nitrogen to that found
in the soil and subsoil on which to feed. When
manure was applied, as stated above, the clover
plants secured much or all of their nitrogen from the
manure. Bacteria were introduced in very limited
numbers at first, it may be through the medium of
the seed or in some other way, and because of an in-
herent power which they possess to increase rapidly
in connection with continued sowing of clover at
short intervals, they came at length to be so numer-
ous in the soil as to make possible the growth of
good crops of clover where these could not be thus
grown a few years previously.

Careful observers had noticed that certain warty-
like substances were found attached to the roots of
clover plants, and that the more vigorously the plants
grew, the larger and more numerous were these sub-
stances, as a rule. It was thought by many that these
warty substances, now spoken of as nodules, were
caused by worms biting the roots or because of some
unfavorable climatic influence or abnormal condition
of soil. It is now known that they are owing to the
presence of bacteria, whose special function is the
assimilation of free nitrogen obtained in the air
found in the interstices; that is, the air spaces be-
tween the particles of soil. This they store up in
the nodules for the use of the clover plants and
also the crops that shall follow them.

The nodules in clover plants vary in size, from a
pin head to that of a pea, and they are frequently
present in large numbers. Bacteria are present

5O CLOVERS

within them in countless myriads. They gain an
entrance into the plant through the root hairs. The
exact way in which benefit thus comes to the clover
plants is not fully understood, but it is now quite
generally conceded that the nitrogen taken in by
these minute forms of life is converted into soluble
compounds, which are stored in the tissues of the
roots, stems and leaves of ,the plants, thus furnish-
ing an explanation to the increased vigor. It can-
not be definitely ascertained at present, if, indeed,
ever, what proportion of the nitrogen in clover is taken
from the air and from the soil, respectively, since it
will vary with conditions, but when these are normal,
it is almost certain that by far the larger proportion
comes from the air. But it has been noticed that
when soil is freely supplied with nitrogen, as in
liberal applications of farmyard manure, the plants
do not form nodules so freely as when nitrogen is
less plentiful in the soil. The inference would, there-
fore, seem to be correct, that when plants are well
supplied with nitrogen in the soil they are less dili-
gent, so to speak, in gathering it from the air. In
other words, clover plants will take more nitrogen
from the air when the soil is more or less nitrogen
hungry than when nitrogen abounds in the soil.
And yet the plants should be able to get some nitro-
gen from the soil in addition to what the seed fur-
nishes to give them a vigorous start.

This power to form tubercles, and thus to store up
nitrogen, is by no means confined to clovers. It is
possessed by all legumes, as peas, beans and vetches.
It is claimed that some of these, as soy beans, cow

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 5" I

peas and velvet beans, have even greater power to
gather nitrogen from the air and store it in the soil
than clover, since the nodules formed on the roots of
these are frequently larger. In some instances, on
the roots of the velvet bean they grow in clusters as
large as an ordinary potato. With reference to all
these leguminous plants it has been demonstrated
that under proper conditions good crops may be
grown and removed from the soil and leave it much
richer in nitrogen than when the seed was sown.
It is thus possible by sowing these crops at suitable
intervals to keep the soil sufficiently supplied with
nitrogen to grow good crops other than legumes,
adapted to the locality, without the necessity for
purchasing the nitrogen of commerce in any of
its forms. They may be made to more than main-
tain the supply of nitrogen, notwithstanding the
constant loss of the same by leeching down into the
subsoil in the form of nitrates, and through the more
or less constant escape of the same into the air in the
form of ammonia, during those portions of the year
when the ground is not frozen.

They will do this in addition to the food supplies
which they furnish, hence they may be made to sup-
ply this most important element of fertility, and by
far the most costly when purchased in the market,
virtually without cost. The favorable influences
which these plants thus exert upon crop production
is invaluable to the farmer. They make it possible
for him to be almost entirely independent of the
nitrogen of commerce, which, at the rate of con-
sumption during recent years, will soon be so far

52 CLOVERS

reduced as to be a comparatively insignificant factor in
its relation to crop production. It is possible, how-
ever, and not altogether improbable, that by the aid
of electricity a manufactured nitrate of soda or of
potash may be put upon the market at a price which
will put it within reach of the farmer. The power
of legumes to increase the nitrogen content in the
soil should allay apprehension with reference to the
possible exhaustion of the world's supply of nitro-
gen, notwithstanding the enormous waste of the
same in various ways.

The more common sources of loss in nitrogen
are, first, through the leeching of nitrates into the
drainage water; second, through oxidation; third,
through the use of explosives in war; and fourth,
through the waste of the sewerage of cities. When
plant and animal products are changed into soluble
nitrates, they are usually soon lost to the soil, un-
less taken up by the roots of plants. When vege-
table matter on or near the surface of the ground is
broken down and decomposed, in the process of oxi-
dation,there is frequently much loss of nitrogen,as in
the rapid decomposition of farmyard manure in the
absence of some material, as land plaster, to arrest
and hold the escaping ammonia. Through explo-
sives used in war there is an enormous vegetable
loss of nitrogen, as nitrate salts, which should
rather be used to preserve and sustain life than
to destroy it. The waste of nitrogen through
the loss of sewerage is enormous, nor does there
seem to be any practicable, way of. saying the bulk
Of it.

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 53

In many soils the germs which produce nodules
are present when clovers are first grown on them.
But where they are not present, the clover plants
have no more power to gather nitrogen than wheat
or other non-leguminous crops. But since in other
soils they are almost entirely absent, how shall they
be introduced ? The process of introducing them is
generally referred to as a process of inoculation, and
soils when treated successfully are said to be inocu-
lated.

Three methods have been adopted. By the first,
as previously indicated, the grower perseveres in
sowing clover at short intervals in the rotation. He
may also add farmyard manure occasionally, and
tjus, through the inherent power of multiplication in
the bacteria, they increase sufficiently to enable the
land to grow good crops. By the second method,
inoculating is effected through soil which is pos-
sessed of the requisite bacteria ; and by the third, it
is effected through the aid of a prepared product
named nitragin.

When fields are to be inoculated by using soil it is
obtained from areas which have grown clovers suc-
cessfully quite recently, and which are, therefore,
likely to be well filled with the desired bacteria. In
some instances the seed is mixed with the soil and
these are sown together. To thus mix the seed with
the soil and then sow both together broadcast or
with a seed drill is usually effective, and it is prac-
ticable when minimum quantities of soil well laden
with germs are used. In other instances the soil
containing germs is scattered broadcast before or

54 CLOVERS

soon after the seed is sown. Considerable quantities
of earth must needs be applied by this method.

It should be remembered that each class of
legumes has its own proper bacteria. Because of
this, inoculation can only, or at least chiefly, be ef-
fected through the use of soils on which that par-
ticular class of legumes have grown, or which are
possessed of bacteria proper to that particular species.
In other words, bacteria necessary to the growth of
vetches will not answer for the growth of clovers,
and vice versa. Nor will the bacteria requisite to
grow medium red clover answer for growing alfalfa.
In other words, the bacteria proper to the growth of
one member of even a family of plants will not al-
ways answer for the growth of another member of
the same. But in some instances it is thought that
it will answer. The study of this phase of the ques-
tion has not yet progressed far enough to reflect as
much light upon it as could be desired. It is cer-
tainly known, however, that alfalfa will grow on
soils that grow burr clover (Medicago maculata)
and sweet clover (Melilotus alba}, hence the infer-
ence that soil from fields of either will inoculate for
alfalfa.

Nitragin is the name given by certain German in-
vestigators to a commercial product put upon the
market, which claims to be a pure culture of the
root tubercle organism. These cultures were sold in
the liquid form, and it was customary when using
them to treat the seed with them before it was
planted. Their use has been largely abandoned, be-
cause of the few successes which followed their use

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 55

compared with the many failures. But it is now
believed that these cultures can be prepared and used
so as to be generally effective and without excessive
cost to the grower.

In preparing cultures it has been found that by
gradually reducing the amount of nitrogen in the
culture of media, it is possible to increase the nitro-
gen fixing power in these germs from five to ten
tim.es as much as usually occurs in nature. It is now
known that the bacteria thus grown upon nitrogen
free media retain high activity if carefully dried and
then revived in liquid media at the end of the vary-
ing lengths of time. Some absorbent is used to soak
up the tubercle-forming organisms. The cultures
are then allowed to dry, and when in that condi-
tion they can be safely sent to any part of the coun-
try without losing their efficacy. It is necessary to
revive the dry germs by immersing them in water.
By adding certain nutrient salts the bacteria are
greatly increased if allowed to stand for a limited
time — as short, in some instances, as 24 hours. The
culture thus sent out. in a dry form, and no larger
than a yeast cake, may thus be made to furnish bac-
teria sufficient to inoculate not less than an acre of
land. It is stated that the amount of inoculating
material thus obtained is only limited by the quan-
tity of the nutrient water solution used in increasing
the germs, so that the cost of inoculating land by
this process is not large. The culture may be applied
by simply soaking the seed in it, by spraying the
soil, or by first mixing the culture into earth, spread-
ing it over the field and then harrowing it. Inocu-

56 CLOVERS

lations thus tried under the supervision of the
United States Department of Agriculture have
proved quite successful.

Where any legume is extensively grown surround-
ing soils come to be inoculated through the agency of
winds and water. The increase brought to the yield
of plants on various soils runs all the way from
a slight gain to looo-fold. And when soil is once
inoculated it remains so for a long time, even though
the proper legume should not be grown again on the
same soil.

The amount of nitrogen that may thus be brought
to many soils by growing clover and other legumes
upon them is only hedged in practically by the
nature of the rotation fixed upon. An acre of clo-
ver when matured will sometimes add 200 to 300
pounds of nitrogen to the soil under favorable con-
ditions. Where the soil contains the requisite bac-
teria, the young plants begin to form tubercles when
but a few weeks old, and continue to do so while the
plant is active until mature. That the plants use
much of the nitrogen while growing would seem
to be clear, from the fact that toward the close of
the growing season the tubercles become more or
less broken down and shrunken.

CHAPTER III

MEDIUM RED CLOVER

Medium Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) is also
known by the names Common Red Clover, Broad-
Leaved Clover and Meadow Trefoil. The term
medium has doubtless come to be applied to it be-
cause the plants are in size intermediate between
the Mammoth variety (Trifolium magnum) and the
smaller varieties, as the Alsike (Trifolium hybri-
dum) and the small white (Trifolium repens).
But by no designation is it so frequently referred
to as that of Red Clover.

This plant is spreading and upright in its habit
of growth. Several branches rise up from the
crown of each plant, and these in turn frequently
become branched more or less in their upward
growth. The heads which produce the flowers are
nearly globular in shape, inclining to ovate, and
average about one inch in diameter. Each plant
contains several heads, and frequently a large num-
ber when the growth is not too crowded. When in
full flower these are of a beautiful purple crimson,
hence, a field of luxuriant red clover is beautiful to
look upon. The stems of the plants are slightly
hairy, and ordinarily they stand at least fairly erect
and reach the height of about one foot or more ; but
when the growth is rank, they will grow much

5$ CLOVERS

higher, even as high as 4 feet in some instances, but
when they grow much higher than the average
given, the crop usually lodges. The leaves are nu-
merous, and many of them have very frequently, if
not, indeed, always, a whitisK mark in the center,
resembling a horseshoe. The tap roots go down
deeply into the soil. Usually they penetrate the same
to about 2 feet, but in some instances, as when sub-
soils are open and well stored with accessible food,
they go down to the depth of 5 or 6 feet. The tap
roots are numerously branched, and the branches ex-
tend in all directions. When they are short, as they
must needs be in very stiff subsoils and on thin land
underlaid with hard soil, the branches become about
as large as the tap roots. It has been computed that
the weight of the roots in the soil is about equal to
the weight of the stem and leaves.

Medium red clover is ordinarily biennial in its
habit of growth, but under some conditions it is
perennial. Usually in much of the Mississippi
basin it is biennial, especially on prairie soils. On
the clay loam soils of Ontario, Ohio, Michigan, Wis-
consin, Indiana and some other States, it is essen-
tially biennial, but many of the plants will survive
for a longer period. In tHe mountain valleys in the
Northwestern States, and on the Pacific slope west
of the Cascade Mountains, it is perennial. Medium
red clover meadows in these have been cut for sev-
eral successive years without re-seeding the crop.
The duration of this plant is also more or less in-
fluenced by pasturing as compared with cutting for
'seed. Grazing the plants has the effect of prolong-

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 59

ing the period of their growth, while maturing seed
from them has the opposite effect.

Medium red clover is characterized by a rapid
growth. Seed sown in the spring has in certain
climates produced a crop of hay in 120 days from
the date of sowing. It is also most persistent in its
growth from spring until fall when sufficient mois-
ture is present. In this property it far outranks any
of the other varieties of clover. It comes into bloom
in the South during the latter half of May and in the
North during the month of June, early or later, ac-
cording to location, and in about sixty days from
the time that it is cut for hay. Ordinarily, a second
cutting of hay may be taken from it and still later
some pasture.

It furnishes excellent pasture, soiling food and
hay for nearly all classes of live stock. While it is
much relished by the stock, it is probably not ex-
ceeded in its capacity for quick and prolonged
growth throughout the growing season by any pas-
ture plant, except alfalfa. For a similar reason it
stands high as a soiling food. No other variety of
clover grown in America will furnish as much of
either pasture or soiling food. For animals pro-
ducing milk and for young animals, the pasture is
particularly excellent. It is also the standard pas-
ture for swine where it can be grown, and where
alfalfa is not a staple crop. When the hay is well
cured, it makes a ration in even balance for cattle
and sheep, and for horses it is equally good. The
prejudice which exists in some quarters against
feeding it to horses has arisen, in part, at least, from

60 CLOVERS

feeding- it when improperly harvested, when over-
ripe, when damaged by rain, or by overcuring in the
sun, or when it may have been stored so green as
to induce molding. It may also be fed with much
advantage to brood sows and other swine in winter.

As a soil improver, medium red clover is prob-
ably without a rival, unless it be in mammoth clover,
and in one respect it exceeds the mammoth variety ;
that is, in the more prolonged season, during
which it may be plowed under as a green manure.
Its quick growth peculiarly adapts it to soil enrich-
ment. For this reason, it is more sown than any of
the other varieties in the spring of the year, along
with the small cereal grains to be plowed under in
the late autumn or in the following spring, after the
clover has made a vigorous start, since it produces
two crops in one season, the first crop may be har-
vested and the second plowed under after having
made a full growth. This can be said of no other
variety of clover. More enrichment is also obtained
from the falling of the leaves when two crops are
grown than from the other varieties.

The influence of this plant on weed destruction
when grown for hay is greater than with the other
varieties of clover. This is owing in part to the
shade resulting from its rapid growth and in part
to the two cuttings which are usually made of the
crop. These two cuttings prevent the maturing of
the seeds in nearly all annual weeds, and to a very
great extent in all classes of biennials. The power
of this crop to smother out perennials is also con-
siderable, and when this is linked with the weakening

(61)

Fig. 2. Medium Red Clover ( Trifolium pratenst)

Oregon Experiment Station

62 CLOVERS

caused by the two cuttings, it sometimes proves ef-
fective in completely eradicating for the time being
this class of weeds.

Distribution — Medium red clover is thought to
be native to Europe. It was probably introduced
into England some time early in the seventeenth
century. That it was attracting attention about the
middle of the century or a little later, is rendered
probable by the fact that it is discussed at consid-
erable length in the third edition of Blyth's "Im-
prover Improved," published in 1662, while it is
not mentioned in the first edition, published in 1650.
It was doub less introduced into the United States
by the early colonists and at sundry times.

Medium red clover will grow in good form only
in the temperate zone, since it cannot stand excessive
heat or excessive cold. The northerly limit of its
successful growth in North America is somewhere
about 50° north latitude on the wind-swept prairies,
but on suitable soils, and protected somewhat by
trees and winter snows, it will probably grow
10 degrees further to the north. In British Colum-
bia, on the Pacific slope, it will probably grow as
far north as Alaska. But on prairies eastward from
the Rocky Mountains, it has not been grown with
much success much further north than 48°, unless
under the eastern shadow of the Rocky Mountains.
Low temperatures in winter, where there is only a
moderate covering of snow, are far less fatal to
clover plants than exposure to the sweep of the cold
winds. Even where the thermometer is not so low
as in the areas just referred to, such winds are par-

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 63

ticularly damaging to the plants when they blow
fiercely just after a thaw which has removed a previ-
ous covering of snow. In some instances, one cold
wave under the conditions named has proved
fatal to promising crops of clover over extended
areas.

In a general way, the southerly limit of vigorous
and reliable growth may be put at about 37°. But
in some localities good crops may be grown further
South, especially in some parts of Tennessee. Nor
would it be correct to say that medium red clover
grows at its best in many localities much south of
38°. On the plateaus it can be grown further South,
where the soil is suitable.

This plant flourishes best in a moist climate. In
fact, the abundance and continuance of the growth
for the season are largely dependent on the amount
of the precipitation, and on the distribution of the
same throughout the season. In climates in which
it is usual for a long spell of dry weather to occur
in mid-summer, the plants will not make rapid
growth after the first cutting of the season; but
under conditions the opposite, they will grow con*
tinuously from spring until fall. Continuous growth
may be secured through all the season on irrigated
land. Although the plants root deeply, they will suc-
cumb under drought beyond a certain degree, and
in some soils the end comes much more quickly than
on others ; on porous and sandy soils, it comes much
sooner than on clays. On the latter, drought must be
excessive to destroy clover plants that have been well
rooted. White clover can withstand much heat when

64 CLOVERS

supplied with moisture. Moderate temperatures are
much more favorable to its growth.

Spring weather, characterized by prolonged peri-
ods of alternate freezing and thawing, is disastrous
to the plants on dry soils, possessed of an excess of
moisture, when not covered with snow. They are
gradually drawn up out of the soil and left to die
on the surface. In some instances, the destruction
of an otherwise fine stand is complete. In other in-
stances, it is partial, and when it is, a heavy roller
run over the land is helpful in firming the soil around
the roots that have been thus disturbed.

Medium red clover can be grown with some suc-
cess in certain parts of almost every State in the
Union. But in paying crops it is not much grown
south of parallel 37°. With irrigation it grows
most vigorously in the mountain valleys between the
Rocky and Cascade mountains, and between about
37° and 50° north latitude. In these valleys its habit
of growth is perennial. Without irrigation, the
highest adaptation, all things considered, is found
in Washington and Oregon, west of the Cascades,
except where shallow soils lying on gravels exist.
East of the mountains, the best crops are in the
States of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illi-
nois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The soils of Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and
Michigan, that have produced hardwood timber,
have unusually high adaptation to the growth of this
plant, and as the snow usually covers the ground
in these areas in winter, the crop may be relied upon
with much certainty. But on the sandy soils, which

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 65

more or less abound in these areas, it does not suc-
ceed so well. It has not yet proved a marked suc-
cess in Western Minnesota or in the Dakotas, owing
in part probably to the lack of the proper bacteria
in the soil. Its growth in these localities, however,
is extending from year to year. Indiana and Ohio
are great clover States, and the same is true of much
of Illinois and Iowa ; but southward in these States
there is some hazard to the young plants from
drought and heat in summer, and to an occasional
frost in winter when the ground is bare.

East of the States named, it would probably be
correct to say that the highest adaptation is found
in New York and Pennsylvania, particularly the
former, in many parts of which excellent crops are
grown. In various parts of the New England States
good crops may also be grown. Much of the soil
in these is not sufficiently fertile to grow clover as
it can be grown in the more Central States. The
same is true of the States of Delaware, Maryland
and Eastern Virginia, east of the Rocky Mountains,
south from the Canadian boundary and west from
Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri, but little success has
heretofore attended the efforts to grow medium red
clover. This statement does not apply equally to
Eastern Nebraska and Kansas. Usually the climate
is not moist enough in summer, the sweep of the cold
winds is too great in winter, the snowfall is usually
insufficient to protect the plants, and it may be also
that the requisite bacteria is lacking in the soil. Some-
time, however, these adverse conditions may in part
be overcome by man's resourcefulness. In parts of

5

66 CLOVERS

States that lie south of the 37th parallel, it may be
found profitable to grow crops of medium red clo-
ver; but in these, other legumes, as crimson clover,
cow peas and soy beans, will probably furnish food
more reliably and more cheaply.

In Canada the highest all-round adaptation for
clover is in Ontario and Quebec, unless it be the
mountain valleys and tide lands of British Columbia
Because of the high adaptation in the soil of the
two provinces first named, and the pi entif ulness of
the snowfall, clover in these is one of the surest of
the crops grown. The maritime provinces of New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward's
Island, particularly the former, have soils a little too
hungry to produce the highest returns in clover. On
the open prairies between Ontario and the Rocky
Mountains, not much success has attended the at-
tempts to grow any kind of clover, owing probably
to present uncongeniality in soils and more espe-
cially in climatic conditions. However, there are
good reasons for believing that with the introduc-
tion of hardy varieties and through the use of North-
ern grown seed, an inoculated soil, where inocula-
tion may be necessary, that medium red clover will
yet be grown over wide areas in all the provinces of
Northwestern Canada, south of and including the
Saskatchewan valley.

Soils. — Fortunately, this most useful plant will
grow in a considerable variety of soils, though, of
course, not equally well. Highest in general suit-
ability, probably, are clay loams underlaid with a
moderately porous clay subsoil. They should at

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 67

the same time be moist and reasonably well stored
with humus. On such a soil, in a climate with suf-
ficient rainfall and properly distributed, a stand of
clover should be looked upon as reasonably certain
any season when properly sown. It would also be
correct to say that on the volcanic soils of the moun-
tain States in the West, clover will grow equally
well when supplied with moisture, and in these it is
also very tenacious of life.

Next in adaptation are what may be termed loam
soils, also underlaid with clay. The proportion of
the clay in them will exercise an important influence
on the growth of the clover. Loamy sands will
grow clover better than sandy loams, although
both are very suitable, the other conditions being
right.

It would seem to be correct to assign third place
to stiff clays, whether of the white or red cast. The bet-
ter that these are supplied with vegetable matter, and
the more moist the season, the better is the stand of
the clover likely to be. In seasons that are generally
favorable, excellent crops of clover may be obtained
from such soils, but in dry seasons it is easy to secure
a good stand of the plants. They are also consid-
erably liable to heave in these soils in the spring of
the year from the action of the frost. The more per-
fectly they are drained, the less will be the injury
from this source, but it is scarcely possible to drain
such lands so perfectly that there will be no loss of
clover plants in these from the source named in the
winters, characterized by frequent rains, accompa-
nied by frequent alternations of freezing and thaw-

68 CLOVERS

ing. The loss from this source in such lands varies
from nothing at all to 100 per cent.

Nearly, if not equal to the farmer, are dark loam
soils with a gravel or sand drainage underneath,
providing, first, that the sand and gravel do not
come too near the surface, and second, that the nor-
mal rainfall is sufficient. On such soils it seldom
fails to grow, is not liable to heave in the winter or
spring, and usually produces excellent crops when
these soils are properly tilled. It has special adap-
tation for being grown on calcareous or limy soils.
It also, usually, grows well on soils underlaid with
yellow clay of more or less tenacity.

The black humus soils of the prairie vary much
in their suitability for growing medium red clover.
Much depends on the clay content in such soils. The
more of this element in them and the nearer an un-
derlying clay subsoil is to the surface, the better will
this clover grow on them. In large areas of the
prairie, red clover will grow more successfully on
the subsoil when laid bare than when on the surface
soil. It has been the experience in many instances
that when the humus soils of the prairie, porous and
spongy in character, were first tilled, clover grew on
them so shyly that it was difficult to get a good stand
of the same until it had been sown for several sea-
sons successively or at intervals. Eventually, good
crops were grown on these lands, and are now being
grown on them. This was the experience that faced
a majority of the first settlers on the prairie where
excellent crops are now being grown, and it is
the experience which faces many to-day, who are

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 69

located on sections of the prairie but newly broken.

Two reasons may be given by way of explanation,
but these may not furnish all the reasons for the
experience just referred to. First, much of the
land was so porous in its nature that in dry seasons
the young plants perished for want of moisture.
As such lands become worn throgh cropping, they
lie more firmly and compactly; hence, there is less
loss of moisture through the free penetration of the
soil within a short distance of the surface of the
dry atmosphere. And second, the requisite bacteria
is not in these soils until it is brought to them by
sowing seed repeatedly, more or less of which grows,
and in growing increases the bacteria in the soil
until that point is reached when good crops of clo-
ver can be grown with the usual regularity.
; The suitability of sandy and gravelly lands for
growing clover depends much on the amount of
plant food which they contain, on the character of
the climate, and on the subsoil. Such soils when
possessed of some loam when underlaid with clay,
and in a climate with 20 inches and more per an-
num of rainfall, usually grow good crops of clover;
but when conditions the opposite prevail, the growth
of this plant is precarious. However, when sandy
or gravelly soils low in fertility are underlaid with
the same and the rainfall is sufficient, good crops
of clover may be grown if these soils are first suf-
ficiently supplied with vegetable matter and then
sufficiently fertilized.

Muck soils do not seem to have the proper ele-
ments for growing clover in the best form. But

7<> CLOVERS

when tHese Have in tfiem some clay, and especially
when they are underlaid with clay not distant from
the surface, they will grow good crops of clover,
especially of the alsike variety. Thus it is that
lands which have grown black ash and tamarack
generally make good clover lands also. But clover
will not succeed well on unreduced peaty soils, since
it is not able in these to gather food supplies.
But when sufficiently reduced, some kinds of
clover will succeed better on these than on some
other soils.

Deposit soils, such as are found in the bottom
lands of rivers and streams, vary much in the suit-
ability for growing clover, owing to the great differ-
ences in the compositions; but since they are usu-
ally possessed of sufficient friability, fertility and
moisture, good crops of clover may generally be
grown upon them where the climatic conditions are
suitable. The injury from overflow on such soils
will depend on the depth of the same and its dura-
tion, also the season of the year when it occurs-
Overflow in the spring season before growth has
begun, or when it is about starting, will be helpful
rather than harmful, especially if some deposit is left
on the land by the subsiding waters. But if the
overflow should be deep and of any considerable
duration, and, moreover, if it should occur when the
clover was somewhat advanced in growth, and in
hot weather, the submergence of the clover would
probably be fatal to it.

It may be proper to state here that the lands which
grow hardwood .timber will usually grow clover.

MEDIUM RED CLOVE! Jl

By hardwood timber is meant such trees as maple,
beech, birch, oak, elm, basswood, butternut and wal-
nut. Where forests are found comprising one or
more varieties of these trees anywhere on this con-
tinent, and especially comprising several of them,
the conclusion is safe that medium red clover will
grow, or, at least, can be grown, on such soils. If
a considerable sprinkling of pine trees is found in
the same, the indications are not changed in con-
sequence. Where the forest is largely composed of
maple and birch, excellent crops of clover may be
looked for when the land has been cleared. But be-
cause of what has been said, the conclusion must
not be reached that clover will not grow well under
some conditions where soft woods abound, but
rather that where the former abound the indications
of suitability for clover production are more certain
than where soft timbers abound.

Place in the Rotation — Medium red clover
may be made to precede or to follow almost any crop
that is grown upon the farm. Notwithstanding,
there are certain crops which it precedes or follows
with much more advantage than others. Since it
brings nitrogen to the soil from the air and deposits
the same for the benefit of the crops that imme-
diately follow, it is advantageous to plant such
crops after it as require much nitrogen to make
them productive, as, for instance, wheat. Since,
through the medium of its roots, it stores the ground
with humus, such crops should come after it as feed
generously on humus, as, for instance, corn and po-
tatoes. And since it tends to lessen weed growth

£2 CLOVERS

through smothering, it may with advantage be fol-
lowed by crops for which a clean seed bed is spe-
cially advantageous, as flax. It may, therefore, be
followed with much advantage by wheat, oats or
barley, corn and sorghum in all their varieties, flax,
potatoes, field roots, vegetables and such small fruits
as strawberries. Where wheat is a success it is
usually first grown among the small cereal grains
after clover, since it is less able to flourish under
the conditions which become decreasingly favorable
in the years that follow the breaking up of the clo-
ver. Whether wheat or flax, corn or potatoes should
immediately follow the growing of clover, should
be determined in great part by the immediate neces-
sity for growing one or the other of these crops,
but also to some extent by the crops that are to fol-
low them.

Clover may follow such crops as require cultiva-
tion while they are growing, and of a character that
will clean the soil. This means that it may with ad-
vantage be made to follow corn, sorghum, potatoes
or field roots. It may also follow the summer fal-
low bare, or producing crops for being plowed under
where these come into the rotation. Of course, since
clover can to a considerable extent supply its own
nitrogen, it may be successfully grown on lands
that are not clean, and that may not possess high
fertility, but when thus sown the nurse crop with
which it is usually sown is not likely to succeed well,
because of the presence of weeds in it, and from the
same cause the quality of the first of the clover is
likely to be much impaired. The conditions of the

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 73

time of sowing are also less favorable for getting
a stand of the seed.

There is probably no rotation in which clover may
be grown with more advantage than when it is made
to alternate with corn or potatoes and some small
cereal grains, as wheat or oats, growing each crop
for but one season. Of course the clover must be
sown with the grain and harvested the following
year, taking from it two cuttings. In no other form
of rotation, perhaps, can clover be used to better
advantage, nor would there seem to be any other
way in which land may be made to produce abun-
dantly for so large a term of years without fertiliza-
tion other than that given to the soil by the clover. It
would fully supply the needs of the crops alternating
with it in the line of humus, and also in that of
nitrogen. In time the supply of phosphoric acid and
potash might run low, but not for a long term of
years. The cultivation given to the corn and pota-
toes would keep the land clean. Fortunate is the
neighborhood in which a rotation may be practised,
and fortunate are the tillers of the soil who are in a
position to adopt it.

Medium red clover may be followed with much
advantage by certain catch crops sown at various
times through the season of growth. It may be pas-
tured in the spring for several weeks, and the land
then plowed and sowed with millet or rape, or
planted with corn, sorghum, late potatoes, or certain
vegetables, or it may be allowed to grow for several
weeks and then plowed, to be followed by one or
the other of these crops. It may also be harvested

74 CLOVERS

for hay in time to follow it with millet or rape for
pasture, and under some conditions with fodder
corn. But when the stand of clover is good, it would
usually be profitable to utilize the clover for food
rather than the crops mentioned, since doing so
would involve but little labor and outlay. After the
second cutting for the season, winter rye may be
grown as a catch crop by growing it as a pasture
crop.

Preparing the Soil. — Speaking in a general
way, it would be correct to say that it would not be
easy to get soil in too friable a condition for the
advantageous reception of medium red clover seed.
In other words, it does not often happen that soils
are in too fine tilth to sow seed upon them without
such fineness resulting in positive benefit to the
plants. The exceptions would be clays of fine tex-
ture in climates subject to rainfalls so heavy as to
produce impaction. On the other hand, the hazard
would be even greater to sow clover on these soils
when in a cloddy condition. The rootlets would not
then be able to penetrate the soil with sufficient ease
to find enough food and moisture to properly nourish
them. Some soils are naturally friable, and in these
a tilth sufficiently fine can be realized ordinarily
with but little labor. Other soils, as stiff clays, fre-
quently require much labor to bring them into the
condition required. Usually, however, if sufficient
time elapses between the plowing of the land and the
sowing of the seed, this work may be materially les-
sened by using the harrow and roller judiciously
soon after rainfall.

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 75

When preparing prairie soils so open that they,
will lift with the wind, the aim should be to firm
them rather than to render them more open and
porous; otherwise they will not retain sufficient
moisture to properly sustain the young plants, if
prolonged dry weather follows the sowing of the
seed. Plowing such land in the autumn aids in se-
curing such density. The same result follows sum-
merfallowing the land or growing upon it a culti-
vated crop after the bare fallow, or after the cul-
tivated crop has been harvested prior to the sowing
of the clover seed, otherwise the desired firmness of
the land will be lessened, and weed seeds will be
brought to the surface, which will produce plants to
the detriment of the clover. In preparing such lands
for the seed, cultivation near the surface is prefer-
able to plowing.

When the clover is sown late in the season, as is
sometimes the case, in locations where the winters
are comparatively mild, the ground may be made
reasonably clean before the seed is sown, by stirring
it occasionally at intervals before sowing the seed.
This is done with some form of harrow or weeder,
and, of course, subsequently to the plowing of the
land.

Sowing. — The time for sowing clover seed is in-
fluenced considerably by the climatic conditions.
Under some conditions it may be sown in the early
autumn. It may be thus sown in the Southern
States and with much likelihood that a stand will
be secured, yet in some instances an inauspicious
winter proves disastrous to the plants: all things

j6 CLOVERS

considered, it is probably safer to sow clover in the
South at that season than the spring, when vegeta-
tion is beginning to start. It may also succeed in
some instances in areas well to the North when sown
in the early autumn, providing snow covers the
ground all the winter, but should the snow fail to
come the subsequent winter, or fail to lie when it
does come, the clover plants would perish. The ele-
ment of hazard, therefore, is too great in northerly
areas to justify sowing the seed thus. But on the
bench lands of the mountain valleys there may be
instances in which the seed may be sown so late in
the autumn that it will not sprout before winter sets
in, but lies in the soil ready to utilize the moisture,
so all important in those areas, as soon as the earli-
est growth begins in the spring.

The seed may be sown with no little assurance of
success in the late summer. But this can only be
done where moisture is reasonably plentiful from
the time of sowing onward, and where the winters
are not really severe. In some of the Central States
this method of sowing may succeed reasonably well.
Clover and timothy sown thus without any nurse
crop will produce a full crop the next season. When
the seed is sown thus, it may, of course, be made to
follow a crop grown on the land the same season. It
may also insure a crop the following season, when
the clover seed sown the spring previously may for
some reason have failed.

While medium red clover is frequently sown in
the South and in some areas of the far West in the
months of January and February on the snow, in

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 77

the North it is usually sown in the early spring.
This also is in a great majority of instances the best
time for sowing. In many locations it may be sown
with safety as soon as the winter snows have gone.
On the whole, the earlier that it is sown in the
spring the better, that the young plants may have all
the benefit possible from the moisture, which is more
abundant than later. But there are certain areas,
as, for instance, in the northerly limits of the Mis-
sissippi basin, in which young clover plants perish by
frost after they have germinated. This, however,
does not happen very frequently. When the seed
is sown on the snow, or while the ground is yet in
a honeycombed condition from early frost, it must
of necessity be sown early. But where the hazard
is present that the young plants will be killed by
frost, it will be safer to defer sowing the seed until
it can be covered with the harrow when sown.

Whether it will be more advisable to sow the seed
on bare ground earlier than the season when growth
begins, or to sow later and cover with the harrow,
will depend to a considerable degree upon the soil
and the condition in which it happens to be. On
timber soils newly cleaned the early sowing would
be quite safe where the young plants are not liable
to be killed after germination, because of the abun-
dance of humus in them. On the same soils, early
sowing would probably be preferable, even when
much reduced in humus, providing they were in a
honeycombed condition at the time of sowing. This
condition is far more characteristic of clay and clay
loam soils, than of those sandy in texture. To sow

7& CLOVERS

the seed on clay soils that are worn would be to
throw it away, unless in a most favorable season for
growth. The same would prove true of the sandy
soils low in humus, since these do not honeycomb at
any season. Seed sown on honeycombed ground
falls into openings made in the soil, and is covered
by the action of the frost and the sun on the same.
The rule should be to defer sowing the seed where
the ground does not honeycomb until it can be cov-
ered with the harrow.

In some instances the seed is sown successfully
just after a light fall of snow in the spring. The
seed is carried down into little crevices or fissures hi
the soil when these are present, but the seed should
not be thus sown. Usually it is not quite safe to
sow clover seed where the winter snow still lingers
to any considerable depth, lest much of it should
be carried down to the lower lands by the sudden
melting of the snows. The chief advantage of sow-
ing before the ground can be harrowed arises from
the benefit which the young plants derive from the
plentiful supply of moisture in the soil at that sea-
son. They are more firmly rooted than plants sown
later, and, therefore, can better withstand the dry
weather that frequently characterizes the later
months of the summer. There is also the further
advantage that the labor of harrowing at a sea-
son that is usually a busy one is dispensed with.

Various modes of sowing clover seed have been
adopted. Sometimes it is sown by hand. In other
instances a sower is used which is strapped to the
shoulder and turned with a crank. Sometimes the

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 79

seed is sown by a distributor, which is wheeled over
the ground on a frame resembling that of a wheel-
barrow. Again, it is sown with a seeder attachment
to the ordinary grain drill or to the broadcast
seeder, arid yet again with the grain in the ordinary,
drill tubes, or scattered with the same by the broad-
cast seeder; which of these methods should be
adopted will depend on such conditions as relate to
season, climate and soil.

The seed may be sown by hand at almost any time
desired, whether it is covered or not. The advan-
tages of hand sowing are that it may be done under
some conditions when no other method will answer
as well, as, for instance, when it is sown upon
snow or upon the ground honeycombed. The dis-
advantages are that it takes more time than some
of the other methods, especially when the sower only
scatters the seed with one hand, that it cannot be
thus sown when the wind blows stiffly or fitfully,
and most of all, only a limited number of persons
who sow seed are thus able to sow it with com-
plete regularity. A still time should, if possible,
be chosen for hand sowing; such a time is usually
found in the early morning. When one hand is
used, the seed may be sown from a light dish
or pail or sowing-bag, but when both hands are
used a sowing-box or a sowing-sack suspended in
front of the breast is necessary. Clover seed may
be sown when a considerable breeze is blowing by
having a due regard to the wind. When facing it,
the cast of seed should be low; when going before
the wind it should be high. But when the wind is

80 CLOVERS

blowing at right angles, much care must be observed
by the sower as to where he walks, in relation to the
cast that is being sown.

When the seed is sown on grain that has been
drilled, the rows of grain will suffice to serve as a
guide to the sower, and when the grain is not up,
the drill marks may be made to serve the same end.

The advantages of the hand seeder held in place
by straps are that the sowing may be done by an
individual who cannot sow by hand, that the seed
may be easily distributed and that it may be used
with advantage in sowing seed among brush. The
disadvantages are that it cannot be used when much
wind is stirring, and when using it stakes are some-
times necessary for the guidance of the sower.

The advantages from using the seeder wheeled
over the ground are that the work may be done by
any one able to wheel the seeder, that the seed is
distributed evenly, that it may be sown when a fairly
stiff wind is blowing, and that stakes are not neces-
sary for the guidance of the sower, as the distance
of the cast may be gauged at least fairly well by the
wheel marks made. One disadvantage is that it can-
not be used with much satisfaction on certain soils
when the ground is cloddy or frozen, or when it is
wet. There is also the disadvantage to all three
methods of sowing by hand, that it is frequently
necessary to provide a covering for the seed by sub-
sequently using the harrow.

The advantages from sowing with the seeder at-
tachment to the grain drill are that the seed may be
made to fall before or behind the tubes as may be

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 8 1

desired, or it may be sown with the seed along with
the grain, and that when sown by any of these
methods there is much saving of time as compared
with sowing by hand. In some sections of the
prairie the seed is sown with the grain drill by driv-
ing the same across the newly sown grain rows. If
necessary to insure sufficiently thin sowing, the seed
should be first mixed with some substance such as
common salt.

In the moist areas of the upper Atlantic coast,
Ontario and the Puget Sound region, the seed is fre-
quently made to fall behind the grain tubes on clay
and clay loam soils, and is covered by running the
roller over the ground subsequently; but in States
more inland the seed is usually made to fall before
the drill tubes, when, in some instances, the sowing
of the grain will provide a sufficient covering; but
in others the harrow is used in addition, and some-
times both the harrow and the roller. When clover
seed is sown along with grain and by the same
tubes, it will in some soils be buried too deeply, but
in others the objection does not hold good. The
young plants are also injured more by shade from
the grain, since they grow only in the line of the
row along with the grain, and yet this method of
sowing clover seed in some localities seems to an-
swer reasonably well.

When the broadcast seeder is used in sowing clo-
ver seed, time is also saved as compared with hand
sowing, but the seed can only fall before the seeder,
and must, therefore, be given the same covering as
the grain, as, when the seed is sown with the grain

82 CLOVERS

drill, it will in some instances be buried too deeply.
In other instances it is not so.

The depth to which the seed of medium and other
clovers ought to be buried should vary with soil and
climatic conditions, and with the season of sowing.
The more stiff the soil, the more moist the climate,
and the earlier that the seed is sown, the less the
covering required, and vice versa. As has been
shown, under certain conditions (see page 22), early
sown clover seed does not require any covering arti-
ficially given, and sometimes when sown later, a rea-
sonably copious rain will provide sufficient covering,
providing it falls quite soon after the sowing of the
seed. But in certain of the soft, open, spongy soils
of the prairie, it may sometimes be buried to the
depth of at least 3 inches, with apparent benefit.
Lower than 5 or 6 inches in any soil, clover seed
will not germinate till brought nearer the surface.
On all soils that lift with the wind, the seed should,
as a rule, be buried deeply. Ordinarily, from half
an inch to an inch, or an approximation to these dis-
tances, is considered a proper depth to bury clover
seed.

Some authorities recommend sowing medium and
other clovers without any nurse crop. The advan-
tages claimed are that more or less of a crop may be
obtained the same season, and that a stand of clover
is more certain when the seed is sown thus. The
first claim is correct in the main. In some localities
favored with long seasons for growth, as in certain
areas of Missouri, for instance, good yields may be
obtained from sowing the seed thus. This has

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 83

happened even in Minnesota. But in other areas
and under other conditions, the yield would be light,
In some localities, as, for instance, the Willamette
Valley, Oregon, satisfactory returns have been ob-
tained by sowing clover seed and rape seed in May
and then pasturing both.

The chief objections to sowing clover seed thus
are, first, that in a great majority of instances a suf-
ficient stand of the plants may be obtained when
the seed is sown with a nurse crop ; and second, that
when it is not thus sown, the first cutting of the hay
will contain more or less of weeds. That a stand is
more assured when clover seed is sown alone in
areas where adverse weather conditions prevail can-
not be disputed. Nevertheless, the fact remains that
whenever in order to get a stand of a short-lived
crop, like clover, it is necessary to sow it alone, and
in many instances get but little return the same sea-
son, it will be well to consider if there is not some
more satisfactory way of securing a crop that will
prove an equivalent. In northerly areas the stubbles
of the nurse crop frequently render substantial ser-
vice to the clover by holding the snow on the crop,
and also by protecting it more or less from the effect
of the cold winds. The old-time practice of sowing
clover with a nurse crop is likely to be continued,
notwithstanding that it has some disadvantages.

These disadvantages include the following : I . The
young plants are liable to be weakened by the crowd-
ing and by overmuch shading from the grain when
it grows rankly and thickly, and to such an extent
that they perish; 2. When the grain lodges, as it

54 CLOVERS

frequently does, on rich ground, the clover plants
underneath the lodged portions succumb from want
of light; 3. Where the supply of moisture is low,
in the struggle for the same between the stronger
plants of the nurse crop and the weaker plants of
the clover, the former secures the larger share. As
a result, when the nurse crop is harvested, should
the weather prove hot and dry beyond a certain
degree, the clover plants will die. This is an ex-
perience not at all uncommon on the loose prairie
soils of the upper Mississippi basin.

Injury from crowding and overshading may be
prevented, or at least lessened, by pasturing the
nurse crop with sheep for a time, at an early stage
in its growth. The lodging of the grain may also
be prevented by the same means. Injury from
drought may also be lessened by cutting the crop
at the proper stage of advancement, and making it
into hay, as in the ripening stage of growth it draws
most heavily on the moisture in the soil. The oat
crop is the most suitable for being thus dealt with.

Clover seed may be sown with any of the small
cereal grains as a nurse crop, but not with equal ad-
vantage. Rye, barley, wheat and oats are probably
suitable in the order named. Rye shades less than
wheat and oats and is harvested early; hence, its
suitability for a nurse crop. Winter rye and winter
wheat are more suitable than spring varieties of the
same, since on these the crop may usually be sown
earlier, and the soil is likely to lose less moisture
from surface evaporation. The marked suitability
of barley as a nurse crop arises chiefly from the

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 85

short period which it occupies the ground. Nor
is the shade so dense as from grains that grow
taller. Oats are the least suitable of all the crops
named as a nurse crop, since they are characterized
by a dense growth of leaves, which shut out the sun-
light too much when the growth is rank. Notwith-
standing, the oat crop may well serve such an end
when sown thinly and cut for hay. Mixed grains
grown together, as, for instance, wheat and oats, or
a mixture of the three, answer quite as well for a
nurse crop as clover and oats. The objection to
them for such use arises from the fact that they
are frequently sown more thickly than grain sown
alone.

Clover may also be sown with flax or millet or
mixed grains grown to provide soiling food. When
the weather is moist, it is likely to succeed well with
flax, as the latter does not form so dense a shade
when it is growing as some other crops. But flax
is usually sown so much later than these crops, that
in some climates the dry weather following injures
and in some instances destroys the young plants.
The dense shade furnished by millet is also detri-
mental to the clover plants; nevertheless, owing to
the short period which the former occupies the
ground, under favorable conditions a stand of clo-
ver may be secured. But since millet is sown later
than flax, it frequently happens that there is not
sufficient moisture in the soil to sustain both crops.
Mixed grains sown as soiling food are usually sown
reasonably early, and as they are cut before matu-
rity, the danger is so far lessened that the young

86 CLOVERS

plants will perish from want of moisture, but since
these crops are usually grown thickly and on rich
land, owing to the dense character of the growth,
the plants are much more likely to be injured by the
dense shade thus provided.

Clover seed may also be sown with corn and cer-
tain other crops that are usually grazed down, as
rape and mixed grains. When sown with corn, the
seed is usually scattered over the ground just before
the last cultivation given to the corn. Attention is
now being given to the introduction of cultivators
which scatter such seeds as clover and rape in front
of them, and so preclude the necessity for hand sow-
ing. From Central Ohio southward, this method
'of securing a stand of clover will succeed in corn-
growing areas, the other conditions being right.
North from the areas named, the young clover
plants may be winter killed when the seed is sown
thus. The less dense the shade furnished by the
corn, and the less dry the weather subsequently to
sowing the seed, the better will be the stand of the
plants secured.

When sown with rape that has been broadcast,
clover usually makes a good stand, providing the
rape crop is not sown too late in the season. When
the rape is grazed down, the grazing does not appear
to materially injure the clover, and when the shade
has been removed by such grazing, the clover plants
may be expected to make a vigorous growth on such
land. In northerly areas, clover seed may be sown
along with rape seed as late as the end of May. If
sown later than that time, the season may prove

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 87

too short subsequently to the grazing of the rape
to allow the plants to gather sufficient strength to
carry them safely through northern winters. When
clover seed is sown with rape, the seeds may be
mixed and sown together.

Clover seed in several of the varieties may be suc-
cessfully sown on certain grain crops grown to pro-
vide grazing, especially when these are sown early.
Such pastures may consist of any one of the small
cereal grains, or more than one, or of all of them.

The seed may be sown in these the same as with
any crop sown to furnish grain. A stand of clover
may thus be secured under some conditions in which
the clover would perish if sown along with the grain
to be harvested ; under other conditions it would not
succeed so well. The former include soils so open as
to readily lose moisture by surface evaporation. The
tramping of the animals on these increases their
power to hold moisture, the grazing down of the
grain lessens its demands upon the same, thus leav-
ing more for the clover plants, and they are further
strengthened by the freer access of sunlight. The
latter include firm, stiff clays in rainy climates. To
pasture these when thus sown, if moist beyond a cer-
tain degree, would result in so impacting them that
the yield of the pasture would be greatly decreased
in consequence.

Medium red clover is quite frequently sown alone ;
that is, without admixture with clovers or grasses.
It is always sown thus when it is to be plowed under,
as green manure. It is also usually sown alone in
rotations where it is to be cropped or grazed for

B8 - CLOVERS

one year. But when grown for meadow, which is
to remain longer than one season, it is commonly
sown along with timothy. The first year after sow-
ing, the crop is chiefly clover, and subsequently it
is chiefly timothy. Orchard grass or tall oat grass,
or both, may also be sown along with medium red
clover, since these are ready for being cut at the
same time as the clover.

When medium red clover is sown to provide pas-
ture for periods of limited duration, it is frequently
sown along with alsike clover and timothy. Some-
times a moderate amount of alfalfa seed is added.
But in arable soils in the semi-arid West, these will
provide pastures for many years in succession, if
supplied with moisture. The same is true of much
of the land west of the Cascades, and without irriga-
tion. East from the Mississippi and for some dis-
tance west from it, much of the medium red clover
will disappear after being grazed for one season,
but the alsike, timothy and alfalfa will endure for
a longer period.

In permanent pastures, whether few or many vari-
eties of seed are sown, medium red clover is usu-
ally included in the mixture. It is sown because of
the amount of the grazing which it furnishes the
season after sowing, and with the expectation that
it will virtually entirely disappear in the pastures in
two or three seasons after it has been sown.

When medium red clover is sown for being
plowed under as green manure, it is always sown
with a nurse crop. Some farmers, in localities well
adapted to the growth of clover, sow more or less of

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 89

the medium red variety on all, or nearly all, of the
land devoted to the growth of such cereals as rye,
wheat, barley and oats, when the land is to be
plowed the autumn or spring following. Reduced
quantities of seed are used. They believe that the
benefit from the young clover plants to the land will
more than pay for the cost of the seed and the sow-
ing of the same.

The amount of seed to sow will depend on the
degree of suitability in the conditions for growing
medium red clover. The more favorable these are,
the less the necessity for using maximum quantities
of seed, and vice versa. More seed is required when
the clover is not grown with other grasses or clo-
vers than when it is grown with these. When grown
without admixture, 16 pounds of seed per acre may
be named as the maximum quantity to sow and
8 pounds as the minimum, with 12 pounds as an
average. With all the conditions quite favorable,
10 pounds should suffice. In New England and
some of the Atlantic States, many growers sow
much more seed than the quantities named, and it
may be that the necessities of the land call for more.
In Great Britain also, considerably larger quantities
are sown.

When sown in grass or clover mixtures, the
amount of the seed required will vary with the other
factors of the mixture, and the amount of each
that is sown ; that is, with the character of the hay
or pasture that is sought. The seed is much more
frequently sown with timothy than with any other
kind of grass, and the average amount of each of

"9O CLOVERS

these to sow per acre may be put at 8 pounds of
clover and 6 pounds of timothy. When other clo-
vers are added, as the mammoth or the alsike, for
every pound of the seed of the former added, the
seed of the medium red may be reduced by one
pound, and for every pound of the alsike added it
may be reduced by il/2 pounds. In mixtures for
permanent pastures, 6 pounds may be fixed upon
as the maximum quantity of medium red clover seed
to sow, and 3 pounds as the average quantity. When
sown to provide green manure, maximum quantities
of seed are used when it is desired to improve the
soil quickly. Usually not less than 12 pounds per
acre are sown, and quite frequently more. But when
the gradual improvement of the land is sought, by
sowing the seed on all land devoted to the small
cereal grains, not more than 6 pounds per acre are
used, and frequently even less than 4 pounds. The
greater the hazard to the plants in sowing the seed
thus, the less the quantities of the seed that are usu-
ually sown, with a view to reduce the loss in case
of failure to secure a stand of the clover.

A stand of medium red clover is sometimes se-
cured by what may be termed self -so wing. For in-
stance, where clover has been cut for hay and then
allowed to mature even but a portion of the seed be-
fore being plowed under the same autumn, the seed
thus buried remains in the ground without sprout-
ing. When the land is again plowed to the same
depth and sown with some kind of grain, the clover
seed thus brought to the surface will germinate. If
the plowing last referred to is done in the autumn,

MEDIUM RED CLOVER <)I

it ought to be done late rather than early, lest the
seed should sprout in the autumn and perish in the
winter, or be destroyed by the cultivation given in
sowing the grain crop that follows. The same re-
sult may be obtained from clover pastured after the
first cutting for the season, when the pasturing is
not close.

When medium red clover is much grown for seed,
many of the ripe heads are not cut by the mower,
since they lie near the ground, and many break off
in the curing process. The seed thus becomes so
distributed in the ground, that many plants come
up and grow amid the grain every season. These
may, of course, be grazed or plowed under for the
enrichment of the land, as desired. Seed thus buried
is, therefore, not lost by any means. The plants
which grow will render much assistance in keeping
the land in a good condition of tilth, as well as in
enhancing its fertility.

When clover seed is much grown, therefore, on
any piece of land, the quantity of seed sown may
be reduced materially. In fact, it may be so much
reduced that it has been found possible to grow clo-
ver in rotation for many years without adding seed.
The first growth of the clover was taken as hay, and
the second growth as seed. The ground was then
plowed and a crop of corn was taken. The corn
land was then plowed and sown with some cereal,
such as wheat, oats or barley.

Pasturing. — Medium red clover will furnish
grazing very suitable for any kind of live stock kept
upon the farm. All farm animals relish it, but not

92 CLOVERS

so highly as blue grass, when the latter is tender and
succulent. No plant is equally suitable in providing
pasture for swine, unless it be alfalfa; hence, for
that class of stock, it has come to be the staple pas-
ture outside of areas where alfalfa may be readily
grown. When desired, the grazing may begin even
at a reasonably early stage in the growth of the
plants, and it may continue to the end of the pas-
turing season.

Usually it is considered unwise to pasture medium
red clover the same season in which it has been
sown when sown with a nurse crop. It has been
noticed that when so pastured, it does not winter
so well, and that the later and more close the pas-
turing and the colder the winter following, the
greater is the hazard from pasturing the clover.
This hazard arises chiefly from the exposure of the
roots to the sweep of the cold winds. It should be
the rule, therefore, not only to refrain from pas-
turing clover thus, but also to leave the stubbles
high when pasturing the grain. Where the snow-
fall is light and the cold is intense, to leave the stub-
bles thus high is important, since they aid in holding
the snow. But there may be instances when the
clover plants grow so vigorously that in places of
heavy snowfall, smothering may result unless the
mass of vegetation is in some way removed. In
such instances, pasturing may be in order ; but when
practised, the grazing should be with cattle rather
than sheep or horses, and it should cease before the
covering is removed. There may also be locations
where much benefit follows in several ways close, or

MEDIUM RED CLOVE* 93

reasonably close, cutting of the stubbles quite soon
after the nurse crop has been harvested.

When clover is sown without a nurse crop, it
may be not only proper, but advantageous, to pasture
it. The grazing should not, however, be continued
so late that the plants will not have time to make a
sufficiency of growth to protect them in winter.
Such grazing is better adapted to areas in which the
season of growth is long, rather than short; where
weed growth is abundant, as on certain of the soils
of the prairie, it may be necessary to call in the aid
of the mower once or even twice during the season
of growth.

When a crop of medium red clover is desired, the
surest way to obtain it in good form is to pasture the
field during the early part of the season, and closely
enough to have the clover eaten down on every part
of the field. When it is not so eaten, the mower
should be so used that the growth and maturing of
the seed crop may be even and uniform. The season
for removing the live stock will depend upon latitude
and altitude, but it will be correct to say that it
ought to be from two to three weeks earlier than
the proper season for cutting clover for hay.

When clover is not grazed the year that it is sown,
in some seasons the stronger plants will bear seed, if
allowed. To such an extent does this follow under
certain conditions and in certain areas, that a con-
siderable crop of seed could be obtained if this were
desired, even as many as 4 or 5 bushels per acre in
•some instances. But it has been noticed that if thus
allowed to produce seed, the effect upon the growth

94 CLOVERS

of the crop the next season is decidedly injurious.
To prevent such a result the mower should be run
over the field as soon as much hazard is certainly ap-
parent, and the earlier in the season that this can
be done the better, for the reason that all weeds
growing are clipped off, and the clover has also a
better chance to provide protection for the winter
by growth subsequently made. When there is an
over-luxuriant growth in the plants, it may be well
to thus mow the field, even though seed should not
be produced. The growth made by the plants and
the mulch provided by the portion cut make an ex-
cellent preparation for entering the cold season.

But few pasture crops grown will furnish as much
grazing in one season as medium red clover. It will
probably furnish the most grazing if allowed to
grow up before it is grazed until the stage of bloom
is approached or reached, but since it is seldom prac-=
ticable to graze it down quickly enough after that
stage has been reached, and since there is frequently
waste from tramping, grazing usually begins, and
properly so, at an earlier period.

When cattle and sheep graze upon young clover,
there is some danger that hoven or bloating may re-
sult to the extent of proving quickly fatal if not
promptly relieved. The danger is greater if the ani-
mals are hungry when turned in upon the clover,
and when it is wet with dew or rain, or in a more
than ordinarily succulent condition. Such danger
may be lessened, if not, indeed, entirely eliminated,
by giving the animals access to other food, as dry
clover hay, for instance, before turning them in on

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 95

the pasture, and the danger is always less in pro-
portion as grasses are abundant in the pasture.

Should bloating occur, relief must usually be
prompt to be effective. In mild cases, certain medi-
cines may bring relief. One of the most potent is
the following : Give spirits of turpentine in doses of
i to 5 tablespoonfuls, according to the size of the
animal. Dilute with milk before administering. In
bad cases, the paunch should be at once punctured.
The best instruments are the trocar and canula, but
in the absence of these a pocket knife and goose
quill may be made to answer. The puncture is made
on the left side, at a point midway between the last
rib and hook point, and but a few inches from the
backbone. The thrusting instrument should point
downward and slightly inward going into the
paunch. With much promptness the canula or the
quill should be pushed down into the paunch and
held there till the gas escapes. Before the tube is
withdrawn the contents of the paunch that have
risen in the same should be first pushed down.

Harvesting for Hay. — Medium red clover is at
its best for cutting for hay when in full bloom, and
when a few of the heads which first bloomed are
beginning to turn brown ; that is to say, in the later
rather than in the earlier stage of full bloom. If
cut sooner, the curing of the crop is tedious. If cut
later the stalks lose in palatability. But when the
weather is showery it may be better to defer cut-
ting even for several days after the clover has
reached the proper stage for harvesting, as the in-
jury from rain while the crop is being cured may

96 CLOVERS

be greater than the injury from overmaturity in the
same before it is mown.

When curing the crop, the aim should be to pre-
serve to the greatest extent practicable the loss o£
the leaves. To accomplish such a result, the clover
ought to be protected as far as possible from expo-
sure to dew or rain, and also from excessive expo-
sure to sunshine. Dew injures more or less the color
of the hay and detracts from its palatability. Rain
intensifies such injury in proportion as the crop be-
ing harvested is exposed to it. It also washes out
certain substances, which, when present, affect
favorably its aroma.

The injury from such exposure increases with the
interval between cutting and storing the crop. Ex-
posure to successive showers may so seriously in-
jure the hay as to render it almost valueless for
feeding. After the mown clover has been exposed
in the swath to the sunlight beyond a certain time,
it turns brown, and if exposed thus long enough the
aroma will be lost. The aim should be, therefore,
to cure the clover to the greatest extent practicable
by the aid of the wind rather than by that of the
sun.

The method of procedure to be followed is in out-
line as given below : Mow as far as possible when
the meadow is not wet with rain or dew. Mow in
the afternoon rather than the forenoon, as the in-
jury from dew the night following will be less. Stif
with the tedder as soon as the clover has wilted
somewhat. The tedder should be used once, twice

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 97

or oftener as the circumstances may require. The
heavier the crop and the less drying the weather, the
more the tedding that should be given. Sometimes
tedding once, and in nearly all instances twice, will
be sufficient. The hay should then be raked. It is
ready for being raked as soon as the work can be
done easily and in an efficient manner. When clo-
ver is not dry enough for being raked, the draught
on the rake will be unnecessarily heavy, the dumping
of the hay will be laborious, and it does not rake as
clean as it would if the hay were in a fit condition
for being raked.

The aim should be to have the crop put up in
heaps, usually called "cocks," but sometimes called
"coils," before the second night arrives after the
mowing of the clover; and in order to accomplish
this, it may be necessary to work on until the shades
of evening are drawing near.

When there is a reasonable certainty that the
weather shall continue dry, it is quite practicable to
cure clover in the winrow, but in showery weather
to attempt to do so would mean ruin to the clover.
In no form does it take injury so quickly from rain
as in the winrow, and when rain saturates it, much
labor is involved in spreading it out again. Nor
is it possible to make hay quite so good in quantity
when clover is cured in the winrow, as the surface
exposed to the sunshine is much greater than when
it is mixed with timothy or some other grass that
purpose, nevertheless, to cure it thus, especially when
it is mixed with timothy or some other grass that

98 CLOVERS

cures more easily and readily than clover. It may
also be taken up with the hay-loader when cured
thus, which very much facilitates easy storing. But
when it is to be lifted with the hay-loader, the win-
rows should be made small rather than large.

When the clover is to be put up into cocks, these
should be small rather than large, if quick curing is
desired. In making these, skilled labor counts for
much. The cocks are simply little miniature stacks.
The part next to the ground has less diameter than
the center of the cock. As each forkful is put on
after the first, the fork is turned over so that the
hay spreads out over the surface of the heap as it is
being deposited. Smaller forkfuls are put on as the
top is being reached. The center is kept highest
when making the cock. Each one may be made to
contain about 100 pounds and upward of cured hay,
but in some instances they should not contain more
than half the amount to facilitate drying. When
the heap has become large enough, the inverted fork
should be made to draw down on every side the loose
portions, which in turn are put upon the top of the
cock. Such trimming is an important aid to the
shedding of rain. An expert hand will put up one
of these cocks of hay in less time than it takes to
read about how it is done.

A light rain will not very much injure a crop of
clover after it has been put up into cocks, but a
soaking rain will probably penetrate them to the bot-
tom. To guard against this, in localities where the
rainfall may be considerable in harvest time, hay
caps are frequently used. These may be made from

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 99

a good quality of unbleached muslin or strong cot-
ton, or they may be obtained from some of those
who deal in tent awnings and stack covers. When
of good quality and well cared for they should last
for i o to 20 years. Care should be taken in putting
them on lest the wind which frequently precedes a
thunder storm should blow them away. The pins
used at the corners of the caps should be carefully
and firmly inserted in the hay or the ground, or the
caps should have sufficiently heavy weights attached
to them at the corners to prevent their lifting with
the wind. In putting up the hay the size of the
cocks should be adjusted to the size of the covers
used. One person should apply the covers as quickly
as two will put up the hay.

When clover hay is put up into cocks, it undergoes
what is termed the "heating" process; that is, it be-
comes warm in the center of the heaps up to a certain
point, after which the heat gradually leaves it. The
heat thus generated is proportionate to the size of the
cocks and the amount of moisture in the clover. The
sweating process usually covers two or three days,
after which the hay is ready for being stored. When
clover is cured in the winrow, it does not go through
the sweating process to the same extent as when
cured in the cock ; hence, it is liable to sweat in the
mow, and to such an extent as to induce mold, if it
has been stored away with moisture in it beyond a
certain degree. If a wisp of clover is taken from
the least cured portion of the winrow or cock, and
twisted between the hands, it is considered ready for
being stored if no liquid is discernible. If over-

100 CLOVERS

cured, when thus twisted it will break asunder. A
skilled workmen can also judge fairly well of the
degree of the curing by the weight when lifted with
the fork.

Under some conditions, it may be advisable to
"open out" the cocks two or three hours before
drawing them, that the hot sunshine may remove
undue moisture. When this is done, if the cocks are
taken down in distinct forkfuls, as it were, each
being given a place distinct from the others, the lift-
ing of these will be much easier than if the clover
in each cock had been strewn carelessly over the
ground. The lowest forkful in the cock should
be turned over, since" the hay in it will have imbibed
more or less of dampness from the ground. But in
some instances the weather for harvesting is so fa-
vorable that the precaution is unnecessary of thus
opening out the cocks or even of making them at all.
Storing. — Storing clover under cover is far
preferable to putting it up in stacks, except in rain-
less climates. With the aid of the hay-loader in
lifting it from winrows in the field, and of the hay
fork in unloading, the hand labor in storing is
greatly reduced, but when It is unloaded with the
horse fork, the aim should be to dump the hay from
the fork on different parts of the mow or stack, Itst
it should become too solidly pressed together under
the dump, and heat and mold in consequence.

When the hay is stacked, especially in climates of
considerable rainfall, a bottom should be prepared
on which to stack it. This may be made of poles or
rails. A few of these should first be laid one way

MEDIUM RED CLOVER IOI

on the ground and parallel, and others across them.
Where such material cannot be had, old straw or
hay of but little value should be spread over the stack
bottom to a considerable depth. Where these pre-
cautions are not taken, the hay in the bottom of the
stack will be spoiled for some distance upward by
moisture ascending from the ground. In building
the stack, the center should be kept considerably
higher than the outer edges, that rain may be shed,
and the width of the same should increase up to at
least two-thirds of the height, the better to protect
the hay underneath. The tramping should be even,
or the hay in settling will draw to one side, and the
topping out should be gradual rather than abrupt.
In topping out a clover stack some hay should
be used not easily penetrated by rain, as, for instance,
blue grass obtained from fence corners, or slough
hay obtained from marshes. The last-named is
better put on green. If the clover is not thus pro-
tected, a considerable quantity will spoil on the top
of the stacks. It is not a good hay to turn rain.
The shape of the stack should in a considerable de-
gree be determined by its size. It is probably pref-
erable to make small stacks round, since they are
more easily kept in shape, but large stacks should
be long rather than round, as large, round stacks
call for undue height in bringing them to a top.
Because of the ease with which rain penetrates clo-
ver, it is very desirable to have it put under a roof.
Where it cannot be protected by the roof of a barn
or stable, the aim should be to store it in a hay
shed; that is to say, a frame structure, open on

IO2 CLOVERS

all sides and covered with a roof. Such sheds may
be constructed in a timber country without great
cost.

Should the clover hay be stored a little under-
cured, some growers favor sowing salt, say, from
4 to 8 quarts over each load when spread over the
mow. They do so under the conviction that its pre-
servative qualities will be to some extent efficacious
in preventing the hay from molding, and that it
adds to the palatability of the hay. While it may
render some service in both of these respects, it
would seem probable that the benefits claimed have
been overrated.

The more frequently clover hay is handled, the
more is its feeding value impaired, because of the
loss of heads and leaves which attend each handling
of the crop. Because of this, it is not so good a crop
for baling as timothy, and also for other reasons.
It should be the aim when storing it for home feed-
ing to place it where it can be fed as far as possible
directly from the place of storage. In the location
of hay sheds, therefore, due attention should be
given to this matter.

In climates that are moist, some growers store
clover in a mow when it has only reached the wilting
stage in the curing process. When thus stored it
is preserved on the principle which preserves silage.
The aim is when storing to exclude the air as far
as possible by impacting the mass of green clover
through its own weight, aided by tramping. It
should be more or less wilted before being stored,
according to the succulence in it, and it is con-

MEDIUM RED CLOVER IO3

sidered highly important that it shall also be
free from external moisture. When thus stored
it should be in large mows, and it should be
well tramped, otherwise the impaction may not be
sufficient. To this method of storage there are the
following objections: I. The hay has to be handled
while it is yet green and wet. 2. There is hazard
that much of the hay will be spoiled in unskilled
hands. 3. Under the most favorable conditions more
or less of the clover is pretty certain to mold near
the edges of the mass. Where clover can be made
into hay in the ordinary way without incurring much
hazard of spoiling, the practice of storing it away
in the green form, except in a silo, would seem of
questionable propriety. The making of clover into
ensilage is discussed in the book "Soiling Crops and
the Silo" by the author.

Securing Seed. As a rule, seed is not produced
from the first cutting for the season of medium
red clover. It is claimed that this is due to lack
of pollenization in the blossoms, and because they are
in advance of the active period of working in bumble
bees, the medium through which fertilization is
chiefly effected. This would seem to be a sufficient
explanation as to why medium red clover plants will
frequently bear seed the first year, if allowed to,
though the first cutting from older plants will have
little or no seed. But it is claimed that the ordinary
honey bee may be and is the medium for fertilizing
alsike and small white clover, but not that through
which the mammoth variety is fertilized.

Experience has shown, further, that, as a rule, bet-

IO4 CLOVERS

ter crops of clover seed may be obtained from clover
that has been pastured off than from that which has
been mown for hay, although to this rule there are
some exceptions. This arises, in part, from the fact
that the energies of the plant have been less drawn
upon in producing growth, and, therefore, can pro-
duce superior seed heads and seed, and in part from
the further fact that there is usually more moisture
in the soil at the season when the plants which have
been pastured off are growing. There would seem
to be some relation between the growing of good
crops of clover seed and pasturing the same with
sheep. It has been claimed that so great is the in-
crease of seed in some instances from pasturing with
sheep till about June ist, say, in the latitude of Ohio,
that the farmer who has no sheep could afford to
give the grazing to one who has, because of the
extra return in seed resulting. The best crops of
seed are obtained when the growth is what may be
termed medium or normal. Summers, therefore,
that are unusually wet or dry are not favorable to
the production of clover seed.

If weeds are growing amid the clover plants that
are likely to mature seed, they should, where prac-
ticable, be removed. The Canada thistle, ragweed,
plantain and burdock are among the weeds that may
thus ripen seeds in medium clover. When not too
numerous they can be cut with the spud. When too
numerous to be thus cut, where practicable, they
should be kept from seeding with the aid of the
scythe. To prevent them from maturing is impor-
tant, as the seeds of certain weeds cannot be sepa-

MEDIUM RED CLOVER I OS

rated from those of clover with the fanning mill,
they are so alike in size.

The crop is ready for being cut when the heads
have all turned brown, except a few of the smaller
and later ones. It may be cut by the mower as or-
dinarily used, by the mower, with a board or zinc
platform attachment to the cutter bar, by the self-
rake reaper, or by the grain binder. The objection
to the first method is that the seed has to be raked
and that the raking results in the loss of much seed ;
to the second, that it calls for an additional man to
rake off the clover ; and to the third, that the binder
is heavier than the self -rake reaper. The latter lays
the clover off in loose sheaves. These may be made
large or small, as desired, and if care is taken to lay
them off in rows, the lifting of the crop is rendered
much easier.

When the clover is cut with the mower, it should
be raked into winrows while it is a little damp,
as, for instance, in the evening. If raked in the heat
of the day many of the heads will break off and will
thus be lost. From the winrows it is lifted with
large forks. When the crop is laid off in sheaves it
may be necessary to turn them once, even in the ab-
sence of rain, but frequently this is not necessary.
In the turning process gentle handling is important,
lest much of the seed should be lost. The seed heads
of a mature crop break off very easily in the hours
of bright sunshine. Rather than turn the sheaves
over, it may be better, in many instances, just to
lift them with a fork with many tines, and set them
down easily again on ground which is not damp

106 CLOVERS

under them, like unto that from which they have
been removed.

Clover seed may be stored in the barn or stack,
or it may be threshed directly in the field or from
the same. The labor involved in handling the crop
is less when it is threshed at once than by any other
method, but frequently at such a busy season it is
not easily possible to secure the labor required for
this work. It is usually ready for being threshed in
two or three days after the crop has been cut, but
when the weather is fair it may remain in the field
for as many weeks after being harvested without
any serious damage to the seed. If, however, the
straw, or "haulm," as it is more commonly called, is
to be fed to live stock, the more quickly that the
threshing is done after harvesting, the more valuable
will the haulm be for such a use.

When stored in the barn or stack, it is common
to defer threshing until the advent of frosty weather,
for the reason, first, that the seed is then more easily
separated from the chaff which encases it ; and sec-
ond, that farm work is not then so pressing. When
threshed in or directly from the field, bright weather
ought to be chosen for doing the work, otherwise
more or less of the seed will remain in the chaff.

In lifting the crop for threshing or for storage,
much care should be exercised, as the heads break
off easily. The fork used in lifting it, whether with
iron or with wooden prongs, should have these long
and so numerous that in lifting the tines would
go under rather than down through the bunch to be
lifted. The wagon rack should also be covered with

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 'ID/

canvas, if all the seed is to be saved. If stored in
stacks much care should be used in making these,
as the seed crop in the stack is even more easily in-
jured by rain than the hay crop. The covering of
old hay of some kind that will shed rain easily should
be most carefully put on.

Years ago the idea prevailed that clover seed could
not be successfully threshed until the straw had, in
a sense, rotted in the field by lying exposed in the
same for several weeks. The introduction of im-
proved machinery has dispelled this idea. The seed
is more commonly threshed by a machine made pur-
posely for threshing clover called a "clover huller."
The cylinder teeth used in it are much closer than
in the ordinary grain separator. The sieves are
also different, and the work is less rapidly done than
if done by the former. During recent years, how-
ever, the seed is successfully threshed with an or-
dinary grain threshing machine, and the work of
threshing is thus more expeclitiously done. Certain
attachments are necessary, but it is claimed that not
more than an hour is necessary to put these in place,
or to prepare the machine again for threshing grain.

Since the seed is not deemed sufficiently clean for
market as it comes from the machine, it should be
carefully winnowed by running it through a fanning
mill with the requisite equipment of sieves. It is
important that this work should be carefully done
if the seed is to grade as No. i in the market. If
it does not, the price will be discounted in propor-
tion as it falls below the standard. A certain pro-
portion of the seed thus separated will be small and

108 CLOVERS

light. This, if sold at all, must be sold at a dis-
count. If mixed with weed seeds it should be ground
and fed to some kind of stock.

The haulm, when the seed crop has been well
saved, has some feeding value, especially for cattle.
If not well saved it is only fit for litter, but even when
thus used its fertilizing value is about two-thirds
that of clover hay. More or less seed remains in the
chaff, and because of this the latter is sometimes
drawn and strewn over pastures, or in certain by
places where clover plants are wanted. Seed sown
in the chaff has much power to grow, owing, it is
thought, to the ability of the hull enclosing the seed
to hold moisture. The yields in the seed crops of
medium red clover vary all the way from I to
8 bushels per acre. The average yields under cer-
tain conditions are from 3 to 4 bushels per acre.
Under conditions less favorable, from 2 to 3
bushels.

Within the past two decades the seed crop has
been seriously injured by an insect commonly spo-
ken of as the clover midge (Cecidomyia legumini-
cola) which preys upon the heads so that they fail to
produce. A field thus affected will not come prop-
erly into bloom. The remedy consists in so grazing
or cutting the clover that the bloom will come at that
season of the summer when the insects do not work
upon the heads. This season can only be determined
by actual test. In Northern areas it can usually be
accomplished by pushing the period of bloom
usual for the second crop two to four weeks
forward.

MEDIUM RED CLOVER ICX)

Renewing.— When clover is grown for hay, it
is not usual to try to renew the crop, because of the
short-lived period of the plant. But in some in-
stances it has been found advantageous. On light
prairie soils sandy in texture, located in the upper
Mississippi basin, it has been found possible to grow
timothy meadow for several years in succession with
a goodly sprinkling of clover in it without re-seed-
ing. In such instances, the land is not pastured at
all, except in seasons quite favorable to growth, and
in these the pasturing is not close. The clover plants
that grow after the crop has been cut for hay pro-
duce seed. The heads in due time break off and are
scattered more or less over the soil by the winds.
In time they disintegrate, and more or less of the seed
germinates, thus forming new plants, some of which,
especially in favorable seasons, retain their hold
upon the soil. This method may be worthy of imi-
tation in localities where it has been found difficult
to get a stand in dry seasons on this class of soils.

When the stand of clover secured is variable, that
is to say, partial, as when the clover is abundant in
the lower portions of the land and entirely absent
on the higher ground, it may be worth while to
re-sow the seed on the latter early the following
spring. But before doing so, the land should be
carefully disked in the fall, and the clover seed har-
rowed or otherwise covered in the spring. Should
the summer following prove favorable, the seed thus
sown may produce hay, but not likely in time to be
harvested with the other portions of the field. But
though it should not produce much hay the seed is

IIO CLOVERS

likely to be benefited to an extent tnat will far more
than repay the outlay involved in labor and seed.

If the clover has been sown for pasture, the re-
newal of the same on higher ground may be made
as stated above, but with the difference that the
same kind or kinds of grain may also be sown at
the same time as the clover is becoming rooted.

In pastures, medium red clover may be renewed
whenever the attempt is made to renew the pastures,
as by disking them and then sowing upon them the
seeds of certain grasses or clovers or both. The
disking is usually done in the spring and while the
frost is out for only a short distance below the sur-
face. The amount of seed to sow need not be large,
usually not more than 2 or 3 pounds per acre, espe-
cially when seed of other varieties is sown at the
same time. One stroke of the harrow following will
provide a sufficient covering for the seed.

Clover as a Fertilizer. — It would probably be
correct to say that no plant has yet been introduced
into American agriculture that has been found so
generally useful as clover in fertilizing land and in
improving the mechanical condition. Some who
have investigated claim that there is more nitrogen
in a clover sod after the removal of a good crop of
clover than will suffice for four average farm crops,
more phosphoric acid than will suffice for two, and
more potash than will suffice for six. It begins to
draw nitrogen from the air as soon as the tubercles
commence to form and continues to add thus to the
enrichment of the land during all the succeeding
period of active growth. As previously stated, the

MEDIUM RED CLOVER III

nitrogen is drawn in great part from the air; com
sequently, soil from which a bountiful crop of clo-
ver has been removed will be considerably richer in
nitrogen than before it grew the same, and this will
hold true as intimated above, even though the crop
should be removed and sold. Under the same condi-
tions it will also be true in available phosphoric
acid and potash. But the latter are gathered from
the soil and subsoil while the plants were growing.
Consequently, if crops of clover are grown in short
rotation periods and if no fertilizer is given to the
land other than the clover brings to it, while it will
be abundantly supplied with nitrogen, a time will
come when the supply of phosphoric acid and potash
may be so reduced that the soil will not grow even
good crops of clover. When this point is reached
the soil is spoken of as "clover sick." Happily, how-
ever, nearly all soils are so well stored with phos-
phoric acid and potash that this result is not likely
to follow for many years. But lest it should, atten-
tion should be given to fertilizing the land occasion-
ally with farmyard manure, or with phosphoric acid
and potash applied as commercial fertilizers. Be-
cause of this, and also for other reasons, it is usu-
ally considered more profitable in the end to feed
clover on the farm and return it to the land in the
form of manure. But clover may cease to grow on
land where once it grew well, because of other rea-
sons, such as changes in the mechanical condition of
the soil caused by the depletion of its humus and
changes in its chemical condition, such as increased
acidity. The remedy is the removal of the cause.

112 CLOVERS

The roots also put large quantities of humus in
the soil. Where crops are regularly grown in short
rotations they will suffice to keep it amply supplied
for ordinary production. Because of this it is usu-
ally considered more profitable to cut both the crops
which medium red clover produces in one season, or
to pasture off one or both, than to plow under either
as green manure. But when soils are too stiff or
too open in character it may be advantageous to bury
clover to restore the equilibrium. It may also be
necessary to bury an occasional crop in order to put
the land quickly in a condition to produce some de-
sired crop, the growth of which calls for large sup-
plies of humus. When clover is plowed under it will
usually be found more profitable to bury the second
growth of the season than the first. The crop is in
the best condition for being plowed under when the
plants are coming into bloom. If left until the stems
lose their succulence the slow decay following in
conjunction with the bulkiness of the mass plowed
under might prove harmful to the crop following the
clover. The influence of the roots upon the mechan-
ical condition of the soil is most beneficial. The
roots go down deep into the subsoil and also abound
in fibrous growth. The tap roots in their decay fur-
nish openings through which the superfluous water
may go down into the subsoil. The fibers adhering
to the main roots so ramify through the soil that
when even stiff land is filled with them it is ren-
dered friable, and is consequently brought into a
good mechanical condition.

While all varieties of clover may be utilized in

MEDIUM RED CLOVER 113

producing food and in enriching land, none is equal
to the medium red for the two purposes combined.
This arises from the fact that none save the medium
red grows two crops in one season under ordinary
conditions. Though the first crop should be taken
for food, as it generally is, there is still ample time
for a second crop to grow for plowing under the
same season. This second growth is ready for being
plowed under when time is less valuable than it
would be when the mammoth or alsike varieties
would be in season for being thus covered. And
yet the work may be done sufficiently early to admit
of sowing fall or winter crops on the land which
produced the clover.

CHAPTER IV

ALFALFA

Alfalfa (Medicago saliva) previous to its intro-
duction into California, from Chili, about the mid-
dle of the last century, was usually known by the
French name Lucerne. The name Alfalfa is prob-
ably Arabic in its origin, and the term Lucerne has
probably been given to it from the Canton Lucerne
in Switzerland. It has followed the plant into
Spain and South America, and now it seems prob-
able that soon it will be known by no other name
over all the United States and Canada. It has also
been known by names applied to it from various
countries for which it has shown high adaptation,
as, for instance, Sicilian Clover, Mexican Clover,
Chilian Clover, Brazilian Clover, Styrian Clover and
Burgundy Clover. In yet other instances, names
have been applied to it indicative of some peculiarity
of growth, as, for instance, Branching Clover, Per-
ennial Clover, Stem Clover and Monthly Clover.

Alfalfa is upright and branching in its habit of
growth, more so than the common varieties of clo-
ver. It usually grows to the height of 2 to 3 feet,
but it has been known to reach a much greater
height. Although possessed of a single stem when
the plants are young, the number of the stems in-
creases up- to a certain limit, with the age of the

115

PI*. 3. Alfalfa (Medlcago *atlva)

Oregon Experiment Stat

Il6 CLOVERS

plants and the number of the cuttings. Forty to
fifty stalks frequently grow up from the crown of
a single plant where the conditions are quite favor-
able to growth, and in some instances as many as
a hundred. The leaves are not large, but nu-
merous, and in the curing of the plants they drop
off much more easily than those of the more valu-
able of the clovers. The flowers are borne toward
the top of the stems and branches, and they are in a
long cluster, rather than in a compact head. They
are usually of a bluish tint, but the shades of the
color vary with the strain from blue to pink and yel-
low. The seeds are borne in spirally coiled pods.
They resemble those of red clover in size, but are
less uniform in shape. The color should be a light
olive green. The tap roots go down deeply into the
soil and subsoil where the conditions as to texture
and moisture are favorable. It has been claimed that
alfalfa roots have gone down into congenial sub-
soils 40 to 50 feet, but usually less, probably, than
one-fourth of the distances mentioned would meas-
ure the depths to which the roots go. And with
decreasing porosity in the subsoil, there will be de-
crease in root penetration until it will reach in some
instances not more than 3 to 4 feet. But where the
roots are thus hindered from going deeper, they
branch out more in their search for food.

Alfalfa is perennial. In the duration of its
growth, no fodder plant grown under domestication
will equal it. It has been known, it is claimed, to
produce profitable crops for half a century. In some
of the Western States are meadows from 25 to 40

ALFALFA 117

years old. Ordinarily, however, trie season of profit-
able growth is not more than, say, 6 to 12 years
when grown on upland soils. The meadows usu-
ally become more or less weedy or possessed by
various grasses, and some of the plants die. The
plants at first send up a single stem. When this
matures or is cut back the uncut portion of the stem
dies down to the crown of the plant, which then
sends out other stems. This is repeated as often
as the stems are cut down until many stems grow
up from one plant as indicated above, unless the
plants are so crowded that such multiplication is more
or less hindered. The plants grow rapidly as soon
as spring arrives, and as often as cut off" they at
once spring again into vigorous life, where the con-
ditions are favorable to such growth; hence, from
one to twelve cuttings of soiling may be obtained in
a single season, the former result being obtained in
arid climates, where the conditions are unpropitious,
and the latter being possible only in congenial soils,
where the winters are very mild and where the soils
are irrigated. Usually, however, even on upland
soils and in the absence of irrigation, not fewer than
3 to 5 cuttings of soiling food are obtained each
year and not fewer than 2 to 4 crops of hay.

A number of varieties so called are grown in
this country. They differ from each other more,
however, in their adaptation in essential properties
relating to the quality of the pasture and fodder pro-
duced, than in the quality of food product obtained
from them. The variety commonly grown from
seed produced in the West is usually spoken of

Il8 CLOVERS

simply as alfalfa, while that grown from seed Euro-
pean in origin has been more commonly called
Lucerne. The former of these has a tendency to
grow taller than the latter and to send its roots down
to a greater depth. In addition to these, such strains
as the Turkestan, the Rhenish, the Minnesota and
Sand Lucerne have been introduced.

The Turkestan variety was introduced by the
United States Department of Agriculture during
recent years. It was brought from provinces be-
yond the Caspian in Russia, Asia. The object
sought was to introduce a variety that would better
withstand the rigors of a climate dry in summer and
cold in winter than the variety commonly grown.
Some strains of this variety have proved drought
resistant to a remarkable degree. It has also shown
itself capable of enduring without injury tempera-
tures so low as to result in the destruction of plants
of the common variety. In trials made by growers
in North Dakota and Northern Minnesota, it has
been found able to endure the winter's cold in these
areas. But it has also been found that while the plants
produced some seed in the Central Mountain States,
they did not produce much seed when grown in the
Northern States. Unless seed can be secured from
plants grown in the latter in sufficient quantities to
meet the needs of growers, it is feared that in time
some of the hardy characteristics of this variety will
be lost if the Central and Southern Mountain States
must be relied upon as the American sources of seed
supplies.

The Rhenish strain comes from Central Europe.

ALFALFA II 19

It has been highly commended by some European
seedsmen for its hardihood, but it has been as yet
grown to only a limited extent in America. The
Minnesota strain was doubtless brought to Carver
County by German farmers, by whom it has been
grown in the neighborhood of Lake Waconia for
nearly 20 years. It has been found much hardier
than the common variety when grown in that neigh-
borhood, and the endurance of plants grown from
seed of this strain far northward has been very
pronounced. As this variety produces reason-
ably good seed crops in Central Minnesota, it
would seem reasonable to expect that it will become
popular in Northern areas. Sand Lucerne, which
comes from Central Europe, has considerable adap-
tation for poor and light soils, and in trials made
at the Michigan experiment station was found pos-
sessed of distinctive merit for such soils.

Where alfalfa can be grown freely, it is unex-
celled as a pasture for swine, and is in favor also
as a pasture for horses. While cattle and sheep
grazed upon it are exceedingly fond of it, the dan-
ger that it will produce bloat in them is so frequently
present as to greatly neutralize its value for such a
use. It is a favorite pasture for fowls. In furnish-
ing soiling food where it produces freely, it is with-
out an equal in all the United States. It is highly
relished by all kinds of farm animals, not exclud-
ing rabbits and goats, and when fed judiciously may
be fed in this form with perfect safety. Its high
value in producing such food rests on its produc-
tiveness, its high palatability and the abundant nutri-

120 , CLOVERS

tion which it contains. As a hay crop, it is greatly
prized. Even swine may be wintered in a large
measure on cured alfalfa hay.

As a fertilizer, the value of alfalfa will be largely
dependent on the use that is made of the plants.
\Yhen pastured or fed upon the farm, the fertility
resulting being put back upon the land, it ranks highly
as a producer of fertility. But this question is fur-
ther discussed on page 191. As a destroyer of weeds
much will depend upon the way in which it is grown.
This question also is discussed again. (See page

185.)

Distribution. — It is thought that alfalfa is more
widely distributed over the earth's surface, fur-
nishes more food for live stock, and has been widely
cultivated for a longer period than any other legume.
It is grown over wide areas of Asia, Europe, North
and South America, and its cultivation is con-
stantly extending. It was grown on the irrigated
plains of Babylon long before the days of Nebuchad-
nezzar. It was the principal fodder used in the
stables of the kings of Persia. From Persia, it is
thought, it was brought to Greece about 470 B. c.,
and that its cultivation in Italy began at least two
centuries before the Christian era. Several Roman
writers, as Virgil, Columella and Varro, mention it.
From Italy it was introduced into Spain and from
Spain it was doubtless carried by missionaries of the
Roman Catholic Church to Mexico and the South
American States which lie west of the Andes, as
Peru and Chili. In the arid and semi-arid regions
pf the Andes, the conditions were found so favorable

ALFALFA 121

to the growth of alfalfa that it is now the principal
forage crop grown. It is almost certain that it was
brought from Chili to California, from which it has
spread over much of the cultivated portion of the
arid and semi-arid west. Western grown seed is also
the chief source of supply at the present time for all
the States of the Union.

Fully a century ago attempts were made by Chan-
cellor Livingstone and others to introduce it into the
Eastern States, but without much success, owing,
probably, to the lack of knowledge on the part of the
people as to how it should be grown. The seed at
that time was doubtless brought from European
sources, probably France. It has been noticed by
more recent growers in these States that the results
from sowing such seed do not prove as satisfactory
as those from American grown seed, but that
alone should not sufficiently explain why the
attempts to grow alfalfa just referred to were not
successful.

But it is not alone in the areas named that alfalfa
has proved so helpful to agriculture. In Central
Asia and northward it has for long centuries fur-
nished the Tartars with the principal forage crop
grown. In Turkestan and other places it will grow
under conditions so dry as to forbid the vigorous
growth of many hardy grasses. In Southern Asia,
from India to Arabia, it has lost none of the pop-
ular favor accorded to it long centuries ago. In
Southern Russia it is extensively grown, and up and
down the basin of the Danube. In the Mediter-
ranean provinces of Southern Europe it is still one

122 CLOVERS

of the leading forage crops. In France it stands
high in the popular estimate, and also in some parts
of Germany. And even in humid England it is
grown more or less freely on dry, calcareous soils.
And the day is doubtless near when in many parts
of Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Eastern South
America this great fodder plant will be found capa-
ble of yielding abundant harvests. In some parts of
Argentina it has been claimed that it grows like a
weed.

It is believed by many that alfalfa if exposed to
very low temperatures will perish and that it can-
not stand as much winter exposure as medium red
or alsike clover. This is only true of some varie-
ties. Other varieties, as the Turkestan, for in-
stance, will endure lower temperatures and more ex-
posure than the clovers named. Alfalfa has been
grown with some success at the government experi-
ment station, Indian Head, Sark, Canada, and yet it
sometimes winter kills in Texas. As with clover,
it is injured most by exposure to sweeping winds
blowing over it in winter when the mercury is low,
and the injury is more fatal just after the removal
of a snow covering and when the plants are young.
Ice forming over the fields after a sudden thaw
and remaining for a time is very liable to kill the
plants. It can stand considerably more summer
heat than any of the clovers grown northward, as
witnessed in the good crops grown in some parts of
Louisiana during the hottest weather of summer.
Nevertheless, with reference to temperatures, what
may be termed a mild climate, such as characterizes

ALFALFA 12$

Southern France in Europe and Western California
in the United States, is best adapted to its growth.

It is better adapted to climates that are dry, where
the plants can be irrigated, as then rains do not in-
terfere with the harvesting of the hay. Even in
the absence of irrigation, a climate that is reasonably
dry is preferable to one where drenching rains fre-
quently fall, which wash away the soil when sandy,
or which fill it full of water when composed of clay.
But where rains fall frequently and in moderation,
as in the northern Puget Sound region, the effect is
helpful to the growth of the alfalfa plants, although
it may add somewhat to the labor of making alfalfa
hay, and to the hazard in curing it. Alfalfa will
maintain its hold for years on some portions of the
table lands of the mountain States under conditions
so dry that the plants can only furnish one cutting of
hay in a season. It is safe lo assume, therefore,
that alfalfa can be grown under a wider range of
climatic conditions than any other legume grown in
the United States. But the influence which climate
should be allowed to exercise on the use that is to
be made of it should not be lost from view. In cli-
mates much subject to frequent rains in summer, it
should be grown rather for soiling food and pasture
than for hay, whereas in dry climates, and espe-
cially where it can be irrigated, it should be grown
for hay, soiling food and pasture, but especially
the former.

While alfalfa can be successfully grown in one
or the other of its varieties in some portion of every
State in the Union, it has its favorite feeding

124 CLOVERS

grounds. The best conditions for growing it are
found in the valleys of all the Rocky Mountain
States, where the growth can be regulated by the
application of irrigating waters. In these the con-
ditions southward are superior to those northward,
because of the milder climate, which precludes the
danger of winter killing by exposure, which occa-
sionally happens in the more northerly of the moun-
tain States, and because of the more prolonged sea-
son for growth, which adds to the number of the
cuttings. This does not mean that the river bot-
toms in other parts of the United Staes will not
be found good for growing alfalfa. It can be grown
in many of these ; in fact, in nearly all of them, and
to some extent by the aid of irrigation, if the waste
waters were stored, but the deposit soil in these val-
leys being of much closer texture than that in the
western alleys, is, on the whole, lower in adapta-
tion than the soil in the latter.

In the western valleys of the mountain States, al-
falfa is the crop around which it may be said that
agricultural production centers. It is the principal
hay crop of those States. The extent to which it
may be grown there is revolutionizing the produc-
tion of live stock on the ranges, as it is providing
food for them in winter, which is fast removing, and
will probably soon entirely remove, the element of
hazard from live stock dependent on the range pas-
tures for support in that season. The dairy and
swine industries in those valleys must largely de-
depend upon it. Fruit orchards must ultimately grow
on buried alfalfa meadows, and the rotation of all

ALFALFA 12$

crops in the same will be largely dependent upon
the growing of alfalfa. Next in adaptation to the
mountain States are, it is thought, certain soils that
lie between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi,
especially such as are in proximity to rivers, or are
underlaid with sheet water not far distant from the
surface. But an unusually large proportion of the
upland soil in these States, from Central Minnesota
southward, have high adaptation for the growth of
this plant. Particularly is this true of the soils of
Nebraska and Kansas and of considerable portions
of Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana.

In States east of the Mississippi, the adaptation
is not so general, and is more dependent on soil con-
ditions than on those that are climatic. In nearly
all of the river bottoms of these States it will grow
with more or less success. On nearly all upland
soils it will also grow well, where the subsoil fur-
nishes naturally good drainage. For the exception,
see page 132. But in no State east of the Mississippi,
is such a proportion of the area so highly adapted to
growing alfalfa as in many of the States west of
that river. In other States areas are found in which
alfalfa will produce excellent crops, but usually
these do not embrace the larger portion of the entire
area in any State. In a considerable number of the
States such areas are more or less limited, and usu-
ally they are distributed variously in the different
States; that is, they do not lie side by side. The
favorite soil conditions in these are a good loam,
preferably more or less sandy and resting upon a
porous subsoil.

126 CLOVERS

A more exact idea will be given of relative adapta-
tion in various States in what is now submitted. In
California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New
Mexico, alfalfa is now grown chiefly by the aid of
irrigation, and all of these States have highest adap-
tation for its growth. In some parts of California
6 to 10 tons of cured hay are obtained in one year,
with pasture in winter additional. In Utah, good
crops have been grown successively on the same land
for more than a quarter of a century. In Colorado
two cuttings are obtained the first season, and it is
said that there the plants are not easily destroyed.
It yields enormously in the irrigated valleys of New
Mexico and Arizona.

In Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and
Wyoming, it is grown with and without irrigation.
In large areas in all these States, excellent crops are
and may be grown, but the season of growth being
shorter, not so many cuttings are obtained per year
as in the mountain States further south. In North-
ern Idaho two cuttings may be obtained per year,
even on high, dry land.

In North Dakota, especially westward, alfalfa gives
promise of successful growth. It will grow well
in much of South Dakota, especially on sandy soils
not too distant from water. In Minnesota it has
been grown successfully in Carver County since
1886. Good success is being obtained from growing
it in other parts of the State, even in some parts of
the Red River valley. In Western Iowa it is being
grown with much success, and in some portions of
Eastern Iowa. In Missouri, the two important cen-

ALFALFA I2/

ters for growing it are the northwest and the south-
east, but in other areas it has also done well. In
Kansas it will grow well in all parts of the State
where the subsoil is porous. It has been cut for hay
in that State in less than 60 days from the date of
sowing. It grows equally well over at least two-
thirds of Nebraska, especially the eastern half, and
its growth in Nebraska is rapidly extending. In
the Arkansas valley it luxuriates, and it is also be-
ing grown in Oklahoma. In Louisiana immense
fields are being grown along the Red River and in
other parts of the State. In Texas it is being grown
more or less north, east and south, and especially in
the valley of the Brazos.

In the Southern States alfalfa has not in many
instances been given a good chance where tried. The
plants have too frequently had to contend there as
elsewhere with ill-prepared and weedy soils and im-
prudent pasturing. Yet it is being grown with con-
siderable success, though as yet in limited areas, in
all the Southern States. It has done well in parts
of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama,
and in Georgia are some alfalfa meadows 25 years
old. In the other Southeastern States, viz., Vir-
ginia, the Carolinas and Florida, it does well only
in areas more or less circumscribed, but it has been
grown with some success even in the rainy climate
of Southern Florida.

In the States northward from the Ohio River, that
is, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin,
the necessity for growing alfalfa has not been so
much felt as in some other States, because of the

128 CLOVERS

excellence of the crops of clover grown in these.
Its growth, however, is extending in all of these
States. Much of the soil in Illinois, it is said, must
first be inoculated with the bacteria proper to alfalfa
before vigorous crops can be grown, and this is prob-
ably true of sections of Indiana soil. Some sections
of Ohio are becoming noted for the crops of alfalfa
which they have grown, and in Wisconsin Hon. W.
D. Hoard succeeded in securing 5.7 tons of alfalfa
hay in one season from four cuttings made on
three-fifths of an acre.

In all the Eastern and New England States, al-
falfa is being grown to some extent. In some coun-
ties of New York, as Onondaga and Madison, it is
becoming the leading soiling and hay crop. In Mas-
sachusetts it has borne cuttings year after year on
sandy loam soil. On Long Island three to four
cuttings each season have been obtained for a series
of years. It is believed that it will grow over nearly
the whole of Southern Maryland and also in much
of the eastern part of that State, and its growth has
been quite successful in parts of Delaware and Penn-
sylvania.

Alfalfa will grow well in considerable areas in
Canada. The statement would seem safe that at the
present time profitable crops could be grown in some
parts of every province of Canada in which the land
is tilled. In Quebec, even on high land, it usually
endures the winters. Near Montreal it has been cut
for soiling food at the height of 30 inches as early
as May I5th. In some parts of Eastern Ontario
good crops can be grown, and also over considerable

ALFALFA 129

areas of Western Ontario. The author grew it with"
much success at the experiment station at Guelph
in 1890 and subsequently, and during recent years
considerable areas are being grown in several of the
Lake Erie counties and in those that lie north from
them. But in no part of Ontario are the conditions
for growing alfalfa better than in some of the moun-
tain valleys of British Columbia.

But few crops, if, indeed, any, are being experi-
mented with at the present time to so great an ex-
tent as alfalfa; hence, the expectation is reasonable
that there will be an enormous increase in the area
grown in the future that is near. The two chief
causes of failure in the past were want of knowledge
in growing and caring for it on the part of the
growers, and the absence of the proper bacteria in
the soil. Acidity in some soils and want of drainage
in others are also responsible for many of the fail-
ures referred to. But even where it does grow rea-
sonably well, some trouble is found from the alfalfa
failing in spots. In some instances the cause can
be traced, as when coated with ice in winter, or
where the soil is not uniform, but in other instances
the precise causes have not been determined. Not-
withstanding these drawbacks, however, greatly in-
creased areas will be grown in the future, especially
in States in which the dairy interest is paramount
or even important.

Soils. — It was formerly thought by many that
alfalfa would only grow vigorously on soils and
subsoils sandy in character, and underlaid at some
distance from the surface with water. It is now

I3O CLOVERS

being ascertained that it will grow on a great variety
of soils, providing they are reasonably fertile, free from
acidity, sufficiently porous below to carry away water
with reasonable quickness, and not underlaid with
hard pan or a subsoil so tenacious that it is almost
impervious to water.

The best soils for alfalfa are those of the Western
mountain States, and in these the deposit soils of
the river valleys stand among the foremost. These
soils are usually of much depth. Many of them
have water underneath, and the subsoil is usually
so porous that the roots can go far down in them,
such is the character of nearly all the bottom land
west of the Mississippi. But in nearly all of the
mountain region of the West, from Banff in British
Columbia to Mexico, alfalfa will grow well under
irrigation, or in the absence of irrigation, if ground
water is not too distant from the surface. In this
region alfalfa grows more vigorously and more per-
sistently than in almost any other portion of the
United States.

In regions where alfalfa is not dependent upon ir-
rigation, the best soils probably are deep, rich cal-
careous loams, clay or sandy, and underlaid with
what may be termed a mild or reasonably porous
clay subsoil. With such soils the plants may be in
no way influenced by sheet water below, as on some
of these in Nebraska, for instance, such water is
fuHy 150 feet below the surface. These soils are
usually possessed of abundant food supplies to
nourish the plants, and the roots can go far down
into the subsoils to gather food and moisture. Such

ALFALFA 13!

lands are found more or less in nearly all the States
of the Union east from the Rocky Mountains ; hence,
when the requisite bacteria are present, good crops
can be grown on them in every State in the Union.

On the ordinary black soils of the prairie, alfalfa
will usually grow reasonably well if underlaid with
clay not too distant nor too tenacious. When the
roots get down into the subsoil, they can usually
find much food in the same, and unless in very dry
areas a sufficiency of moisture, but in many instances
it may be necessary to introduce the requisite bac-
teria, and to apply farmyard manure to encourage
sufficient growth to carry the roots down quickly to
the subsoil. In some prairie soils the growth will
be vigorous from the start, but usually these are
lands that have grown hardwood timber, and that
have in them more or less clay.

In climates where the rainfall is considerable, al-
falfa will frequently grow well on gravelly soils and
on those that are stony. Some of the best alfalfa
soils in the State of New York, New England
States, and in the Canadian provinces of Quebec
and Ontario are of this character.

Alfalfa will frequently grow fairly well even on
stiff clays, and in some instances on gumbo soils.
But these soils must not be so retentive as to col-
lect and hold water for any considerable time within
a few feet of the surface. Such lands have usually
much staying power; hence, alfalfa grown on them
frequently improves for years after it has been sown.
On the reddish soils that cover much of the South,
it has been found, as in growing alfalfa on stiff

132 CLOVERS

clays in the North, that where deep subsoiling is
practiced alfalfa is not only more easily established,
but it also grows with added vigor.

On upland soils sandy or gravelly in character
where the rainfall is much less than normal and
where the subsoil is not underlaid with sheet water,
alfalfa will not usually succeed, notwithstanding
that it may grow well on these soils where the rain-
fall is normal. On such soils it is not easy to get
a stand of the plants, as they are much apt to perish
in the dry weather of the first season, but if once
established on such soils the plants have much power
to grow even where the rainfall is considerably less
than normal.

Alfalfa will not grow well in soils naturally wet
until they are drained. And when drained it will
not grow with normal vigor, on what may be termed
slough soils, where the subsoil is far down and cov-
ered with a deep covering of vegetable mold. What
are termed slough soils in the Western prairies, there-
fore, are not well fitted for the growth of alfalfa. On
these it may not succeed well, when it may grow with
much vigor on the adjoining upland. When some
wet soils are drained, alfalfa may not succeed well
on them for a time and later may grow luxuriantly.
This may arise from the lack of time for proper
aeration after being drained, or from the want of
lime to further correct acidity in the soil, or from
the want of the proper bacteria. Notwithstanding
that alfalfa will not grow well on undrained lands
that are naturally wet, and notwithstanding that it
will perish if the roots reach standing water at a dis-

ALFALFA 133

tance too near the surface, the best crops by far are
usually grown on irrigated lands. This arises, first,
from the ability to adjust the supplies of water to
meet the needs of the plants, and second, from the
congenial character of the soil and subsoil. Next
to these the best crops are grown where congenial
soils are underlaid with ground water, not too near
nor too distant from the surface. On these soils the
plants are largely supplied with moisture from the
water below ascending on the principle of capillary
attraction. How near or how distant such water
should be will depend somewhat on subsoil condi-
tions. It would seem correct to say that it ought
never to come nearer to the surface than 3 feet, nor
should it be more than 20 feet down. The most suit-
able distance would be, say, 8 to 16 feet. When the
roots of alfalfa reach water at too short a depth they
will die.

Alfalfa may sometimes be grown satisfactorily on
soils subject to overflow, but usually there is hazard
in growing it on these. If the overflow occurs com-
paratively early in the season, if it is not of great
depth, if it is of short duration, and if the waters
quickly drain out of the subsoil possessed by the al-
falfa, it may receive little or no harm from such
overflow. Instances are on record wherein ice has
formed on alfalfa and yet the plants survived, but
such a condition will usually prove fatal to them.
But should the overflow take place in hot weather,
usually it will injure the plants seriously, and may,
indeed, completely destroy them. So great is such
hazard, that care must be taken against the applica-

134 CLOVERS

tion of an excess of irrigating waters under such
conditions. Overflow waters that are stagnant are
more injurious probably than those that are in mo-
tion, owing, it may be, to the less supply of dissolved
oxygen in the former.

Soils suitable in themselves, but lying on stiff clay
bottoms or underlaid with hard pan within two or
three feet of the surface, will not maintain a good
stand of alfalfa. The plants in these may grow well
for a time, probably a year or two, after which they
will fail. The roots are not able to go down to
gather food. When the subsoils are simply stiff
clays, deep subsoiling, as already intimated, may
render much service, but when composed of hard
pan this may not be practicable. In moist climates,
however, reasonably good crops have been obtained
from soils with underlying rock not more than four
feet below the surface.

The fact should not be overlooked that soils may
have the requisite physical conditions for growing
alfalfa, and they may possess in fair supply the es-
sential elements of plant food, and yet alfalfa will
not succeed at the first when sown on these, because
of the absence of the soil bacteria, the presence of
which is essential to the vigorous growth of the
plants. Because of this, growers should be slow to
conclude that alfalfa will not flourish on the soils
on which they sow it until they have first tried to
grow it on those soils that have been inoculated with
the requisite alfalfa bacteria. For the methods of
procedure in such cases see page 53. Some persons
claim that soils which will grow medium red clover

ALFALFA 135

in good form will also grow alfalfa in good form.
This does not necessarily follow. While there is
much of similarity in the soils suitable for the
growth of both, alfalfa may fail on lands that grow
red clover luxuriantly until the bacteria proper to
alfalfa have been introduced. Soils may be tested
for bacteria, and even in winter, by sowing some
seed in pots and treating them like well-cared-for
house plants. When the plants are 2 to 3 months
old, if tubercles are found on the roots, the conclu-
sion would seem safe that such soil does not require
inoculation.

Place in the Rotation. — In a certain sense it
can scarcely be said of alfalfa that it is a rotation
plant, because of the long term of years for which it
is grown in an unbroken succession. Nevertheless,
in all places it cannot always be maintained for a
long term of successive years without renewal. In
the Eastern States it is frequently, though not al-
ways so crowded by various grasses, that the fields
in which it grows are broken up at some period
short of ten years, and not infrequently at the end of
five or six years. When tfius grown, it becomes a
rotation plant, though grown in what may be termed
long rotations. But even in the West, where, under
irrigation, it may be grown for a quarter of a cen-
tury or even for a longer period without renewal,
it may be used when desired in short rotations. In
such situations it grows so readily and becomes es-
tablished so quickly, that the fields may be broken
with a view to alternate with other crops at the end
of the second year, or of any year subsequently from

136 CLOVERS

the sowing of the seed that may be desired. Alfalfa
in these soils will serve even better than medium red
clover in such situations, since while it is growing,
it will produce more hay or soiling food, and con-
sequently should excel the former in the fertility
which it makes available.

East of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio
River, alfalfa will frequently follow cultivated crops,
as corn, potatoes and field roots, and when the fields
are broken, it will be followed by crops other than
legumes. On many soils the influence which this
crop has on relieving the surface soil from excessive
moisture, through channels opened into the subsoil
by the decaying roots, is so helpful as to considerably
stimulate production in addition to the fertilizing in-
fluence which it exerts directly. Particularly good
crops of corn, the small cereal grains, and even
field roots may be grown after alfalfa.

On soils east of the Mississippi and south of the
Ohio, the rotation will be somewhat similar. But
on Southern soils alfalfa will frequently follow im-
mediately crops especially grown to be plowed under
as green manures for the benefit of the alfalfa.
These crops include cow peas, soy beans, crimson
clover, and to a limited extent, burr clover. It will
also be followed frequently by crops of cotton and
other non-leguminous plants, the growth of which
in the United States is confined to the area now
being considered.

In the area west of the Mississippi and east of the
semi-arid region beside the mountains, alfalfa may
follow the small cereal grains, and may in turn be

ALFALFA 137

followed by them and also by millets. It may also
follow and precede corn, or the non-saccharine sor-
ghums, where the climatic conditions are suitable for
growing the latter.

In the irrigated regions of the West, alfalfa may
be made to serve almost any purpose in the rota-
tion that may be desired. By growing it as a rota-
tion crop in these valleys it may be made to furnish
the soil indefinitely with supplies of nitrogen and
humus. In these soils it may be made to follow
directly almost any crop grown on them, and sim-
ilarly it may be made to precede the growth of
almost any crop for which the locality has marked
adaptation. Small cereal grains, timothy, vege-
tables, field roots, potatoes, corn, small fruits and
orchards may be profitably grown on buried alfalfa
meadows. This does not imply, however, that alfalfa
meadows should not, as a rule, be maintained for
a long term of years.

Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the soil for
alfalfa the aim should be to make a seed-bed clean,
rich, fine, moist, even, and sufficiently firm or friable,
according to the conditions. The subsoil should also
be made sufficiently dry and open. From what has
just been said, it will be apparent that in properly
preparing the seed-bed, it will be necessary to study
closely the requisite conditions.

The advantage from having a clean seed-bed will
be apparent when it is called to mind that alfalfa
is a somewhat delicate plant when young, and that
because of this, it is ill able to overcome in the fight
with weeds. Cleanness in the surface soil may be

138 CLOVERS

obtained by summerfallowing the land, by growing
a root crop or a crop of corn or any of the non-
saccharine sorghums. When the seed is spring
sown, this preparation must be given the year previ-
ously, but when autumn sown, it may be given the
same season. In preparing the land thus, the aim
should be to make the surface as clean as possible,
rather than to get weed seeds out of the lower strata
of the cultivated soil, in which they will likely perish
before the field sown to alfalfa is broken up again.
Summerfallowing makes an excellent preparation
for the land, because of the fine opportunity which
it furnishes for cleaning the same perfectly and
leveling it off properly. The excellent condition in
which it puts the seed-bed, viewed from the stand-
point of the duration of the years of cropping that
are likely to follow, would seem to more than justify
such preparation of*the land. The outcome may
more than justify the loss of the crop for one sea-
son when thus summerfallowmg the land. But it
may not be necessary to lose the production of one
season whether the seed is sown spring or autumn,
as the summerfallowing in the North may follow the
pasturing off of some crop, and in the .South the
interval for fallowing the land may be sufficiently
long after the harvesting of an early winter grain
crop, before sowing the seed in the autumn. (See
page 136.)

When sowing the seed autumn or spring, on land
that is filled with weed seeds near the surface, it is
frequently better to defer sowing the seed for some
weeks to give time for sprouting many of these than

ALFALFA 139

to sow at once. This suggestion is specially appli-
cable to spring sowing. It should also be mentioned
that when the weeds infesting the soil are annual
or even biennial in character, the harm done to the
alfalfa by these will be much less than when the
land is infested with perennials at the time of sow-
ing. The former may be prevented from seeding
by clipping back frequently, while the latter remain
in the soil, increase from year to year, and injure
the plants by crowding. Where crab grass grows
abundantly, as in some parts of the South, unless the
alfalfa is sown and cultivated, spring sowing ought
to be avoided. But it is less objectionable to sow
alfalfa on land that is weedy when the adaptation
of the land for the crop is high than when it is low,
as the alfalfa in the former instance has so much
more power to fight its own battle. On good alfalfa
soils, therefore, it may be wiser in some instances to
sow alfalfa in weed-infested land than to defer sow-
ing for a whole year in order to clean the land.

It is greatly important that the land shall be rich
in available plant food on which the seed is sown.
If naturally poor, it should be well fertilized before
sowing. When this cannot be done, it is better not
to sow. A vast preponderance of the land in the
Rocky Mountain region, when first broken, would
seem to possess abundantly all the essential foods
required by alfalfa ; hence, for a time, at least, it is
not necessary to enrich these before sowing the seed.
The sandy and hungry gravelly soils, which are con-
siderable in the South, in the Atlantic States, and in
some of the Central and Northern States, should be

140 CLOVERS

fertilized before laying them down to alfalfa. Such
fertilization usually calls for both humus and readily
available plant food, and these are most cheaply sup-
plied by growing certain green crops and plowing
them under, or by applying farmyard manure.
These may be supplemented when necessary by com-
mercial fertilizers. Some precede alfalfa on such
soils by growing cow peas or soy beans, followed by
crimson clover, both crops being plowed in, and
shortly before sowing the alfalfa they apply more or
less of phosphoric acid and potash, which is usu-
ally incorporated in the surface soil by the harrow.
On some soils, as in some parts of Florida, two suc-
cessive crops of cow peas should be plowed under
before sowing alfalfa. When farmyard manure can
be used in fertilizing those leechy soils it is well
when it can be applied on the surface in a somewhat
decomposed form and also kept near the surface dur-
ing the subsequent cultivation given when preparing
the seed-bed. In the North it is best applied in the
autumn or winter, and in the South in the summer.
But on loam soils with a reasonably retentive subsoil,
the better way to apply farmyard manure is to make
a heavy application of the same to the crop preceding
the alfalfa. It has thus become incorporated with
the soil, and many weed seeds in it will have
sprouted before sowing the alfalfa. The results
from applying manure on soil somewhat stiff and
not highly productive have been noticeably marked.
This may have been owing in part to the mechani-
cal influence of the manure on the land. The rela-
tion between the free application pf farmyard

ALFALFA 14!

manure and abundant growth in altalfa is so marked
in all, or nearly all, soils west of the Mississippi
River that in many instances better crops will be
obtained from poor soils well manured than from
good soils unmanured. The relation between abun-
dant manuring and soil inoculation is worthy of
more careful study, in the judgment of the author,
than has yet been accorded to it.

Fine pulverization of the surface soil is advan-
tageous when sowing alfalfa, because of the influ-
ence which it has upon the retention of moisture
near the surface, and upon the exclusion from the
soil of an overabundance of light. It is in clay soils,
of course, that this condition is most difficult to se-
cure. The agencies in securing it are the cultivator,
the harrow and the roller, and in many instances the
influences of weather, after the land has been
plowed, especially when plowed in the autumn prior
to spring seeding.

Moistness in the seed-bed sufficient to promptly
sprout the seed is a prime essential, but it is very
much more important where the seasons are dry
than where the lack of rain is but little feared. When
the seed is sown after summerfallow or cultivated
crops, it is usually considered preferable to make the
seed-bed without using the plow, but to this there
may be some exceptions. If sowing is deferred for
a few weeks in the spring on such lands, or on other
lands autumn plowed or early spring plowed, a free
use of the harrow ought to be made in the interval,
because of the favorable influence which this will
have on the retention of moisture. In preparing

142 CLOVERS

some soils for autumn sowing1 after a grain crop, as
in some parts of Nebraska and Kansas, it is only
necessary to use the harrow; in preparing others
the disk and harrow; and in yet others the disk and
harrow and roller. In preparing other soils, as the
clays of the South, it may be necessary first to plow
and subsoil, and subsequently to use sufficiently the
harrow and roller.

Evenness in the soil on the surface is important
when it is so retentive that water may collect in the
depressions after heavy rain. In such places the
plants are much liable to fail, especially in the early
winter, or even shortly after they may have begun
to grow, if moisture is excessive. In order to smooth
and even the land sufficiently, it may be necessary to
run over it some form of leveller. This does not
mean, however, that it will not be necessary some-
times to plow the land in ridges, or "lands," as they
are sometimes called, but it does mean that the slope
from the center of the lands toward the furrows shall
be even and gradual, in order that an excess of sur-
face water, as in rainy climates, shall be carried away
by the latter.

Firmness in the seed-bed is necessary chiefly to
prevent too much drying out near the surface in
dry weather, and the holding of too much water in
the spaces between the particles near the surface in
wet weather, followed by freezing of the soil. The
less deep the stirring of the cultivated portion when
preparing it, the longer the interval between such
stirring and the sowing of the seed, and the heavier
the pressure when rolling, the more firm will the

ALFALFA 143

seed-bed be. The deeper the land is plowed, there-
fore, the longer should be the interval before it is
sowed, but ample rainfall will shorten this period.
Firmness in the seed-bed is more important, rela-
tively, in summer or early autumn when evapora-
tion from the surface soil is the most rapid. On
some soils of the Middle States which border on
the Mississippi, the early sown autumn crop will
sometimes perish after the plants have grown some
distance above the ground, because of want of firm-
ness in the soil ; hence, in such locations harrowing
the surface of the ground thoroughly may some-
times be a more suitable preparation than plowing
and harrowing.

Friability in the seed-bed is important when the
soils are heavy. The influences which promote it
are the presence of humus, liberal cultivation, and
sometimes weather influences, as rain and frost.
Unless heavy clay soils are brought into this condi-
tion, the roots of the alfalfa will not be able to pene-
trate the soil quickly enough or deeply enough in
search of food.

As has been intimated, it will not avail to sow
alfalfa in soils not sufficiently drained naturally or
otherwise. Usually, good alfalfa soils have suffi-
cient drainage naturally, the subsoil being suf-
ficiently open to admit of the percolation of water
down into the subsoil with sufficient quickness. But
good crops of alfalfa may be grown on subsoils so
retentive that underdrainage is necessary to facilitate
the escape of an excess of moisture with sufficient
quickness. The question has been raised as to

144 CLOVERS

whether the roots of the plants will be much liable
to enter and choke the drains at the joints between
the tiles. While it would not be safe to say that
this would never happen, it is not likely to happen,
owing to the character of the root growth. • Where
too much water is held near the surface, in climates
characterized by alternate freezing and thawing in
winter, the young plants will certainly be thrown
out through the heaving of the soil.

The subsoiling of lands not sufficiently open be-
low will be greatly helpful to the growth of alfalfa.
This may also be true of lands not over-retentive
naturally, but made so by the treading of the animals
for successive years on the soil under the furrow
when plowing the land. In some conditions, with-
out subsoiling thus, the growing of alfalfa will not
be successful, but in doing this work, care should
be taken not to bring up raw subsoil to the surface.
In subsoiling for alfalfa, usually the more deeply the
ground can be stirred by the subsoiler, the better
will be the results that will follow. Subsoiling is
particularly helpful to the growing of alfalfa on
many of the clay soils of the South.

In the far West, toward the mountains, and prob-
ably within the same, are areas in which excellent
stands of alfalfa may be obtained by simply sowing
the seed on surfaces stirred with a disk or with a
heavy harrow weighted while it is being driven over
the land. The implements should be driven first one
way and then the other, and, of course, the seed is
harrowed after it has been sown. Where the soil is
sufficiently level, this plan of preparing will prove

ALFALFA 145

satisfactory, more especially where water can be put
upon the land, but it will also succeed frequently in
the absence of irrigating waters. In some instances
the disking and sowing are both done by the same
implement, which is driven both ways across the
field.

Alfalfa is sometimes sown, and with profit, on
steep hill sides which are inclined to wash. When
set on these it tends to prevent the washing of the
land. In such situations it is better to sow with a
nurse crop, which will help to hold the soil until
the alfalfa becomes rooted. Where land is so loose
as to blow and irrigation cannot be practiced, only
as much should be sown each season as can be cov-
ered with stable litter and well-rotted straw drawn
out at the proper season.

Sowing. — The best season for sowing alfalfa will
depend upon such conditions as relate to soil, mois-
ture and climate. On rather stiff clay soils, the other
conditions being right, the most satisfactory results
are obtained from sowing the seed in the spring,
and on land that has been plowed in the autumn
and exposed to the mellowing influences of winter.
But to this there may be some exceptions. On lands
so light as to lift with the wind, that season should
be avoided in sowing, if possible, when lifting winds
prevail. Such winds are common in some localities
in the spring, and may uncover the seed in some
places and bury it too deeply in others.

Where moisture is deficient the seed must be sown
at those times when it is most plentiful. This may
be in the autumn, but more commonly it is in the

146 CLOVERS

quite early spring. In some of the mountain States
the best results have been obtained under semi-arid
conditions from sowing the seed in the late autumn,
so that it would be ready for germination at the first
commencement of the period of growth in the
spring. Under some conditions the too dry char-
acter of the weather may preclude the sowing of al-
falfa in the summer and autumn months. Where
moisture is plentiful all the season of growth, alfalfa
may be sown almost any time, except the early
spring or late autumn. Where irrigating waters are
plentiful, the only hindrances to sowing alfalfa at
any season of the year are such as may arise from
climate. Far South in very mild areas it may be
sown almost any time.

Where the temperatures are low in winter, the
best results are obtained from sowing alfalfa in the
spring and early summer, otherwise the plants do
not become sufficiently well established to withstand
the rigors of the winter following. Under some con-
ditions, sufficiently satisfactory results follow sow-
ing in the early summer, even in Northern latitudes.
Where the winters are sufficiently mild and the
moisture is sufficiently plentiful, early autumn sow-
ing, as in August or September, according to the
locality, is, all things considered, the most satisfac-
tory, for the reason, first, that it follows, or may
follow, a crop grown the same season ; second, that
the plants are less hindered in their growth by weeds
when they are young; and third, that they produce
crops of soiling food or hay the first season after
sowing. Many weeds do not grow in autumn and

ALFALFA Itf

winter; hence, the less injury done by them to al-
falfa plants, since the latter are so strong by spring
that they overshadow the weeds in their effort to
grow. When alfalfa is sown at such a time, the
growth of one year virtually is gained by the
process.

North of parallel 40°, that is, north of the lati-
tude of Columbus, Ohio, and Denver, Colorado,
speaking in a general way, alfalfa is more commonly
sown in the spring, but not usually so early as clo-
ver, lest the young plants, which are more tender
than clover plants, should be nipped by spring frosts.
This danger is frequently present in the region of
the upper Missouri. East of the Mississippi it may
usually be advisable to sow in the spring some dis-
tance south from the latitude named. West from
the same are areas where early autumn sowing is
frequently the best. In much of the Southern and
Southwestern States, early autumn sowing is con-
sidered better practice than spring sowing, but to
this there are exceptions. Under some conditions
alternate freezing and thawing of the land near the
surface tend to throw out young plants, as, for in-
stance, those autumn sown, more readily than
plants from spring-sown seed.

Alfalfa is usually sown much the same as medium
red clover (see page 75), but there are the follow-
ing points of difference: i. Since alfalfa is more
commonly sown in dry areas, it is more important,
relatively, that the seed shall be buried more uni-
formly and deeply in the soil in such areas. 2. Since
it is liable to be more injured, relatively, by a nurse

148 CLOVERS

crop than the clovers, it is more frequently sown
without one. And 3. Since it is expected to furnish
food for a much longer term of years than any of the
clovers, it is relatively more important that the seed
shall be sown with a view to seek a uniform and
sufficient stand of the plants.

Whether the seed is sown by hand, or by any of
the hand machines in use, the results will usually
prove satisfactory, but in climates where moisture
is deficient, decidedly better results are obtained
from sowing the seed with some form of seed drill.
A press drill is preferred in soils so light and open
as to dry out easily or to lift easily with the wind.
Under conditions of ample moisture, a light cover-
ing with a harrow will suffice, but under conditions
the opposite, more covering is necessary. In areas
where spring and early autumn showers are fre-
quent, the roller will provide a sufficient covering,
especially where the soils are well charged with a clay
content. On other soils, as those which cover much
of the prairie, the seed should be buried from i to
2 inches deep.

Where alfalfa is much sown on soils well sup-
plied with humus, and on the soils which prevail in the
Rocky Mountain region, many growers sow the
seed with the grain drill, and before sowing they
first mix the seed with some material, as earth,
some kind of coarse meal, bran or other substance
to make it feed out more regularly. In some in-
stances one-half of the seed is sown the first time
the drill is driven over the land, and the balance is
sown by driving again over the same at right angles

ALFALFA 149

to the drill marks previously made. When thus
sown, the plants are more evenly distributed over
the soil, and produce, it is thought, a more uniform
quality of stalk. This method meets, in part, at
least, the objection sometimes made to drill sowing,
that it does not distribute the plants sufficiently in
the soil.

In the Northern and Atlantic States, also west of
the Cascade Mountains, and in some parts of the
South, alfalfa is frequently sown with a nurse crop,
and under favorable conditions the results are usu-
ally satisfactory, if the nurse crop is not sown too
thickly. The best nurse crops in the areas named are
barley and winter rye, but oats will answer also, if
sown thinly and cut for hay. It has also been sown
quite successfully along with winter wheat in the
spring and also with spring wheat. When sown
with winter wheat or winter rye, it is usually ad-
vantageous to cover the seed well with the harrow.
In many instances, however, even in these areas, it
is thought better to sow the seed without a nurse
crop, in order that the plants may have all the bene-
fit from moisture and sunlight which it is possible
to give them. This is specially desirable when the
fear is present that they may succumb the first win-
ter to the severity of the weather. As weeds grow
rapidly along with the plants, the mower should be
run over the field from one to three times during
the season. If the mowing is done at the proper
time, it will not be necessary to remove what has
been cut off by the mower. It may be allowed to lie
as a mulch on the land. But should the growth of

I5O CLOVERS

weeds be excessive before the mowing is done, it
would then be necessary to remove them, in order
to avoid smothering the plants. The clipping back
of the alfalfa plants is helpful, rather than hurtful.
When not thus clipped back the leaves frequently
assume a yellowish tint on the top of the plants,
which gradually extends downward until the greater
portion of the leaves may be thus affected. Such a
condition frequently betokens a lack of nitrogen,
but it may also be induced by other causes. When
it does appear, the mower should at once be used
and also as often as it appears. As soon as mowed
off the plants usually stool out, sending up fresh
shoots more numerously. They thus form a crown,
somewhat like the crown in clover plants. Root
growth is also strengthened, and the plants are thus
made much stronger for going into the winter.
Each clipping during the season, of course, cuts
down weeds and prevents them from making seed.
If not thus clipped, they would frequently injure
the crop more by shade and crowding than would
a nurse crop. The mulch thus made through clip-
ping back the plants is in many instances quite help-
ful to them, because of the check which it gives to
the escape of ground moisture. There is some dif-
ference in the view held as to whether close clipping
is preferable, but the balance of authority is in favor
of reasonably close clipping.

Alfalfa is usually sown alone, but in some in-
stances it maybe advantageous to sow more or less of
some other kind or kinds of grass or clover along with
it. When grown for hay it is usually preferable to

ALFALFA 151

sow the seed without admixture. BU* there may
be instances in which medium red or alsike clover
may improve the crop the first year or two that it
is mown* for hay. But where red clover grows much
more vigorously than alfalfa the first season, it
should not be thus sown in any considerable quan-
tities, or the clover plants will injure the alfalfa
plants by crowding and overshading. Nevertheless,
alfalfa may frequently with profit form a consider-
able factor in clover grown as pasture.

Where the main purpose of sowing alfalfa is to
provide pasture, various grasses and clovers may
be sown along with it, and in varying quantities,
according to the attendant conditions. The choice
of the variety or varieties to sow along with the
alfalfa should be based on the needs of the stock
to be pastured, and on the degree of the vigor with
which these grow and maintain themselves in the
locality. In the Northern States and Eastern Can-
ada timothy and Russian brome grass (Bromns
incnnis) may be chosen. In areas with Southern Illi-
nois as a center, red top and timothy should be satisfac-
tory. In the Southern States, the claims of orchard
grass and tall oat grass would probably be para-
mount. In areas with Iowa as a center, nothing
would be more suitable, probably, than Russian
brome grass. In the mountain States, with
Wyoming as a center, timothy and alsike clover
would be suitable. In the dry upland country in
Washington and Oregon, Russian brome grass or
tall oat grass would answer the purpose. In many
areas the plan pf sowing clover chiefly with the

152 CLOVERS

alfalfa is a good one, providing the alfalfa is cut for
a year or two, and is then grazed, as by that time
grasses indigenous to the locality, or which grow
well in the same, come in to such an extent as to
form a very considerable proportion of the pasture.
Blue grass frequently behaves thus in the North,
and crab grass in the South.

The amounts of seed to sow will vary with the
character of the soil and climate, with the use that
is to be made of the alfalfa, and .with the manner
in which it is sown. On soils and in climates quite
favorable to the growth of alfalfa it is common to
sow more seed than in those with less adaptation,
and with a view, probably, to check coarseness in
the growth of the stems. If sown thinly in such
areas, the rank growth which follows would be
coarse. This explains why in the Western and
mountain States more seed is usually sown than
in the Eastern and Northern States. Averaging
the whole country, 20 pounds of seed per acre is
more frequently mentioned as the proper amount to
sow than any other quantity. In the Northern
States many growers sow 15 pounds per acre, and
judging by the yield obtained, this amount of seed
has proved satisfactory. Some growers even men-
tion 10 to 12 pounds as satisfactory. The amounts
last named are certainly too small for average con-
ditions. Fifteen to 20 pounds may be fixed upon as
the proper amounts to sow on soil in good condition
for speedy germination. But many growers claim
satisfactory results from sowing larger amounts of
seed than those named. Under semi-arid conditions,

ALFALFA 153

where irrigation cannot be given, a moderate amount
of seed will be more satisfactory than very thick
seeding, as when sown too thickly the plants would
suffer more from want of moisture than if sown
more thinly. The aim should be to obtain a stand
that will cover the ground evenly and as thickly as
will admit of the vigorous growing of the plants.
Because of the relatively long duration of the period
of the growth of alfalfa fields, it is specially im-
portant that good stands shall be obtained at the
first, and for the further reason that the plants will
then be better able to contend with intruding weeds,
the great bane of alfalfa meadows.

When alfalfa is grown mainly for seed, it should
be more thinly sown than when it is grown for hay
or soiling food. It has been noticed that when the
plants stand thickly beyond a certain degree, they
do not seed well. Twelve to 16 pounds have been
mentioned as quite enough to sow for such pro-
duction in the mountain States. Where both ob-
jects are important, medium thick sowing would be
the most suitable.

When sown in combinations such as have been
named above, it will be necessary to modify some-
what the amounts of alfalfa seed sown, according to
the proportion of the other seeds sown with the
alfalfa. But since many grasses are more aggres-
sive than alfalfa, it is not necessary to reduce the
amount of alfalfa seed sown proportionately to the
amounts of the other seeds that may be sown along
with it. In many instances it may be proper not
to reduce the amount of the alfalfa seed at all, as

154 CLOVERS

some of these grasses will soon crowd the alfalfa
plants, to their injury, even though the usual amount
of seed should be sown. The amount of the grasses
sown with the alfalfa will, of course, vary. It will
seldom be necessary in any instance to sow more
than 6 or 7 pounds per acre, and under many con-
ditions not more than 5 pounds. When alfalfa is
sown with timothy and clover in temporary mead-
ows or pastures, it is seldom necessary to sow more
than 3 to 5 pounds per acre, and the same is true
of it when sown in a permanent pasture. The crop
is so little grown for hay in mixtures, that it is
scarcely necessary to dwell upon the nature of these,
or the respective amounts of seed to sow in making
them.

When alfalfa is sown with the grain, there will
be a saving of seed to the extent of at least 20 per
cent., as compared with broadcast sowing. This
arises from the more general sprouting of all the
seeds, since they are planted at a more uniform
depth, and from the subsequent loss of a smaller per-
centage of the plants through drought, and it may
be other causes. But when sowing broadcast, it will
in many instances prove more satisfactory to add
20 per cent, to the amounts mentioned above, as suit-
able for being sown without admixture with other
grasses and clovers, rather than to deduct 20 per
cent, from these amounts when sowing the seed with
the drill.

Cultivating. — Under some conditions, it is. in a
sense, necessary to sow alfalfa in rows, and to give
it cultivation during the first season and sometimes

ALFALFA 155

for a longer period. In some parts of Florida, for
instance, the most satisfactory results have been ob-
tained from sowing in rows with 12 to 24 inches
between the rows, and then to cultivate between
these as may be necessary to keep down the growth
of weeds. Under some conditions also in the At-
lantic States, the most satisfactory results have been
obtained from sowing alfalfa in rows 14 to 16 inches
apart and cultivating between them. Even hand
hoeing the first season may be justifiable along the
line of the rows for small areas, but with the price
of labor as at present, would be too costly for large
areas. When grown in rows as indicated in the
Atlantic States and westward from these, the yields
of seed have been more satisfactory than when sown
broadcast, but the crop is less satisfactory for hay,
owing to the coarse and uneven character of the
stems. The amounts of seed wanted for such sow-
ing will, of course, vary chiefly with the distance be-
tween the rows. As small an amount as 6 pounds
or even less will in some instances suffice per acre.
Pasturing — The practice of pasturing alfalfa
the first season, especially where it cannot be irri-
gated, is usually condemned, lest it should weaken
the plants unduly for entering the winter. It would
seem probable, however, that under some conditions
such grazing would be helpful rather than hurtful.
The cropping of the plants by stock, in the influence
which it exerts upon the plants, is akin to that which
arises from cutting them back frequently during the
summer. The animals thus grazed will also crop
down weeds. This, at least, is true of sheep. The

156 CLOVERS

author has succeeded in getting a good stand of
alfalfa by sowing seed at the rate of 15 pounds
per acre, along with 2 to 4 pounds of Dwarf Essex
rape seed, and grazing the same with sheep. Other
growers, during recent years, have succeeded sim-
ilarly. The grazing should not begin until the plants
have made a good start, but it should not be deferred
so long that the rape and the weeds will unduly
shade the alfalfa plants. The pasturing should not
be too close, nor should it be so long continued that
the alfalfa plants will not be able to provide a good
growth in the early autumn before the advent of
winter.

The management of the spring-sown crop the first
season requires careful attention in areas where the
hazard exists in any considerable degree that the
plants may take serious harm at that season, or, in-
deed, fail altogether. In Western areas, from Can-
ada to Kentucky and Missouri, it is important that
the stubbles of the grain shall be cut high, amid
which alfalfa grows when it is sown with a nurse
crop. When not thus sown, it is of prime impor-
tance that the plants shall stand up several inches
above the surface of the ground before the advent of
winter. This is specially important in States west
of the Mississippi River. The objects effected are
three-fold. First, the snow is arrested and held for
the protection of the plants, and to furnish them
with moisture when the snow melts. The extent to
which the stubbles and the erect young alfalfa
plants will hold snow is simply surprising. On the
exposed prairies, the snow usually drifts so com-

ALFALFA 157

pletely from unprotected lands, that during almost
any winter a large proportion of the area will be
quite bare. The melting of the snow thus held is
also of much value to the crop in the moisture
which it brings to it, especially in areas where the
rainfall is less than normal. Second, the plants are
thus protected from the sweep of the cold winds
which blow so much of the season in the unprotected
prairie, and which are frequently fatal to various
winter crops. Third, they are also protected from
the intensity of the frost, which may in some in-
stances kill young alfalfa plants in areas northward.

In the Northern States east of Minnesota, the
New England States, and the provinces of Canada
east of Lake Huron, the considerable covering on
the ground is not so important, relatively, to protect
the plants against the coming winter, but it is also
of considerable importance, as sometimes the early
snows melt so completely that the fields are left bare
in midwinter. The warm temperatures which melt
the snow may be followed by a cold wave, which
may be greatly injurious to the plants. There may
be instances, as where the snow usually falls very
deeply, in which the covering left would prove ex-
cessive, and so tend to smother the plants; hence,
sometimes it may be necessary to guard against too
much covering.

If the plants should lack age or vigor on entering
the first winter, a top-dressing of farmyard manure
will render great service in protecting them. This,
however, is only practicable with comparatively
limited areas. It is sometimes practiced in the

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North Atlantic States, where the manure thus ap-
plied will prove greatly helpful to the growth of the
alfalfa during the following season. These precau-
tions to guard against the severity of winter
weather are not nearly so necessary in the Rocky
Mountain States where irrigation is practiced. In
these, alfalfa spring sown is sometimes pastured
during the following winter, and without any great
harm to the crop. Thus greatly do conditions vary.

It may also be well to remember that where rain-
fall is usually plentiful and sometimes excessive,
that a better stand of the young plants can be ob-
tained when the rainfall is moderate than when it
is copious. Saturated ground is hurtful to the
young plants. They will not grow properly under
such conditions and are likely to assume a sickly
appearance. Mildew may appear and the plants
may fail in patches. And this may happen on land
which will ordinarily produce reasonably good crops
of alfalfa after they have once been established.

The value of alfalfa in providing pasture is more
restricted than in providing hay. This arises in
part from the injury which may come to the plants
from grazing too closely at certain times, and in a
greater degree from injury which may result to cer-
tain animals which may feed upon the plants, more
especially cattle and sheep, through bloating, to
which it frequently gives rise.

This plant is pre-eminently a pasture for swine.
They may be grazed upon it with profit all the sea-
son, from spring until fall. No plant now grown
in the United States will furnish so much grazing

ALFAtFA . 159

from a given area in localities well adapted to its
growth. Swine are very fond of it. Some growers
do not feed any grain supplement to their swine
when grazing on alfalfa, but it is generally believed
that, under average conditions, it is wise to sup-
plement the alfalfa pasture daily with a light feed of
grain, carbonaceous in character, as of rye, corn
or barley, and that this should be gradually in-
creased with the advancement of the grazing season.
One acre of alfalfa will provide pasture for 5 to
15 head of swine, through all the grazing season,
dependent upon the degree of the favorable char-
acter of the conditions for growth in the alfalfa, the
age of the swine, and the extent to which the pas-
ture is supplemented with grain. But in some in-
stances the area named will graze at least 15 hogs
through all the growing season without a grain
supplement.

Swine may be turned in to graze on alfalfa when
well set, as soon as it begins to grow freely in the
spring. It should be so managed that the grazing
will be kept reasonably tender and succulent. For
swine pasture the plants should never be allowed to
reach the blossoming stage. This can be managed
by running the field mower over the pasture occa-
sionally when the stems are growing long and
coarse. Close and prolonged grazing by swine will
tend to shorten the period of the life of the alfalfa.
The extent to which this result will follow will de-
pend upon soil and climatic conditions and the close-
ness of the grazing. To avoid such a result and
also to secure the utilization of the food to the ut-

l6o CLOVERS

most, some growers advocate cutting the alfalfa and
feeding it to swine as soiling. The advisability of
handling it thus will be dependent to some extent
on the relative price of labor.

The best results, relatively, from growing alfalfa
to provide pasture will be found in the Western val-
leys, where alfalfa grows with much vigor, and in
certain areas of the South, where it grows freely
and can be pastured during much of the year. In
areas eminently adapted to the growth of clover, it
is not so necessary to grow alfalfa for such a use.
In Western areas, where Canada field peas are a suc-
cess, and especially where artichokes are not hidden
from swine by frost, pork can be grown very
cheaply, and without the necessity of harvesting any
very large portion of these crops, except through
grazing them down by swine.

Such conditions would be highly favorable to the
maintenance of health in the swine, and the quality
of the pork made would be of the best. In some in-
stances a small stack of Canada field peas is put
up in the swine pasture that the swine may help
themselves from the same the following year, as in
rainless or nearly rainless climates, where such
grain will keep long without injury.

Alfalfa furnishes excellent grazing for horses,
more especially when they are not at work. Like
other succulent pastures, it tends too much to in-
duce laxness in the bowels with horses which
graze it, without any dry fodder supplement.
But it has high adaptation tot providing pasture
for brood mares, colts, and horses that are idle or

ALFALFA « 'l6l

working but little. While it induces abundant milk
production in brood mares, and induces quick and
large growth in colts until matured, it is thought by
some practical horsemen that horses grown chiefly
on alfalfa have not the staying power and endurance
of those, for instance, that are grazed chiefly on Ken-
tucky blue grass and some other grasses. There is
probably some truth in the surmise, and if so, the ob-
jection raised could be met by dividing the grazing
either through alternating the same with other pas-
tures or by growing some other grass or grasses
along with the alfalfa.

The alfalfa furnishes excellent grazing for cattle,
whether they are grown as stockers, are kept for
milk producing, or are being fattened for beef. For
the two purposes first named it has high excellence,
and it will also produce good beef, but alfalfa graz-
ing alone will not finish animals for the block quite
so well without a grain supplement as with one.
But the danger is usually present to a greater or
less degree that cattle thus grazed may suffer from
bloat, induced by eating the green alfalfa. This
danger increases with the humidity of the atmos-
phere, with the succulence of the alfalfa, and with
the degree of the moisture resting on it, as from dew
or rain. This explains why in some sections the
losses from this source are much greater than in
others. It also explains why such losses are greater
in some areas than in others. It is considered that
grazing alfalfa with cattle in the mountain valleys is
less hazardous than in areas East and Southeast, as
the atmosphere is less humid, the danger from the

I 62 0 CLOVERS

succulence can be better controlled by the amount of
irrigating water supplied, and because of the infre-
quency of the rainfall. Nevertheless, the losses from
bloat are sometimes severe in both cattle and sheep
in the mountain States, notwithstanding that some
seasons large herds are grazed upon alfalfa through
the entire season without any loss.

Cattle grazed upon alfalfa may be so managed
that the extent of this hazard will be very much les-
sened, if not entirely obviated, but with large herds
some of the precautionary methods now to be sub-
mitted may not always be practicable. They should
never be turned in to graze upon alfalfa when hungry.
Some grazers adopt the plan of leaving them on the
grazing continuously when once put in to graze.
Others leave them in for a limited time each day at
the first, increasing the duration of the pasturing
period from day to day. After managing them thus
for a week or two, the animals are only removed
from the pasture for such purposes as milking.
Others, again, feed some alfalfa or other food in the
morning before turning them on to alfalfa pastures.
Another plan adopted is to graze them on a field of
other grazing, located, if possible, beside the alfalfa
field, until after the dew has lifted, and then to open
the gate into the alfalfa pasture. This is readily
practicable with a herd of cows, but not to anything
like the same extent with a large herd being grown
for beef.

The danger from bloat in pasturing sheep upon
alfalfa is at least as great as in pasturing cattle on
the same, and the methods of managing them while

ALFALFA 163

thus being grazed are not far different. So, too,
the experiences in such grazing are very similar.
The losses from such grazing some seasons have
been slight. Other seasons they have proved so
heavy as to make such grazing unprofitable. When
sheep are being grazed on alfalfa, a light feed of
grain given in the early morning reduces materially
the danger from bloat. It also enables the flock-
master to finish his sheep or lambs for the market
cheaply and in fine form, since this small grain fac-
tor, not necessarily more than half a pound a day.
whether given as wheat, rye, barley, oats or corn,
puts the ration practically in balance for the purpose
named, and it may be given to the sheep daily in
troughs without taking them out of the pasture.

It is thought that there is more danger to cattle
and sheep from grazing on alfalfa than on any of the
clovers, and probably such is the case. But whether
this is true or not, the danger is very considerable,
and is enhanced by the presence of frost as well as
the presence of moisture, from much succulence in
the plants, from rain and from dew. So great is the
danger that the inexperienced should proceed with
much caution in such grazing. When bloat does
occur, the method of dealing with it is given on
page 95.

The tendency to produce bloat in alfalfa pastures
decreases with the extent to which other grasses
are present in the pastures. Should alfalfa be
grown, therefore, for the purpose of providing pas-
ture, some other grass or grasses should be sown
along with it. Which of these should be thus sown

164 CLOVERS

ought to depend chiefly on the adaptation of the
grasses for producing vigorous growth under the
conditions present In the States east of the Missis-
sippi and north of the Ohio, and in all of Canada east
from Lake Huron, alfalfa may be made an important
feature in pastures variously composed. For instance,
on suitable soils alfalfa may be made an important
feature in pastures composed otherwise of medium
red and alsike clover and timothy. The author can
speak from experience as to the slightness of the dan-
ger from grazing cattle and stieep on such pastures.
In the Southern States tall oat grass could be sown
with the alfalfa, and probably orchard grass. In
some areas alfalfa will maintain its hold on lands
smitten with Johnson grass, both producing freely.
In much of Kansas meadow fescue would answer
the purpose, northward brome grass would prob-
ably answer, and in some places timothy. In Idaho
and the States adjoining, tall oat grass, meadow
fescue and orchard grass will all be helpful, and in
some of the mountain States it has been found that
when alsike clover is grown freely in alfalfa pas-
tures, the tendency to bloat is not only lessened in
the animals grazing, but the value of the pasture,
especially for winter grazing, is greatly improved.
Some grazers, especially in the mountain States,
have adopted the plan of sowing other pastures, as
wheat or barley, beside the alfalfa pastures, and
these are made accessible at will to the animals that
are being grazed. The plan has some commendable
features, but grazing animals thus does not reduce
the danger as much as when they are grazed on pas-

ALFALFA 165

tures in which other grasses grow up amid alfalfa.
In some of the Western States pure alfalfa meadows
are grazed through successive seasons with but little
loss, but in such instances the grazing began in the
spring and was continuous. Judicious care should
be exercised in grazing alfalfa lest the stand of
the plants shall be injured. The liability to injury
in the plants from injudicious grazing increases with
the lack of adaptation in the soil and climate for
abundant and prolonged growth in the alfalfa.

In a large majority of instances, as previously in-
timated, it is not wise to graze down alfalfa at all
closely the season of sowing, and in some instances
it should not then be grazed to any extent, lest the
plants be unduly weakened for entering the winter.
In cold areas the hazard is much greater from such
grazing than in those that are mild, and likewise, it
is greater when the growth is only moderately vigor-
ous than in areas where alfalfa grows with the vigor
of a weed, as in Western mountain valleys. In areas
where the winters are cold, and especially where the
snowfall is light and the winds have a wide sweep,
the animals which graze upon alfalfa should be re-
moved in time to allow the plants to grow up to
the height of several inches before the advent of
winter. The growth thus secured will catch and
hold the snow, and the protection thus furnished is
greatly helpful to the preservation and vigor of the
plants. Experience has shown that in Northern
areas pasturing alfalfa in winter, especially when the
ground is bare and frozen, brings imminent hazard
to the plants. On the other hand, grazing in winter

I 66 CLOVERS

in the mountain valleys, when as far north as Cen-
tral Montana, may be practiced with little or no
hazard to the stand of plants when these have be-
come well established. In such areas alfalfa may be
grazed practically as may be desired, providing this
grazing is not too close.

Cattle injure alfalfa less than other animals when
they graze upon it, as they do not crop it too closely ;
swine injure it more, if the grazing is constant.
Horses do even greater injury, through biting the
crowns of the plants too closely; but sheep injure
alfalfa pastures more than any of these animals,
when the grazing is close, owing to the extent to
which they trim off the leaves.

As Soiling Food. — For being fed as soiling
food, alfalfa has the very highest adaptation, owing,
i . To the long period covered by the growth. 2. To
the rapidity of the growth resulting in large relative
production. 3. To the palatability of the green food
produced. 4. To the entire safety to the animals fed.
And 5. To its high feeding value. In Louisiana,
for instance, alfalfa may be made to furnish soiling
food for nine months in the year. In the North, of
course, the duration of production is much less, but
it is seldom less than five months. The growth is
so rapid that cuttings for soiling food may usually
be made at intervals of four to six weeks, according
to season and climate; hence, the cuttings for soil-
ing food will run all the way from two to eight or
nine each season. It is so palatable that horses,
mules, cattle, sheep and swine relish it highly. When
wilted a little before being fed, the danger of pro-

ALFALFA 167

ducing bloat is eliminated. Its feeding value is
nearly the same as that of the medium red clover,
thus making it in itself what may be termed a bal-
anced or perfect food for horses, mules, cattle and
sheep until development is completed and subse-
quently when they are at rest; that is, when they
are not producing, as in the form of labor or
milk.

The highest use, probably, from feeding alfalfa
when green will arise from feeding it to milch cows.
Its high protein content in combination with its suc-
culence pre-eminently adapts it to such a use. Wher-
ever alfalfa can be grown and will produce even two
cuttings a year, it will serve a good purpose in pro-
ducing milk. Every dairyman dependent more or
less on soiling food will find it to his advantage to
grow alfalfa where it may be grown in good form.
When fed to milch cows, some meal added, carbo-
naceous in character, as corn or non-saccharine sor-
ghum seed, may prove a paying investment, and it
may also be advisable to alternate the green alfalfa,
morning or evening, with such other green crops as
oats and peas, millet, rape, corn or sorghum when
in season, to provide variety. But even though al-
falfa alone should be thus made to supplement the
pastures, the outcome should be at least fairly satis-
factory. When fed to horses that are working, some
care must be exercised in feeding it, lest too lax a
condition of the bowels should be induced, and a
grain factor should be fed at the same time. It has
frequently been given to sheep that were being fitted
for show purposes, but may also be fed green to the

I 68 CLOVERS

entire flock, with a view to supplement the pastures.
It has special adaptation for promoting large growth
in lambs, and, indeed, in any kind of young stock
to which it may be fed. When fed to swine, a small
grain supplement properly chosen and fed will in-
sure more satisfactory growth. It is thought that
more satisfactory results will be obtained from al-
lowing the alfalfa to get fairly well on toward the
blossoming stage before beginning to feed, and to
continue to feed until in full bloom. This in prac-
tice may not always be possible, but usually an ap-
proximation to it may be reached, especially when
the production of the alfalfa will more than supply
the needs in soiling food. The ideal plan is to com-
mence cutting the alfalfa as soon as a good growth
is made, cutting enough daily or every other day to
supply the needs of the animals. If the growth be-
comes too much advanced before the field is gone
over thus, the balance should be made into hay, and
the cutting should begin again where it began pre-
viously.

There is no question but that considerably more
food can be obtained from a given area when green
alfalfa is fed in the soiling form, instead of being
grazed. The difference in such production would
not be easy to determine, but of the fact stated there
cannot be any doubt. Ordinarily, each cutting of
green alfalfa for soiling should not produce less than
4 tons; hence, where 8 cuttings can be secured,
not fewer than 32 tons of soiling food could be ob-
tained per season. But whether the increase from
soiling alfalfa, as compared with pasturing the

ALFALFA 169

same, would repay the cost of the extra labor, will
depend upon conditions that vary with time and
place. Alfalfa fields thus managed or cut for hay
will also produce for a longer period than when
the fields are grazed.

Continuity in the production of soiling food may
not be possible some seasons in the absence of irri-
gation ; hence, under such conditions provision
should always be made for a supply of such other
soiling foods as may be needed, and of a character
that will make it practical to turn them into dry
fodder when not wanted as soiling food. But where
irrigating waters are unfailing, it is quite possible
to furnish soiling food from alfalfa soils through
practically all the growing season. Dairymen thus
located are in a dairyman's paradise.

Alfalfa, like clover, may be made into silage. In
dry climates this would seem to be unnecessary, but
in rainy climates it may be wise in some instances
to make alfalfa ensilage, the better to insure the
curing of the crop. What has been said with refer-
ence to clover ensilage will apply almost equally
to alfalfa. (See page 103.) It would be more de-
sirable, usually, to make the first cutting from alfalfa
into ensilage than later cuttings, because of the
showery character of the weather at that season,
but the strong objection stands in the way of doing
so, that no carbonaceous food, as corn, sorghum or
soy beans, is ready for going into the silo then as
they are later, with a view of aiding in the better
preservation of the ensilage and of making a better
balanced ration. Good alfalfa silage is more easily

170 CLOVERS

made when the alfalfa has been run through a cut-
ting-box than when in the uncut forms.

Harvesting for Hay. — The best time to harvest
alfalfa for hay is just after the blossoms begin to ap-
pear. Ordinarily, not more than one-third of the
blossoms are out when the harvesting should begin,
but when the hay is to be fed to horses the cutting
may be deferred until more than half the blooms are
out. If cut earlier, the loss of weight in the crop
will be considerable, as much as 30 to 45 per cent.,
as compared with cutting when in full bloom. If
cut later, the stems become over-woody, and the loss
of leaves in curing will be much greater. When
the cutting is delayed beyond the period of early
bloom, the growth of the next cutting is retarded,
and when it is deferred until some of the leaves
turn yellow or until some seed is formed, in many
situations the influence on the succeeding crop is
seriously adverse, and in some instances this influ-
ence would seem to react against the vigorous
growth of the plant during the remainder of the
season. In other instances, as where the conditions
are quite favorable to the growth of the plant, these
results are not present in so marked a degree. When
large areas of alfalfa are to be harvested, the im-
portance of beginning early cannot easily be over-
estimated. It would be much better to sacrifice
something in loss of weight in the hay, through cut-
ting too early, than to meet with greater loss in
weight in the next crop or crops by cutting too long
deferred.
. Much that has been said about the harvesting of

172 CLOVERS

medium red clover will apply equally to alfalfa.
(See page 95.) The mowing should begin as soon
as the dew has lifted in the morning. The tedder
should follow after the hay has wilted somewhat,
and later, the horse rake, the aim being to get the
crop made into winrows, preferably small, before
nightfall, and when the weather is uncertain, the
aim should be also to put the hay up into small
cocks the same evening. This may not always be
practicable. If the loss of leaves is likely to be con-
siderable when raking the hay, raking should be
deferred until the influence of evening dews begins
to be felt. After the hay has become wilted it should
not be stirred or handled any more than is really
necessary, that loss of leaves and of the tips of the
stems and branches may be avoided, and the
handling during the curing process should be done
to the greatest extent practicable before or after the
sunshine has waxed strong. In showery weather,
when small areas are being harvested, hay caps can
be used with profit. Where large areas are to be
harvested and where there is no danger of rain,
the crop when nicely wilted is drawn into winrows,
and in these the curing is completed without fur-
ther stirring or handling. From the winrows it is
drawn usually on rakes of a certain make, and the
rake loads thus slid over the ground are lifted bodily
onto the stack by the use of the "rickers." (See
page loo.)

Storing. — When cured in cocks, these are pref-
erably made small to facilitate quick curing, but
usually from two to four days are necessary to com-

ALFALFA 173

plete the curing. If the cocks require opening out
before being drawn, the work should be done with
care. Ordinary stacking and storing may be done
in practically the same way as in handling medium
red clover, and the same care is necessary in pro-
tecting the stacks. In areas where considerable
rain falls in the autumn, hay sheds will prove
a great convenience in storing alfalfa in the
absence of better facilities. In the Eastern States
alfalfa is sometimes stored in mows undercured, by
putting it into the mow in alternate layers with
straw. The straw not only aids in preserving the
alfalfa in good condition, but the alfalfa imparts
an aroma to the straw which induces live stock to
eat it readily. In showery weather this method of
curing alfalfa merits careful attention where straw
can be had near at hand and in sufficient quantities.

The method is sometimes adopted of cutting al-
falfa even for hay by using the self-rake reaper.
The sheaves thus made are allowed to lie on the
ground undisturbed until they are ready for being
drawn. By this method of cutting, the loss of leaves
is almost entirely avoided, but there are these ob-
jections to it: that it exposes unduly to sunlight
during the curing process, and in case of rain the
sheaves are easily saturated and do not dry readily
unless turned over.

Rain falling on alfalfa will injure it quite as much
as it does red clover. (See page 96.) In climates
with much rainfall in May or June, when the first
cutting of alfalfa is ready for being harvested, ac-
cording to locality, in instances not a few much diffi-

174 CLOVERS

culty is found in curing alfalfa without loss. Some-
times the entire cutting will be rendered practically
useless by rain. Because of this, as previously in-
timated, it may be well to arrange, where practicable,
to cut the first crop of the season for soiling food.

The number of cuttings during the year depends
on such conditions as relate to the length of the
season, the character of the soil, the abundance of
moisture present, and the use to which the alfalfa
is put. In some of the river bottoms southward in
the Rocky Mountains, where irrigating waters are
plentiful, it is claimed that alfalfa may be made to
furnish one cutting for soiling food every month
in the year. Even in the Northern western valleys,
as many as five or six cuttings for the use named
may be obtained. North from the Ohio and Poto-
mac rivers three to five cuttings of soiling food may
be looked for each season, and south of these rivers
even a larger number. North of the same rivers
the hay crops run from two to four, and southward
from the same they are seldom less than three. In
the western valleys they range from three to five
or six, according to location. In States bordering
on the semi-arid States eastward and some distance
south of the Canadian boundary, from three to four
cuttings may usually be expected. In Colorado and
States north and south from the same, two good
crops of alfalfa may be cut from spring-sown seed
the same season, but where irrigation is not pracj
ticed it is seldom that one crop of hay is harvested
under similar conditions of sowing. But in the
semi-arid belt not more than one cutting is usually

ALFALFA 175

obtained each season in the absence of water. But
the number of cuttings will be reduced when one of
these is a seed crop. When a seed crop is taken, the
vitality of the plants is apparently so much reduced
for the season that the subsequent growth is much
less vigorous than if seed had not been thus taken.

The yield of hay from each cutting will, of course,
vary much with conditions, but it is seldom less
than a ton. An approximate average would place
the average cutting at about i% tons, but as much
as 2 tons have been obtained per acre at a cutting,
and, again, not more than ^2 ton. In New Jersey
an average of 4.57 tons per acre was obtained under
good conditions of management, but without irriga-
tion, at the experiment station for three years in
succession. In Kansas, 4 to 6 tons per acre may usu-
ally be expected from good soils. In Tulare County,
California, as much as 6 to 10 tons have been secured
under irrigation.

The yields from the various cuttings are by no
means uniform, especially in the absence of irriga-
tion. They are much influenced by rainfall. In
such areas, the second cutting is usually the best for
the season, the subsequent cuttings being consider-
ably less. Where irrigation is practiced, the crops
are much more uniform, but even in mild climates,
as the season advances, there is a tendency to lesser
yields, indicative of the necessity of at least partial
rest for plants during a portion of the year. The
yields of alfalfa are usually exceeded by those of
no other crop, where the conditions are quite favor-
able to its growth, even in the absence of irrigation.

176 CLOVERS

At the New Jersey Experiment Station, as stated in
Bulletin No. 148, one acre of alfalfa produced
36,540 pounds of green food; of corn, 24,000; of
red clover, 14,000; of crimson clover, 14,000; of
millet, 16,000; of cow peas, 16,000; and of oats
and peas, 14,000 pounds. But where only two, or
even three, cuttings can be obtained per year, some
crops may produce larger yields than alfalfa. In
the distinctive alfalfa belt in the West, no forage
crop can be grown that will compare with it in the
yields obtained. The protein in alfalfa is also rela-
tively high. At the station quoted above it was
found one ton of alfalfa contained 265 pounds of
protein ; hence, its high relative value as a food ; red
clover, 246 pounds ; timothy, 1 18 pounds ; and wheat
bran, 118 pounds. At the Delaware Experiment
Station, in Bulletin No. 55, it is stated that maxi-
mum crops of cow peas and of crimson clover gave
720 pounds of protein, while a maximum crop of
alfalfa gave 1230 pounds.

Where alfalfa is irrigated, it is usual to apply
irrigating waters just after each cutting of the crop.
It is a matter of some importance that the water
shall be applied at once as soon as the previous crop
has been harvested, otherwise time will be lost in
growing the next crop. There are instances where
it is necessary to apply water before the first crop
is grown, but usually the moisture which falls in
the winter and spring will suffice to produce the
first crop of the season. Some irrigators apply
water some time previous to harvesting the crop,
but not so late as to leave the ground in a soft con-

ALFALFA 177

dition when mowing is begun. The amount of
water required will vary with the soil, the season
of the year, the distance of the ground water from
the surface, and the precipitation. The more porous
the soil and subsoil, the hotter the weather, the less
the precipitation and the farther below the surface,
up to a certain limit, the greater will be the amount
of water needed. There are situations, as in some
of the islands in the Yellowstone River, in which
ground water is so near the surface that alfalfa
grown on these is able to get enough of water from
this subterranean source to produce good crops.
Care should be taken not to apply water in excess of
the needs of the crop, or the yields will be propor-
tionately reduced. The amounts that will best serve
the end sought can only be ascertained by actual
test. Caution is also necessary where the winters
are cold not to apply water late or in excessive quan-
tities, lest a sappy condition of the plants shall be
induced, which will make them succumb to the cold
of the winter following. Moreover, on some soils
alfalfa fields will produce good crops, if irrigated
only the first season, until the roots get down to
moisture, the irrigating waters being utilized when
more needed.

Alfalfa hay is iea freely to all kinds of domestic
animals on the farm, and with results that should
prove highly satisfactory. Properly fed, it is an
excellent food for horses and mules. It not only
serves to maintain flesh, but it is favorable to glossi-
ness in the coat. Horses that are working hard
should be accustomed to it gradually. When it is

178 CLOVERS

fed to them too freely at the first, it induces too
much of a laxity in the bowels, too free urination,
and profuse sweating. When fed to such horses or
mules, some authorities claim that several weeks
should be covered in getting them on to what is
termed a "full feed" of alfalfa. When fed to milch
cows, free lactation results. Alfalfa fine in char-
acter is now manufactured into food suitable for
calves and other young stock. Cattle and sheep
are now fattened for slaughter on alfalfa hay fed
alone, but when thus fattened the finish made is not
equal to that resulting from adding grain to the
alfalfa. To meet the needs of the best markets,
alfalfa alone does not produce enough of fat or of
firmness in the flesh, but it has been claimed, and
probably it is true, that one-half the amount of
grain required for finishing along with carbona-
ceous fodder, such as corn stalks or timothy,
will give equally good and quick increase when fed
with alfalfa hay. It is most excellent fodder on
which to grow cattle and sheep, even in the absence
of a grain supplement. The later cuttings of the
season are thought to be the most suitable for
calves and also for sheep and lambs, because of the
greater fineness of the fodder and the greater abun-
dance of leaves on it. Alfalfa hay is used with
much advantage in wintering swine, especially brood
sows. Swine have been wintered on alfalfa hay
without any grain supplement where the winters are
mild, but they will fare much better with a grain
supplement. It is thought that half the usual
amount of grain fed will produce equal results when

ALFALFA 179

fed with alfalfa, to those obtained from feeding a
full allowance of grain in its absence. Alfalfa and
sorghum properly grown make an excellent food
for swine, and the two may be profitably fed thus
where the conditions may be over-dry for corn, but
not for sorghum. When feeding alfalfa, the aim
should be to use it in conjunction with a carbo-
naceous food, as corn. Fortunate, is the country
which grows good crops of corn and alfalfa.

Securing Seed. — Localities differ much in their
capacity to produce alfalfa seed. The best crops of
seed are now grown west and southwest of the Mis-
sissippi River. Certain areas in the semi-arid coun-
try east of and between the ranges of the Western
mountains seem to have special adaptation for grow-
ing seed. At the present time the greatest seed-
producing States are Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Ari-
zona and California. But in some areas east of that
river paying crops can be grown. It has also been
noticed that when the crop is sown less thickly than
it is usually sown for hay, the plants seed more
freely, when sown with sufficient distance between
the rows to admit of cultivating the crop, and when
such cultivation is given, the influence on seed pro-
duction is also markedly favorable; such treatment
given to the varieties of recent introduction may pos-
sibly result in the production of seed from the same,
notwithstanding that they bear seed very shyly when
grown in the ordinary way.

Nearly all the seed now grown in the United States
is produced by fields that have been sown in the
usual way, and primarily to produce hay, but in

180 CLOVERS

some areas, especially where irrigation is practiced,
it is sometimes grown mainly for seed. On the irri-
gated lands of the West it is customary to grow the
first cutting of the season for hay and the second
for seed. But in many instances the second cutting
also is made into hay, and the seed is taken from the
third cutting; even in the States east of the Missis-
sippi, and also in Ontario and Quebec, seed is usu-
ally taken from the second cutting. But in Mon-
tana, \Vashington and Idaho, on the higher alti-
tudes, seed is not unfrequently taken from the first
cutting for the season, since, in the short season for
growth of those uplands, seed from cuttings later
than the first does not always mature so well. In a
large majority of instances seed does not form so
profusely from plants of the first cutting as from
those of later growths. This is thought to arise,
in part, at least, from the fact that bees, and it may
be other insects, are then less active in searching for
food, and because of this do not aid in the fertiliza-
tion of the plants as they do later. Nor does seed
of the first cutting ripen so evenly. An important
justification is also found for taking seed from the
later cuttings, in the fact that when a crop has pro-
duced seed, it grows less vigorously during the sub-
sequent period of growth that same season. So
pronounced is this habit of growth in alfalfa, that in
many localities, if the first growth is allowed to pro-
duce seed, but little subsequent growth will be made
again the same season. The second cutting, all
things considered, is the most favorable to seed pro-
duction, as, unless on irrigated lands, the third cut-

ALFALFA l8l

ting is not usually possessed of that vigor necessary
to induce abundant seeding in the plants.

The yields of seed are also much influenced by
moisture. An excess of moisture is more unfavor-
able to the production of seed than a shortage in
the same. Hence, in areas where the rainfall for
the season is very abundant, but little seed will be
produced. Where irrigation is practiced, the exces-
sive application of water would have a similar effect,
though less pronounced in degree ; hence, the appor-
tionment of the water to the prospective needs of the
seed crop calls for careful adjustment. Where the
first crop is grown for seed, where irrigation is
practiced, in many instances no water is applied until
after the seed crop has been harvested.

The seed is ready for being harvested when a ma-
jority of the seed-pods assume a dark brown tint.
The pods of later formation will still possess a
yellow tint, and some of them may still possess the
green color. These do not produce seed nearly
equal in quality to the pods which ripen earlier. To
wait for all the later maturing pods to ripen before
harvesting the crop would mean the loss of much of
the best seed through shattering. Another test of
maturity is made by shelling the pods in the hand.
When the seed can be thus shelled in a majority
of the pods in a single plant, it is ready for being
harvested. Alfalfa seed shatters easily; hence, it is
important to harvest the seed crop with promptness
when it is ready, to handle it with due carefulness,
and in some instances to refrain from handling dur-
ing the hottest hours of sunshine.

I 82 CLOVERS

The seed crop is sometimes cut with the mower
and raked into winrows, and in some instances put
up into cocks. When it is handled thus, the aim
should be to do the work, as far as this may be
practicable, in the early and late hours of the day,
but not, of course, while much dew is on the crop.
Sometimes the seed is drawn from the winrows to
the thresher ; in other instances from the cocks, and
in yet other instances it is stacked before being
threshed, a work that calls for the exercise of much
care in the storing of the crop, lest the seed should
be injured by heating in the stack. This method of
harvesting is .usually attended with much loss of
seed.

There is probably no better way of harvesting
alfalfa than to cut it with the self -rake reaper or
the binder. The loose sheaves dry quickly, and
when lifted, the aim is to carry them directly to the
thresher. Less seed, it is considered, will be lost in
this way than by the other mode of harvesting given
above, and the work is more expeditiously done.
But owing to the difficulty in securing a thresher to
thresh the seed, it is sometimes found necessary to
stack the crop, but in areas where irrigation is prac-
ticed such stacking is seldom necessary.

The seed is frequently threshed with the ordi-
nary threshing machine, but in many instances
it is also threshed with a clover huller. The
huller does the work less quickly, but probably,
on the whole, more perfectly. Threshing machines,
with or even without certain adjustments in the
arrangement of the teeth in the cylinder and

ALFALFA 183

concave, and with extra screens, are now doing
the work with much despatch, and with a fair meas-
ure of satisfaction. But the opinion is held by com-
petent judges that a machine that would more com-
pletely combine the qualities of the thresher and the
huller would be still more satisfactory. It is easily
possible to have the crop too dry to thresh in the
best condition, and care should be taken to regulate
the feed in threshing so that the alfalfa will not enter
the cylinder in bunches. More than 200 bushels of
seed have been threshed in a day from crops which
yielded abundantly. The seed should be carefully
winnowed before putting it on the market. The
seed crops, as would naturally be expected, vary
much; crops are harvested which run all the way
from i to 20 bushels per acre. From irrigated
lands the yields are, of course, much more uni-
form than from unirrigated lands, since in the
former the supply of moisture may be controlled.
Fair to good average yields on these may be stated
at from 4 to 6 bushels, good yields at from 6 to
8 bushels per acre, and specially good yields at from
10 to 12 bushels. The bushel weighs 60 pounds. Grow-
ing alfalfa seed under irrigation has frequently
proved very profitable. The seed grown in such
areas is larger and more attractive to the eye than
that ordinarily grown in the absence of irrigation,
and because of this many are lured into sowing it
on unirrigated land when the former would better
serve their purpose. The seed is frequently adul-
terated with that of yellow clover (Medicago lupu-
lina), which resembles it closely, but this is more

184 CLOVERS

likely to be true of imported than of American
grown seed.

Renewing. — Alfalfa may be renewed and also
renovated where the stand secured at the first has
been insufficient, where it may have been injured
from various causes, where it is being crowded with
weeds, and even with useful grasses, and where the
land requires enriching.

The stand of alfalfa secured is sometimes thin and
uneven. This may arise from such causes as sow-
ing too little seed, whether over-dry or through the
crowding of the young plants. When this happens,
in many situations it is quite practicable to thicken
the stand by disking the ground more or less, adding
fresh seed, according to the need of the crop, and
then covering the seed thus added with the harrow.
Such renovation would be comparatively easy on
clean land, were it not for fact that the alfalfa plants
already rooted overshadow the young plants, always
to their injury, and sometimes to their total destruc-
tion. The spring will probably be the best season
to attempt such renovation, but there may be in-
stances where the winters are not severe, in which
autumn seeding will succeed as well or better than
spring seeding. Because of the uncertainty of the
results of such renovation, the aim should be so
to prepare the land and sow the seed that a good,
thick stand will be secured at the first.

Should the alfalfa fields be spotted, because in
places the nurse crop lodged and smothered the
plants, or because excessive moisture destroyed
them on the lower portions of the field in an abnor-

ALFALFA 185

mally wet season, the renewing process is simple
indeed. It consists in disking those parts so thor-
oughly as to destroy all vegetation that may have
become rooted on them, and sowing seed in the
usual way without a nurse crop. But should the
low places be such as to hold an excess of water at
any time of the year under normal conditions for
days in succession, even though it should not rise
to the surface, the attempts to make alfalfa grow
successfully on these will prove abortive.

When weeds and grasses crowd the crop, the
plan of disking the fields to destroy these is be-
coming quite common, especially in the West. The
work is usually done in the early spring. In doing
it, disk harrows are driven over the field, usually
two ways, the second disking being done at right
angles to the first. The disks are set at that angle
which will do the least injury to the plants, and that
will at the same time do the work effectively. This
can only be determined by actual test in each in-
stance. Some of the crowns of the plants will be
split open by the disk, which some authorities claim
is an advantage in that it tends to an increase in
the number of the stems produced, an opinion which is
by no means held in common at the present time,
and yet there are localities where it has certainly
proved advantageous. Occasionally, a plant will be
cut off. There can be no doubt, however, that such
disking, when necessary, does tend to clean the land
and also to strengthen growth in the alfalfa crop, on
the principle that cultivation which does not seri-
ously disturb growing plants is always helpful to

I 86 CLOVERS

them. The frequency of such diskings will depend
on the needs of the crop. Some advocate disking
every spriug, some every other spring, and some not
at all. That plan which disks the ground only when
it is necessary to keep the weeds at bay would seem
to be the most sensible. This would mean that some-
times, as where crab grass has a firm hold, disking
may be necessary at least for a time every spring.
In other instances it would be necessary only every
second or third season, and in yet other instances
not at all. However, some growers in dry areas
advocate disking frequently, as, for instance, after
some of the cuttings of the hay, and with a view to
retain moisture. It is at least questionable, how-
ever, if disking so frequently would not soon tend
to thin the plants too much, to say nothing of the
labor while the work is being done.

The idea of stirring the surface soil in alfalfa
fields is by no means new. In England the plan
prevailed to some extent years ago of harrowing
the fields in the autumn with heavy harrows until,
when the process was completed, they would take
on the appearance of the bare fallow for a time. In
the Eastern States and in some parts of Canada
the harrow is used instead of the disk, but usually
the latter will do the work more effectively and
with less cost. Frequently, when the disk has been
used on alfalfa', it may also be advantageous to run
a light harrow over the ground to smoothen the
surface.

With a view to renovate the crop and increase the
yields, in some sections, as in the Atlantic States,

ALFALFA i/

it has been recommended to top-dress alfalfa fields
with farmyard manure every autumn. This, no
doubt, would prove very effective, but it would also
be very expensive, unless in the neighborhood of
large cities. It would be impracticable without neg-
lecting the needs of the other crops of the farm.
In the mountain areas of the West, it has been
found that the cost of fertilizing with farmyard
manure is in the meantime greater than the in-
creased production in the alfalfa is worth, but it may
not be always thus, even on these rich lands. Some
Eastern growers also apply more or less gypsum.
This is generally sown over the fields after the
crop has begun to grow in the spring.

Renovating alfalfa fields is much more easily and
effectively done, as would naturally be expected, in
areas where conditions are highly favorable to its
growth than where these are only moderately favor-
able. In some of the mountain valleys instances
have occurred in which alfalfa fields have been
plowed and sown with oats, with a result, first that a
good crop of oats was reaped, and second, that
fairly good crops of alfalfa were harvested the fol-
lowing season without resowing the field.

Sources of Injury to Alfalfa — Chief among the
sources of injury to alfalfa, after the plants have
become established, are frost in saturated ground,
ice, floods, grasshoppers, gophers, dodder, and pas-
turing by live stock in the late autumn or winter.
When it happens that two or three of these act in
conjunction, the injury following is just so much
more rapid and complete. As has been intimated,

I 88 CLOVERS

where water is excessive, in a climate which in win-
ter or spring is characterized by alternations of
freezing and thawing, the plants will either have the
roots snapped asunder, or they will be gradually
raised out of the ground. This will only happen
in soil with a subsoil more retentive than is com-
patible with well-doing of the highest order in the
plants. The danger from this source is greatest
during the first winter after sowing the plants, as
then the roots are not really established. The only
remedy for such a contingency is the draining of
the land.

Some reference has also been made to injury
done through ice, where it collects in low places in
land. The destructiveness of the ice depends on
its thickness and its nearness to the ground. When
it rests upon the ground for any considerable time
the plants die. If, however, water intervenes, the
plants may live when the submergence is for a lim-
ited time. One instance is on record in Onondaga
County in New York State, in which alfalfa sur-
vived submergence for a considerable period under
a thin sheet of water covered by three inches of
ice, but when growth came it was for a time less
vigorous than normal.

Floods in warm weather are greatly injurious to
alfalfa. The extent of the injury done increases
with increase of depth in the waters of submergence,
increase in stagnation in the waters, and increase
in the duration of the period of overflow. Stag-
nant water sooner loses its dissolved nitrogen;
hence, the plants cannot breathe normally. The

ALFALFA 189

harm done, therefore, by floods in each case can
only be known by waiting to see the results. These
summer floods always harm the crops temporarily,
and in many instance kill them outright. Occa-
sional periods of overflow should not prevent the
sowing of alfalfa on such lands, since on these it
is usually not difficult to start a new crop, but the
seed should not be sown on such lands when over-
flow occurs at such a season. When it occurs in
cool weather and quickly subsides, it may be pos-
sible to grow paying crops of alfalfa.

In some areas grasshoppers are a real scourge in
alfalfa fields. Because of the shade provided by the
ground and the influence which this exerts in soften-
ing it, they are encouraged to deposit their eggs
and remain so as to prove a source of trouble the
following year. It has been found that through
disking of the land both ways after sharp frosts have
come is greatly effective in destroying the grass-
hopper eggs deposited in the soil. They are thus
exposed to the action of the subsequent frosts and so
perish. The disking has also tended to stimulate
growth in the crop the following year. The eggs
will not, of course, be all destroyed by such disking,
but so large a percentage will, that the crop should
be practically protected from serious injury, unless
when grasshoppers come from elsewhere.

It would seem correct to say that gophers do more
injury to alfalfa fields in certain areas of the West
than comes to them from all other sources com-
bined. They not only destroy the plants by feeding
upon them, but they fill the soil with mounds, which

IQO CLOVERS

greatly interfere with the harvesting of the crops.
They are destroyed by giving them poisoned food,
trapping, shooting, and suffocating through the use
of bisulphide of carbon. Poison is frequently ad-
ministered by soaking grain in strychnine or drop-
ping it on pieces of potato and putting the same in
or near the burrows. Bisulphide of carbon is put
upon a rag or other substance, which is put into the
burrow and the opening closed.

Dodder is a parasitical plant introduced, prob-
ably, in seed from Europe, which feeds upon alfalfa
plants, to their destruction. The seeds of alfalfa
sometimes become so impregnated with the seeds of
dodder that the latter will grow where the seed is
sown, thus introducing it to new centers. The
dodder starts in the soil and soon throws up its
golden-colored thread-like stems, which reach out
and fasten on the alfalfa plants that grow sufficiently
near. The dodder then loses its hold upon the soil
and gets its food entirely from the alfalfa plants,
which it ultimately destroys. But since the seeds of
the dodder remain at least for a time in the soil, and
the adjacent soil becomes infected with them, the
circles in which the dodder feeds continually widen.
In certain parts of New York State some fields have
become so seriously affected as to lead to investiga-
tions conducted through officials from the State ex-
periment station. Pending these investigations, the
exercise of great care in the purchase of seed and the
immediate plowing of the infested areas are recom-
mended.

Some reference has already been made to injuri-

ALFALFA IQI

ous results from pasturing close in the autumn or
winter, except in the most favored alfalfa regions.
In addition to what has been already said, the wis-
dom of not grazing alfalfa the first year is here em-
phasized, and also the mistake of grazing at any
time when the ground is frozen, at least in areas
east of and, generally speaking, adjacent to the Mis-
sissippi River.

Alfalfa as a Fertilizer. — Alfalfa is not consid-
ered equal to medium red clover as a direct means
of fertilizing and otherwise improving the land on
which it grows. This does not arise from less in-
herent power on the part of alfalfa to draw nitrogen
from the air and deposit it in the soil, but rather
from the fact that clover establishes itself more
quickly, and is much more frequently grown in the
rotation. Several crops of medium red clover can
be grown in short rotations, each one being a source
of much benefit to the crops that follow, while one
crop of alfalfa occupies the land. But when the al-
falfa is all fed upon the farm on which it grew,
where the plants grow freely, it then becomes a
source of fertilization without a rival, probably,
among plants grown upon the farm.

The fertility thus furnished does not consist so
much in the plant food deposited in the soil di-
rectly as in that furnished in the successive crops
that are grown and fed every year. In Farmers'
Bulletin No. 133, published by the United States
Department of Agriculture, it is stated that the Wy-
oming Experiment Station found 44 pounds of
nitrogen, 8.27 pounds of phosphoric acid, and

IQ2 CLOVERS

50.95 pounds of potash in one ton of alfalfa. This
would mean that in the yield of alfalfa hay from
a given area, estimated at four tons per acre for
the season, alfalfa would furnish 176 pounds of
nitrogen, 33.08 pounds of phosphoric acid, and
203.8 pounds of potash. If this alfalfa were fed
upon the farm, it would not only prove a cheap
source of protein for feeding, but it would furnish
fertility, as stated above, without seriously dimin-
ishing the supply of the same in the surface soil,
since much of the fertilizing material produced
would come from the air and subsoil. The manure
thus made, if carefully saved and applied, would thus
add materially to the fertility of the land. If, how-
ever, the alfalfa were sold, the mineral matter drawn
from the cultivable area of the soil and from the
subsoil lying under it would be reduced to the ex-
tent of the draft made upon these in growing the
alfalfa.

The direct influence of alfalfa upon the fertility
of the land on which it grows is shown in the
greatly increased production in the crops which fol-
low alfalfa. This increase is not only marked, but it
is frequently discernible for several successive years.
But as has been intimated, the benefit that would
otherwise accrue from growing alfalfa as a direct
means of fertilizing the land is much circumscribed
by the long term of years for which it is usually
grown.

The mechanical effects of alfalfa upon the land
are beneficent. It improves the tilth by means of
the shade furnished, and the extent to which the

ALFALFA I 93

roots fill the soil. These in their decay further
influence favorably that friability which is so desir-
able in soils that are cultivated, and as previously
stated, the long, deep roots in their decay exercise
a salutary influence on drainage.

The work of breaking alfalfa fields is frequently
laborious, owing to the number and size of the
roots. If, however, a plow is used, the share of
which has a serrated edge, the roots will be cut
or broken off more easily and more effectively.

CHAPTER V

ALSIKE CLOVER

Alsike Clover (Trifolium hybridum} takes its
name from a parish in the south of Sweden. From
there it is probable that it was introduced into Eng-
land. Linnaeus gave it the name of hybrid urn, im-
agining it to be a cross between the red and the
white varieties. Botanists do not generally hold
this view. It is known by various names, as
Swedish, White Swedish, Alsace, Hybrid, Peren-
nial Hybrid, Elegant and Pod Clover, but
more commonly in America it is spoken of as
alsike.

The plants of this variety are more slender than
those of the medium red variety, although they grow
in some instances to a greater height. The slender
stems are much branched. The leaves' are numerous
and oblong in shape, the flowers are of a pinkish
tint, the heads are globular and are about three-
fourths of an inch in diameter, and the pods, like
those in white clover, contain more than one seed.
The roots are in no small degree fibrous, and yet
the slender tap root goes down to a considerable dis-
tance.

Alsike clover is a perennial. In favorable situa-
tions it will live for many years. Ordinarily, it
grows to the height of 18 to 24 inches, but in slough

Fig. 5. Alslke Clover (Trifolium hybrldum)
(195) Oregon Experiment Stall

196 CLOVERS

lands it sometimes grows to the height of 5 feet.
The plants do not reach their full size until the sec-
ond year, and in some instances until a period even
later. They grow less rapidly than those of medium
red clover, are several weeks later coming into
flower, and grow much less vigorously in the au-
tumn. Ordinarily, they furnish but one cutting of
hay each year. Because of the more fibrous chai-
acter of the root growth, the plants do not heave so
readily as those of red clover. In moist situations
they are much given to lodge; hence, the impor-
tance of growing this crop, when grown for hay,
along with some kind of grass that will help to keep
the stems erect.

Alsike clover furnishes a large amount of pas-
ture. It is relished, at least, fairly well. The leaves
are slightly bitter, but not enough to seriously interfere
with their palatability. The quality of the hay is
excellent. This arises from its fineness, from the
number of the small branches and leaves on the
stems, and from its fragrance when well cured.
While it makes a very suitable hay for horses and
cattle, it has peculiar adaptation for sheep, owing
to its fineness,

As a fertilizer it is probably not equal to medium
red clover, since the root growth is not so bulky.
Nor does it produce a second cutting anything like
so vigorous as the former. Nevertheless, the roots
possess even stiff soils to such an extent that they
not only furnish them with much plant food, but
they also tend to disintegrate them and to render
them more easy to pulverize.

ALSIKE CLOVER 1 97

As a honey plant, alsike clover is without a rival
among clovers, unless it be in the small white vari-
ety. It is a great favorite with beekeepers. Many
of them sow it to enable them to furnish pastures
for their bees. The bloom remains for a relatively
long period. The honey is also accessible to the
common honey bee, since the branches are numerous
on the stems, and since each branch bears a head,
the flower heads are relatively quite numerous.
Since the honey is accessible to the common bee, pol-
lination in the plants is assured; hence, the failures
in the seed crop are few, and when other conditions
are favorable, seed production is abundant. Be-
cause of the many good qualities of this clover it is
deservedly a favorite wherever it can be successfully
grown. When in full bloom, a field of alsike clover
is a very beautiful sight. The flowers are a pale
white at first, but gradually they deepen into a beau-
tiful pink of tinted shades, and their fragrance is
fully equal to their beauty.

Distribution. — Alsike clover is found in Europe,
Northern Africa and Western Asia. In these it
has been cultivated for a long time, but its favorite
home in the Old World would seem to be in North-
ern Europe. It would doubtless be correct to say
that it is indigenous to Europe, and probably that
it is indigenous to each of the three continents
named. It is not indigenous to America, but was
introduced into the same probably from Great
Britain or Scandinavia. In some parts of North
America it grows with a luxuriance equal to, if not,
indeed, greater, than that shown by this plant when

198 CLOVERS

grown under the most favorable conditions which
Europe furnishes.

This plant is better adapted to a cool and humid
climate than to one hot and dry. It is even more
hardy than medium red clover, in the sense of en-
during cold, and will live under conditions of climate
so austere as to be fatal to red clover. It may, there-
fore, be grown further north than medium red clo-
ver, and under conditions so exposed as to cause
medium red clover to fail. But it does not succeed
quite so well as the former toward the southerly
limit of the successful production of medium red
clover; hence, the limit of production in the semi-
arid belt ceases sooner than in the case of the other
variety. The best climatic conditions for growing
it are found not far from the boundary line between
the United States and Canada, and in the vicinity
of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Great
Lakes.

In the United States the best crops are grown in
the States which border on Canada, and in these
the highest adaptation, climate and soil considered,
is found in Michigan, Wisconsin and Northeastern
Minnesota. But in New York the adaptation is also
high, and also in certain parts of Montana, Idaho
and Washington. Good crops may also be grown
in nearly all the second tier of States that lie south-
ward from the Canadian boundary. The exceptions
are those embraced in the semi-arid belt. Further
south than the second tier of States to which refer-
ence has just been made, the successful growth of
alsike generally lessens, and yet in parts of these

ALSIKE CLOVER 1 99

States, as, for instance. Kentucky, Tennessee and
Missouri, good crops are grown. Some of the
Rocky Mountain valleys, more especially those thr.t
can be irrigated, and that are also sufficiently ele-
vated, grow excellent crops of alsike. Much of the
province of Ontario has very high adaptation to the
growth of alsike clover, and in several counties of
that province large quantities are grown, not only
for hay, but also for seed. In Ontario County in the
said province, are certain clay soils rich in lime; in
fact, almost marley in character, which have been
found especially well adapted to growing alsike clo-
ver seed, and in certain areas in proximity to the
Georgian Bay, adaptation exists about equally high.
In some parts of Quebec good crops are also grown.
But this variety of clover has not been grown as yet
with much success in Manitoba, Assiniboia, Alberta
or Saskatchewan. Both soil and climate, however, in
these provinces should not be uncongenial to it in the
main. In the cultivable lands of British Columbia,
as in those of Washington, it grows remark-
ably well. Especially in the river bottoms and on
the tide lands can immense crops be grown, as also
on the tide lands of Nova Scotia and New Bruns-
wick, but not on the upland sandy soils of these
provinces.

Soils. —The most suitable soil for alsike clover is
a moist clay loam, not too friable nor too dense, and
moist and deep. A goodly impregnation of lime in
the same is favorable to maximum production.
Abundant moisture conduces to the same end. This
plant will, however, produce good crops, and in a

2OO CLOVERS

moist season, excellent crops, on the stiffest clays,
whether white or red, after a good stand has once
been secured, providing hard pan is not found near
the surface, but in dry seasons it is not easy to secure
a stand on such soils. The plants send their fibrous
roots down into the soil in all directions, and in this
way render it much more friable when it is broken
up.

Next in adaptation, probably, come slough soils,
even though covered with humus to a considerable
depth, providing that clay lies under the humus.
Enormous crops of hay or pasture can be grown on
such soils, but the crops of seed are not usually so
large as on the moist clays referred to above. On
these also the hay is much more liable to lodge,
unless supported by some kind of grass growing
along with it.

After slough soils come those that have been
deposited by the action of water, as in river beds
and on lake bottoms, when the waters have subsided,
providing the clay element so necessary to the suc-
cessful growth of this clover is plentifully present.
In some instances the very best crops of alsike can
be grown on such lands, but in many other instances
these deposit soils have in them too much sand to
produce these.

Good crops can be grown on sandy loam soils, if
well stored with vegetable matter, and at the same
time fairly well impregnated with clay, but if one
or both of these elements is lacking, adaptation in
these soils will be correspondingly reduced.

On the average upland prairie soil, alsike clover

ALSIKE CLOVER 2OI

does not grow so vigorously as the medium red.
The less of density that these possess under ordi-
nary conditions, the less suitable are they to the
needs of this plant, but when ample moisture is
present, good crops may be grown on much of the
soil in prairie areas.

Soils lowest in adaptation to the growth of alsike
include infertile sands and gravels, and the vegetable
soils of the prairie so light that when cultivated they
lift more or less with the wind. On such soils the
growth of alsike is short and feeble, and any lack of
moisture renders it increasingly so.

This plant not only requires much moisture to in-
sure the most vigorous growth, but it is also able
to thrive under conditions of soil saturation such as
some of the useful forage plants could not endure.
When the weather is cool, it may be covered with
shallow water for several days in succession without
apparent injury. The possession of this character-
istic makes it possible to grow alsike clover in
sloughs not yet drained, but which are dry certain
portions of the year.

Place in the Rotation. — Much of what . has
been said about the place for medium red clover in
the rotation may also apply to alsike clover. (See
page 70.) On upland soils its place in the rotation
will be very similar to that of the other variety,
but with the difference that the rotations will be
longer, because of the perennial habit of growth in
the alsike. It will be best sown, therefore, on clean
land which has produced a crop that has been culti-
vated the previous year. Consequently, it may fol-

202 CLOVERS

low such crops as corn, potatoes, field roots and
beans in the North, and the same crops in the
South, with the addition of cow peas, soy beans
and the non-saccharine sorghums. But it may be
sown after other crops when necessary, especially
when it is to be pastured. One chief objection to
sowing it thus for hay is that the hay will be less
free from weeds.

On upland this crop may be followed with any
kind of a crop requiring much nitrogen. No crops
can be made to follow it with more advantage, how-
ever, than corn and the sorghums, or potatoes. Rape
will feed ravenously on the overturned sod, and
wheat and the other small grains will also feed
similarly.

On low lands, especially when they partake of the
nature of sloughs, the rotation is different. In some in-
stances alsike may follow the natural grasses pro-
duced by the slough in the drained or undrained
form, as the case may be, and may be made to super-
sede them without breaking the land, but more com-
monly on these it is sown after the natural sod has
been broken and has decayed somewhat, by growing
on it some such crop as rape or flax. On these
lands it is usually grown in long rotations for pas-
ture and also for hay, and when the sod is again
plowed, it is followed by corn, potatoes, rape, and
grains grown for soiling uses, since such land has
naturally high adaptation for these. Flax also is a
favorite crop to sow in such situations after alsike
clover.

Preparing the Soil The preparation of the

ALSIKE CLOVER 2O3

land for alsike clover on ordinary soils is the same
as for medium red clover. (See page 74.) Usu-
ally, that degree of fineness in the pulverization
which best prepares the soil for the nurse crop with
which alsike clover is sown, will also best prepare it
for the alsike. But there may be some instances, as
in strong clays, when a fine pulverization that would
suffice for the needs of the nurse crop would be ad-
vantageous to the alsike. This finer pulverization
can only be secured by the judicious use of the roller
and the harrow. In loose-lying soils, more espe-
cially in areas where the precipitation in winter
comes in the form of snow, and, therefore, does
not wash the land as it does when it falls as rain,
if the land on which alsike is to be sown is plowed
in the fall, and only harrowed in the spring, or cul-
tivated and harrowed when preparing it, the mois-
ture will be better conserved than if it were plowed
in the spring. When thus managed, strong clays
in the area under consideration will usually have a
much finer pulverization than can be obtained from
spring plowing. When the preceding crop has been
given clean cultivation, to plow land subsequently
before sowing to alsike would bring up many weed
seeds to the surface, where they would at once begin
to grow. On slough lands, where water saturation
is present during a portion of the year, even to the
extent of appearing for a short interval over more
or less of the surface, the seed may be sown without
any previous preparation of the land, and in some
instances successfully. In other instances it will fail
should the following summer prove adverse. The

2O4 CLOVERS

stand is rendered much more certain in such in-
stances by first burning off the grass, sowing the
seed upon it, covering it more or less with the har-
row and running the mower over the ground, say,
twice in the season, to let in sunlight to the young
plants. The grass thus mown may be left as a
mulch. Pasturing, but not too early in the season,
will in some instances give results equally good. In
such situations the sowing should be done, and also
the harrowing, before the frost has left the ground,
except for a short distance from the surface, or the
horses may sink too deeply when doing the work.
The success is dependent in no small degree on the
denseness or want of denseness of the root growth
of the grass plants already covering the soil. The
more dense these are, the less easy is it to obtain a
stand, and the more peaty the soil immediately
underneath the surface, the greater is the danger
that the young plants will perish in a time of
drought.

When alsike seed is sown on drained sloughs, the
aim should be to reduce the excess of coarse vege-
table matter, if present, and to secure a smooth
surface, such as will facilitate the easy mowing of
the crop. More especially should this be the aim
if the alsike is sown to produce hay. This can be
most easily and speedily done by growing on it some
reducing crop, as flax or rape, and then smoothing
the surface by implements best suited to such work,
as, for instance, some form of plow leveler.

Sowing — The time at which alsike clover may
best be sown is the same as that for sowing the

ALSIKE CLOVER 2O5

medium red variety ; that is to say, the early spring.
(See page 75.) Since it is hardier than the medium
red variety, the danger is less that spring frosts
will destroy the plants after they begin to grow. As
with medium red clover, it may also be sown at
sundry times, from the opening of spring until the
late summer when the opportunity offers, and when
the conditions for growth are favorable. For in-
stance, there may be seasons when alsike clover, and,
indeed, any kind of clover, will succeed along with
a catch crop sown for pasture or to provide soiling
food. But it should not be sown in the autumn
unless where the winters are mild, or the young
plants will not survive their rigors.

Alsike clove'r is more commonly sown with a nurse
crop. As with medium red, the crops with which
it may be best sown are the small cereal grains, as
winter rye, barley, wheat and oats, favorable in the
order named. But it may also be sown with flax,
with rape, and with grain crops that are to be cut
for soiling or to be grazed down.

The method of sowing alsike clover is virtually
the same as that followed in sowing medium red clo-
ver (see page 78) ; that is to say, it may be sown
by hand machines, with a grass-seeder attachment
to the grain drill, or with the ordinary tubes of the
grain drill and along with the grain. The seed is
very small, and, consequently, may not admit of be-
ing buried so deeply as medium red clover, but in
the open soils of the prairie it will sometimes suc-
ceed as well sown along with the grain as when
buried less deeply, but in many soils the roller will

206 CLOVERS

provide a sufficient covering. Especially is this true
in climates that are moist.

Alsike clover has special adaptation for being
sown along with timothy and red top on slough soils,
and soils made up of rich deposit. It matures about
the same time as these grasses. They support the
slender stems of the alsike, and in doing so prevent
lodging more or less. This greatly improves the
quality of the hay. The more numerous the plants
in those mixtures, the finer also will be the quality
of the hay. If but two varieties are wanted in the
mixture, ordinarily these two should be alsike clover
and timothy. Both furnish hay of excellent quality ;
hence, when the proportion of alsike is not too large,
such hay sells readily to dairymen who have to pur-
chase fodder.

Although this clover does not mature until three
to four weeks later than the medium red, neverthe-
less, it may be well to add the latter to the timothy
and alsike clover mixture. When these are thus
sown in due balance, the first cutting will be mainly
red clover, after which there will be but little of the
red present. But the medium red clover will add
much to the pasture after the first cutting for hay.
Subsequently, the hay crop will usually consist of
alsike and timothy. Alsike clover along with tim-
othy may also be sown with mammoth clover, since
the two mature about the same time. But the mam-
moth variety will monopolize the ground while the
first hay crop is being produced. The advantage from
sowing the seed thus lies chiefly in prolonging the
period of clover production along with timothy grown

'ALSIKE CLOVER 2O7

chiefly for hay. It is not wise, usually, to sow alsike
clover alone for hay, owing to its tendency to lodge.
In the South it is frequently sown with red top and
orchard grass, especially the latter. It fills in the
spaces between the plants in the orchard grass, and
in so doing adds much to the hay or to the pasture.

There may be conditions in which it would be
advisable to sow alsike clover alone, as when it is
wanted for seed, and subsequently for pasture. But
ordinarily to provide pasture, it is better to sow it
along with some other grass or clover, or with a
number of these. It greatly improves a timothy
pasture in the upland or in the valley. It has also
been used with much advantage in strengthening
alfalfa pastures for horses in winter in certain of
the Rocky Mountain valleys. It would probably be
correct to say that with the area of adaptation for
this plant, no kind of pasture can be grown on rea-
sonably moist land that would not be benefited by
having alsike in it. Among the clovers it has, rela-
tively, high adaptation for permanent pastures, be-
cause of its enduring character.

The seeds of alsike clover are small. They are
considered to be less than half the size of those of
medium red clover, consequently, the amounts of
seed are relatively much less. When alsike clover
is sown alone and for seed, from 3 to 5 pounds of
seed should suffice per acre, according to the soil
conditions. Four pounds are frequently sown. In
the various mixtures given above, the amounts of
seed will vary with local and other conditions, but
the following amounts may be given as averages :

2C)8 CLOVERS

Alsike and timothy, 4 and 6 pounds, respectively,
per acre; alsike, timothy and red top, 3, 4 and
3 pounds; alsike, timothy and red clover, 3, 4
and 3 pounds ; alsike, timothy and mammoth clover,
3, 4 and 3 pounds. When sown with other grasses
for pasture, it would not be possible to give th§
amounts to sow that would best meet the needs of
the grower under all conditions. But it may be
said that I to 2 pounds of alsike seed per acre,
sown under almost any circumstances in moist soils
and within the alsike clover area, will be a good
investment when laying down pastures of any con-
siderable permanency.

This clover is also sometimes added to the seed
sown in making lawns, more especially on farms
where the lawn cannot be given that close attention
which is necessary to keep it in the most presentable
form. Because of its permanence, it is helpful in
giving variety to the sward, and when mown but
two or three times in the season, as is frequently
the case with such lawns, it provides considerable
bloom in the same, which is very attractive. The
amount of seed to use on these lawns may vary to
suit the desires of the owner. It is not usual, how-
ever, to sow in these more than maximum amounts
for field crops. At the rate of 3 to 4 pounds of
seed per acre should be ample.

Pasturing. — Alsike clover has by some authori-
ties been assigned to a high place as a pasture plant.
For such a use it has no little merit, but in the judg-
ment of the author it is not nearly equal to medium
red clover as a pasture plant, under average con-

ALSIKE CLOVER 209

ditions, since it does not grow so well, relatively,
on average upland soils, and because the aftermath
is usually light, after the crop has been cut for hay
or for seed. Nor is it thought to be relished quite
as highly by stock as the medium red clover. Never-
theless, domestic animals eat it freely, and under
suitable conditions it will furnish for them a con-
siderable amount of grazing. This feature has been
finely illustrated by an experiment in grazing con-
ducted at the Agricultural Experiment Station of
Montana, on irrigated land, at Bozeman, in the Gal-
latin valley. Full particulars relating to this unique
experiment are given in Bulletin No. 31, issued by
the afore-mentioned station. In the summer of
1900, 1 8 cattle, one and two years old, were pas-
tured on 5.04 acres of alsike clover for 102 days,
beginning with June 9th. The increase in the
weight obtained from the pasture in the time stated
was 4560 pounds. This gain was valued at the very
moderate price of 4 cents per pound live weight ;
hence, the net return per acre for the pasture' for
the season was $36.19. It would scarcely be pos-
sible under any conditions, howsoever favorable, to
obtain such results without irrigation.

Ordinarily, the results from pasturing alsike clo-
ver will be more satisfactory when one or two other
plants are grown along with it, as, for instance,
medium red clover or medium red clover and or-
chard grass, since both of these plants tend to pro-
long the period of grazing. In slough lands, red top
and timothy add considerably to the value of the
grazing. When grazing alsike clover, much more

2IO CLOVERS

pasture will be obtained if it can be allowed to make
a good start in the spring, and if it is then kept
grazed so short that the plants do not come into
flower. Such treatment tends very much to prolong
the period of grazing for the season. Should the
grazing be so uneven as to admit of certain areas
in the pasture pushing on into the flower stage, the
mower may sometimes be profitably used to pre-
vent such a result. Weeds should also be kept from
going to seed in the pastures by using the mower or
the scythe, or both. Nor should the fact be lost
sight of that the tendency to produce bloat in alsike
clover is much the same as in medium red clover.

Harvesting for Hay. — Alsike clover is ready
to harvest for hay when the plants are just beginning
to pass beyond the meridian of full bloom. Some of
the first blossoms will then have turned brown and
some of the smaller ones will still be deepening their
tints, since the season of bloom is about the same
as for timothy, and since alsike for hay is more com-
monly grown with timothy than with any other
grass, both may be cut when at their best, espe-
cially when intended for cows and sheep. But when
the hay is intended for horses, it should stand a
few days longer than the stage indicated above, in
order to have the timothy in the condition best suited
to feeding horses. But the alsike, in the meantime,
would lose something in digestibility.

If grown alone for hay, the process of harvesting
would be much the same as in harvesting medium
red clover. (See page 95.) But since the stems
pf alsike clover are finer than those of the medium

ALSIKE CLOVER 211

red, less time will suffice for curing it. It will also
cure more quickly along with some other grass than
if alone, since it does not then lie so closely in the
winrow or in the cock. Grasses, as a rule, cure
more quickly than clovers, and this also has a bear-
ing on hastening curing in clover when the two are
grown together, and also in lessening the degree of
the fermentation after the crop has been stored. Or-
dinarily, when the weather is bright, alsike clover
along with timothy rnay be cut in the forenoon,
tedded once or twice soon after cutting, raked into
small winrows the same evening and stored away the
following afternoon. When thus managed, the hay
loader may be used in lifting the hay from the win-
rows. Alsike clover growing alone could not be
cured thus quickly. Nor would it be wise in show-
ery weather to try and cure the crop without putting
it into cocks, whether grown alone or with some
other crop. When properly cured, the heads retain
much of their bloom and the stems much of their
greenness.

The yields of hay vary greatly with the soil. On
dry, sandy uplands the yields of cured hay may not
exceed V2 ton, while on rich loam soils it may ex-
ceed 3 tons. Ordinarily, on good soils a combined
crop of alsike clover should yield from il/2 to 2 tons
per acre of very excellent hay. Some authorities
speak of getting two cuttings per year, but this is
not usual. Under quite favorable conditions it
would be possible to get two cuttings for soiling
uses, providing the first was taken when the plants
were coming into bloom. Usually, the growth of

212 CLOVERS

the aftermath, when the hay has been removed, is
very moderate.

Securing Seed. — Alsike is a great producer of
seed. This arises in part from the relatively large
number of the heads on the plants, and in part from
the completeness of the pollinations, through the
action of the honey bee. These are relatively much
more numerous than the bumble bees, which alone
among bees, it has been claimed, aid in the pollina-
tion of medium red and mammoth clover. Although
the seeds are considerably less than half the size of
those of medium red clover, as much as 8 bushels
of seed have been secured from an acre. Frequently,
however, the yields are less than 2 bushels. Good
average yields may be stated as running from 3 to
4 bushels per acre. The best yields are usually
obtained from the first crop, but under favorable
conditions this clover may be cut for seed for two
and even three years in succession. Better yields
are usually obtained from crops of medium vigor
than from those of excessive rankness. The latter
lodge to such an extent as to reduce materially the
yields of the seed, since the heads do not fill well.
The cost of harvesting and threshing such crops is
also greater, relatively, than of those of medium
growth. To prevent such excessive growth in the
seed crop, pasturing for a time is frequently re-
sorted to. The grazing should begin reasonably
early in the season before growth anywhere becomes
so rank that the animals do not eat it in certain
portions of the field, whereas, at the same time, they
graze other portions of the field too closely. Rather

ALSIKE CLOVER 213

close grazing, from the time that grazing begins, is
preferable to grazing that leaves the crop uneven.
When certain portions of the field are left ungrazed,
or only partially grazed, the mower should be run
over such portions about the time that the grazing
ceases. If this is done a few clays before the removal
of the stock, they will eat much of the clover thus
mown. Unless the mower is thus used, under such
conditions the seed will ripen unevenly in the
grazed and ungrazed portions of the same.

The duration of the grazing is much dependent
on the soil and the season. The more moist and
rich the soil and the more moist the season, the
more prolonged should the grazing be. In Northern
areas it seldom begins earlier than May ist, and
seldom extends beyond June ist. If prolonged un-
duly and dry weather follows, the growth of the
plants will not be enough to produce average crops
of seed. Quite frequently on upland soils, the graz-
ing should cease before the end of May.

Either cattle or sheep, or both, may be used in the
grazing. Cattle do not graze quite so closely as
sheep, which is so far favorable to subsequent
growth. But sheep will glean weeds to a much
greater extent than cattle. When the field is made
to carry so much stock that the grazing is quickly
and thoroughly done, the results are usually more
satisfactory than when the opposite method is prac-
ticed.

It is important that weeds shall be prevented from
maturing seeds in the clover. To prevent this, it
may be necessary to run the mower over the whole

214 CLOVERS

field at the close of the grazing season. In crops
that are not grazed, it may be necessary to use the
scythe in clipping back weeds and in cutting off any
stray heads of timothy that may be pushing up
toward maturity. In some instances it may even be
found profitable to use the spud in destroying weeds
of more dwarfish growth than those which can be
clipped with the scythe. It is more important, rela-
tively, that weeds shall be thus dealt with in grow-
ing alsike clover than in growing clover of the
larger varieties, since, owing to the small size of the
seeds of alsike, it is more difficult to remove foul
seeds with the winnowing mill. No kind of seed,
probably, is more difficult to separate from alsike
seed than timothy ; hence, when the former is grown
for market, these plants should not be grown to-
gether. If, perchance, they should be so grown and
the crop cut for seed, it would be well not to try to
separate the seeds, but to sow them thus, as even
when thus mixed the seed has a considerable market
value.

The crop is ready for being harvested when nearly
all the heads are fully matured. The bloom will then
have left them and they will be characterized by a
reddish cast. The earlier heads will have turned a
dark color, almost black. Some bloom may yet
linger on the later and smaller heads, but harvesting
should not be delayed until these mature.

The seed crop can best be cut with the self-rake
reaper, which throws off the sheaves unbound. If
cut with the grain binder, the sheaves should not be
bound. A sort of box attachment may be fastened

ALSIKE CLOVER 215

to the cutter-bar of the mower, which will enable the
workmen to leave the hay in sheaves, but to do this
an additional hand is wanted to rake or pitch off
the sheaves. The sheaves should be laid off in rows,
and by system, rather than at random, for conven-
ience in storing.

Usually, the sheaves are not disturbed until ready
for being stored, but in case of very heavy rain it may
be necessary to turn the sheaves, to prevent the seeds
which come in contact with the ground from
sprouting. The sheaves should be carefully lifted,
otherwise many of the heads will break off and be
lost. Because of this, it may be wise, frequently, to
refrain from lifting the sheaves for loading in the
middle of the day. Large forks, which may be run
under the bunches, are more suitable than ordinary
forks.

When absolutely necessary, the seed crop may
be harvested with the field mower, as ordinarily
used, but when it is thus harvested, the crop should
be cut with all promptness as soon as it is ready.
It must then be raked into winrows and lifted as
hay is usually lifted. All the work of harvesting
should be done in those portions of the day when
the heads will break off less freely, and when at the
same time the dew is not resting on the seed plants
in any considerable degree. When, however, a crop
of alsike is thus harvested for seed, many heads will
break off, howsoever careful the workmen may be.

The seed may be threshed at once or stored. Stor-
ing under a roof is preferable to storing in the stack,
but the latter method will suffice, if the tops .of the

2l6 CLOVERS

stacks are well protected with a covering of marsh hay
or of some other suitable material. When the seed
is not threshed at once it is usual to defer thresh-
ing until cold weather, as with medium red clover,
as then the seed is much more easily removed from
the seed pod. Ordinarily, the work can best be done
by clover hullers, the same as are used in threshing
medium red and mammoth clover, but grain sepa-
rators, with certain attachments, will now do this
work in good form. Much care should be exer-
cised in winnowing the seed. It ought to be so
cleaned that it will grade as No. I, and so bring the
highest current price. Due care in this matter will
make the major part of even ordinary seed bring
the best price.

Renewing. — When the stand of the alsike is but
partial, as, for instance, when young plants have
failed, or partially so, on the high land, and are suf-
ficiently plentiful on the lower land, a full stand may
sometimes be secured by simply scattering seed
where it is needed so late in the fall that it
will not sprout before winter, covering with the har-
row and then top dressing with farmyard manure
well decomposed. But where the winters are so mild
that the clover might be sprouted during some warm
spell followed by severe weather, the seed should
not be sown then.

On certain soils, as those naturally moist and
porous, it may be possible so to renew alsike clover
that it will produce hay or pasture crops almost in-
definitely, by simply allowing some heads to seed
every year and fall to the ground. In meadows,

ALSIKE CLOVER 2I/

this may be done by not grazing after the hay has
been harvested until other heads have formed and
ripened. A limited number of these will thus form
after the crop has been mown for hay. If the crop
has been cut for seed, many heads will in any event
be left upon the ground. The same result will fol-
low when grazing the crop, if grazing is made to
cease at the right time, and for a period long enough
to allow a considerable number of heads to mature.
This method of renewal will not prove a complete
success on all soils, as, for instance, on those very
stiff and very light.

Natural meadows that lie low may be changed in
whole or in part into alsike meadows or pastures in
some of the States, as has been previously intimated,
by sowing seed on them in the early spring. (See
page 202. ) In some instances such change has been
effected by sowing seed but once, and at the rate
of from 3 to 4 pounds per acre. In other instances
it has been found preferable to sow a less quantity
for two successive seasons, lest one of the two should
prove adverse to successful growth in the plants.
But on some slough soils a stand cannot be se-
cured by this method of sowing, more especially
when they are composed of raw peat.

CHAPTER VI

MAMMOTH CLOVER

Mammoth Clover (Trifolium magnum) was long
ago named Trifolium medium by Linnaeus. How-
ever appropriate the designation may have been at
the time, it is not so now, at least under American
conditions, as in this country there is no other vari-
ety of clover so large, unless sweet clover (Melilotns
alba). To apply to it the distinguishing term
medium, therefore, is positively misleading, since
the smaller variety of red clover commonly grown
occupies such middle ground, as the term medium
would indicate. Because of this, the author has ven-
tured to designate it Trifolium magnum. It has
also been classified, and with no little appropriate-
ness, Trifolium pratense pcrcnne, which has refer-
ence to the mildly perennial habit of growth in this
plant. In common phrase it is known by such names
as Large, Tall, Saplin or Sapling, Giant, Meadow,
Perennial Red, Red Perennial Meadow, Pea Vine,
Zigzag, Wavy Stemmed, Soiling, and Cow clover or
Cow grass. Each of these names has reference to
some peculiarity of growth in the plant. For instance,
the terms Large, Tall, Saplin and Giant have refer-
ence to the size of the plant ; and the terms Pea Vine,
Zigzag and Wavy Stemmed to the somewhat irreg-

MAMMOTH CLOVER 219

ular and trailing habit of growth in the stems, and
so of the others. The designation Cow grass is an
English term.

Mammoth clover is a large variety of red clover;
in fact, the largest variety of red clover in America.
The plants are strong, stronger than those of the
medium red variety, and the stems are much larger.
They are softer than those of the medium red, which
to some extent may account for the less erect habit
of growth which characterizes it. The leaves are
usually destitute of the white spot found on those
of the other variety. The heads are also probably
larger and somewhat more open, but there is no
appreciable difference in the size of the seed. The
plants, notwithstanding, bear so much resemblance to
those of the common red variety that it is not easy
to distinguish them unless by the large size of the
plants of the former. The roots are larger and
stronger than those of the medium red variety, and
as a result have more power to gather plant food
in the soil.

Mammoth clover is biennial under some condi-
tions and under others it is perennial, although it is
not usually a long-lived perennial. It has a
stronger habit of growth than the medium red, and
is, therefore, rather better fitted to thrive under
adverse conditions, more especially when it has once
obtained a hold upon the soil. It grows chiefly in
the first half of the season, and makes but little
growth, relatively, in the autumn, or, indeed, any
time the same season after the crop has been har-
vested for hay. In the Northern States it comes

220 CLOVERS

into flower about the middle of July, and in those of
the South correspondingly earlier.

It is relished by all kinds of domestic animals
kept upon the farm, but the hay is relatively better
adapted to cows and other cattle than to horses and
sheep. If cut too late, or much injured in the cur-
ing, it is too dusty for horses, and the growth is
too coarse to make first-class hay for sheep. It makes
excellent soiling food, because of the abundance of
the growth and the considerable season during which
it may be fed in the green form.

It is peculiarly valuable as a fertilizer and as an
improver of soils. In addition to the nitrogen
which it draws from the air and deposits in the
soil, it brings up plant food from the subsoil and
stores it in the leaves and stems, so that when fed it
can be returned to the land. It also fills the soil
with an abundance of roots and rootlets. These
render stiff soils more friable, and sandy soils less
porous ; they increase the power of all soils to hold
moisture, and in their decay yield up a supply of
plant food already prepared for the crops that are
next grown upon the ground.

Mammoth clover may also be utilized with advan-
tage in lessening the numbers of certain noxious
weeds, and in some instances of eradicating them
altogether. This it does in some instances by smoth-
ering them, through the rankness of the growth. In
other instances it is brought about through the set-
back which is given to the weeds by first pasturing
the crop and then cutting it later for seed.

Distribution. — Mammoth clover has long been

MAMMOTH CLOVER 22 1

grown in several of the countries of Europe and
Western Asia. It is also grown in certain parts
of Siberia. It was doubtless introduced into the
United States from Europe by emigrants from that
continent, but when exactly is not known. It has
probably been many years since its introduction into
America, but it is only within the more recent of
the decades that it has attracted general notice. In
some areas in this country it grows with great luxu-
riance, fully equaling, if not exceeding, the crops
grown in any part of Europe.

Mammoth clover calls for climatic conditions
about the same as those for medium red clover.
(See page 61.) It flourishes best in moist climates
of moderate temperature, and it will endure more
drought than the medium red variety and possibly
more cold.

The distribution of mammoth clover covers nearly
all the States of the Union, but as with medium
red clover the adaptation for it is relatively higher
in the Northern than in the Southern States of the
Union. The highest adaptation for mammoth clo-
ver is probably found in certain parts of Michigan,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, the northern valleys of the
Rocky Mountain States, the elevated portions of
those further south and the country around Puget
Sound. The adaptation is also high in much of
New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri,
Kansas and Nebraska. In the Southern States that
lie northward, good crops may be grown in some
locations, but not in all. As the semi-arid belt is
approached, mammoth clover will grow further

222 CLOVERS

west than the medium red, but in the greater portion
of this region it will not succeed. The adaptation
of the North Atlantic States, including those of New
England, is not of a high order, but rather more so,
probably, than for the medium red.

In Canada also the adaptation of medium and mam-
moth clover is much the same as for the medium
red. In some parts of Ontario, especially Western
Ontario, it grows remarkably well ; but in the mari-
time provinces it does not grow so well ; nor does it
thrive in the provinces of the Canadian Northwest
as it does in Ontario.

As with medium red clover, the distribution of
this variety has not been fully determined in either
the United States or Canada, more especially on soils
of the prairie, where it does not succeed well at
present. It is probable that under some conditions
on these soils, and also in the South, the absence
of the requisite bacteria in the soil may account, in
part, at least, for failure in attempts made to
grow it. With the introduction of these, the
area of successful cultivation may be considerably
extended.

Soils. — Mammoth clover may usually be success-
fully grown in soils well adapted to the growth of
the medium red variety. (See page 65.) This
means that it will usually grow with much luxuri-
ance in all areas which produce hardwood timber,
and are usually covered with a clay or muddy loam
soil underlaid with clay. It will also grow with
great luxuriance in the volcanic ash soils of the irri-
gated valley lands of the Rocky Mountain States,

MAMMOTH CLOVER 22$

and in the loam and light loam soils of the Puget
Sound country. It has greater power than the com-
mon red variety to grow in stiff clays, in sandy soils
underlaid with clay, and in areas where moisture is
insufficient near the surface soil. In stiff clays the
roots penetrate to a greater distance than those of
the medium red variety and gather more food. Con-
sequently, a stiff clay soil that would only furnish
a light crop of the medium red variety in a dry sea-
son may furnish an excellent crop of the mammoth.
The quality of the hay is likely to be superior to
that grown on soils altogether congenial, since it is
not likely to be over-rank or coarse.

On sandy soils underlaid with clay, and especially
where the clay is some distance from the surface,
this clover is more certain to make a stand, since
the vigor of the plants enables them to gather food
until the roots go down into the clay.

In areas where the moisture is more or less defi-
cient, the other conditions being favorable, this clo-
ver can send its roots down into the subsoil, where
moisture is more abundant than on the surface. Be-
cause of this power, it is better adapted than the
medium red to much of the area of Southwestern
Minnesota, Western Iowa, Western Kansas and
Nebraska, and, in fact, much of the area bordering
on the semi-arid country.

On clay soils that are so saturated with water that
in the winter or spring the clover is much liable to
heave, there is conflict in opinion as to whether the
mammoth or the common red variety will heave the
more readily, but the preponderance of the evidence

224 CLOVERS

favors the view that the roots of the mammoth
variety can better resist such influences than those
of the common red.

This clover, like the common red, is not well
adapted to hungry, sandy soils, to the blow soils
of the prairie, to the muck soils of the watery slough,
or to the peaty soils of the drained muskeg.

Place in the Rotation. — The place for mammoth
clover in the rotation is much the same as for the
medium red variety. ( See page 70. ) It may, there-
fore, be best sown on a clean soil ; that is to say, on
a soil which has grown a crop the previous season'
that has called for clean cultivation, as, for instance,
corn, potatoes, sorghum, or one or the other of the
non-saccharine sorghums, field beans, soy beans,
cow peas and field roots. But it is not so necessary
that it shall be made to follow either kind of beans or
cow peas as the other crops named, since these have
already gathered nitrogen, which is more needed by
leguminous crops. This clover should rather be
grown in rotations where more nitrogen is wanted,
when the soil will profit by increased supplies of
humus, and where strong plants are wanted, the
root growth of which will have the effect of render-
ing the cultivated portion of the soil more friable
when stiff and more retentive when sandy, and that
will have the effect of opening up many little chan-
nels in the subsoil when the roots decay, through
which an excess of surface water may percolate into
the subsoil. It may precede such crops as revel in
humus and that feed ravenously on nitrogen. These
include all the small cereals, corn and all the sor-

MAMMOTH CLOVER 225

gtiums, rape, and all kinds of garden vegetables and
strawberries. It is, of course, better adapted to
short than to long rotations, because of the limited
duration of the life of the plants.

The length of the rotation will, of course, depend
upon various contingencies. Frequently, the clover
is cropped or pastured but one season following the
year on which the seed was sown, whatsoever the
character of the crops that precede or follow it, but
in more instances, probably, it is used as crop or
pasture for two years. When timothy is sown along
with this clover the pasturing or cropping may con-
tinue for one or more seasons longer before the
ground is broken, but in such instances the timothy
will have consumed much or all of the nitrogen put
into the soil by the clover, save what has escaped in
the drainage water. One of the best rotations in
which to sow mammoth clover, as also the medium
red, is the following: Sow in a nurse crop of rye,
wheat, oats or barley, as the case may be, in order
that it may be pastured or cut for hay the following
season, and then follow with a crop of corn or pota-
toes. This in turn is followed by one or another of
the small grains. This constitutes a three years'
rotation, but in the case of mammoth clover it is
frequently lengthened to four years. The year fol-
lowing the sowing of the clover, it is cut for hay
or for seed, and the next year it is pastured with
or without a top-dressing of farmyard manure. This
rotation meets with considerable favor in certain
areas of Wisconsin, well adapted to the growth of
the plant.

226 CLOVERS

Preparing the Soil — The preparation of the
soil called for by the mammoth clover is virtually
the same as that required when preparing a seed-bed
for the medium red variety. (See page 74.) Clay
loam soils, whatsoever their color, cannot easily be
made too fine and smooth, and the same is true of
sandy loams. Stiff clays should be made so fine
as to contain ample loose mold to germinate the
seed readily, and yet they ought not to be made so
fine that they will readily run together under
the influence of a soaking rain. Usually, such soils
are seldom made too fine, but sometimes they are.
The aim should be to firm sandy soils, especially
when light enough to lift with the wind, and to
leave them more or less uneven on the surface when
the seed is sown.

In many States the ground should be plowed in
the fall for spring sowing, and in yet others it should
be plowed in the spring. Conditions of soil and cli-
mate govern this feature of the work. Usually,
however, the longer the soil is plowed and then prop-
erly worked on the surface before receiving the seed,
the finer, cleaner, firmer and moister it is likely to be,
and the larger the store of the available fertility to
promote the growth of the young plants. Because
of this, after cultivated crops, the ground is
not usually plowed or otherwise stirred on the
surface.

When the soil is low in fertility, it may be neces-
sary to fertilize it before a crop of mammoth clover
can be successfully grown. For such fertilization,
farmyard manure is very suitable. When soils are low

MAMMOTH CLOVER 22/

in the content of humus, before a good crop of clover
can be grown, it may be necessary to supply humus.
But few soils are so deficient in fertility that they
will not grow clover if supplied with humus. Farm-
yard manure supplies both humus and fertility, but
in its absence, a crop of rye buried in the soil will
insure a stand of clover. In other instances it may
be necessary to follow with some kind of a crop that
has much power to gather plant food, as corn of
some hardy variety, and to graze or otherwise feed
it from the land.

Sowing. — Much of what has been said about the
sowing of medium red clover will apply also to the
sowing of mammoth clover. East of the Mississippi
and north of the Potomac and Ohio rivers, mam-
moth clover is usually sown in the spring, and for
the reason that the young plants are frequently
killed by the severity of the winter weather when
sown in the autumn. But when sown at that season,
the seed being mixed with winter rye and being
deposited by the drill as early as September ist, the
plants frequently survive the winter as far north as
Marquette County in Wisconsin. The rye in the
line of the drill marks provides a sufficient protection
for the clover. But this only occurs where the con-
ditions are eminently favorable to the growth of
the clover. Around Puget Sound it may also be
sown with advantage in the early autumn, as then
it should produce a full crop the next season, and the
same is true of nearly all the Rocky Mountain valley
region, but in these areas it may also be sown in
the spring. Between the Mississippi and the Rocky

228 CLOVERS

Mountains and Oklahoma and Canada, spring sow-
ing is usually preferable, and in much of the area is
an absolute necessity to insure a stand. In the
South the seed may be sown fall or spring; which*
season is to be preferred should be determined
chiefly by the character of the soil. On soil much
given to heaving in the winter it is usually preferable
to sow in the spring. In all, or nearly all, parts of
Canada spring sowing only is admissible.

When the seed is sown in the early spring, it should
usually be sown quite early, as early, in fact, as the
ground is in condition to receive the seed when the
nurse crop has been sown the previous autumn.
When the ground is smooth and impacted on the
surface, it is considered preferable to defer sowing
until the ground is dry enough to admit of covering
the seed with the harrow. When deposited at the
same time as spring-sown nurse crops, and with
these, the time of sowing will be determined by the
most suitable time for sowing the nurse crop. This
plant may be sown under certain conditions as late
in the spring as moisture exists in the soil sufficient
to produce vigorous germination in the seed. This
means that it may be sown as late as June, if sown
alone, and even later. When sown thus late it
should be on soil that has been well cleaned near
the surface. WThen sown in the autumn, as with
medium red clover, the aim should be to put the
seed in as early as the arrival of the autumn rains,
that the plants may be well rooted before the arrival
of freezing weather.

Ordinarily, mammoth clover, like the medium red,

MAMMOTH CLOVER 229

is sown with a nurse crop, whether sown fall or
spring. (See page 84.) The nurse crops in the
North include winter rye, winter wheat, barley,
spring wheat and oats, suitable, probably, in the
order named, also such pasture crops as rape,
vetches, and various mixtures of grain sown on cer-
tain soils to provide pasture for cattle, sheep or
swine. The best nurse crops in the South include
winter rye, winter barley and winter oats, even
though the seed should not be sown on them until
the spring. On certain sandy loam soils a stand of
mammoth clover is more assured if sown with a
pasture crop than if sown with a grain crop which
is to mature . (See page 82.) Under certain condi-
tions of soil and climate, this crop may be sown on
plowed or disked land in certain of the States, after
a crop of grain, and in other instances by sowing
amid the stubbles and covering with the harrow.
But there is more of hazard in growing thus than
by other methods. Sometimes this clover is sown
amid standing corn, at the last cultivation, but too
much shade or too little moisture may cause only
partial success, or even failure, whereas at other
times the plan may succeed.

The modes of sowing the clover are virtually the
same as those to be followed in sowing medium red
clover. (Seee page 78.) It will be sown by hand,
by hand machines, and by the grain drill, with or
without attachments. The seed of this variety, how-
ever, will, on the whole, be more frequently mixed
in with the grain than the seed of the medium red
clover, because of the stronger growth that it makes.

230 CLOVERS

This will frequently be found the preferable mode
of sowing it when sown in the autumn.

When sown to provide hay, mammoth clover and
timothy make an excellent combination for the rea-
sons, first, that they mature about the same time;
second, that more of this clover is likely to survive
the first year of cutting than of the common red;
and third, that more food, it is believed, will be
furnished to the timothy in the dead roots of this
clover than of the medium red. The first year of
cutting, the hay crop is likely to be nearly all clo-
ver ; the second year, clover and timothy mixed, and
the third year, timothy. But if alsike is sown in
the mixture, though it may be little in evidence the
first year, it will show itself the second year and
probably the third year. When sown for pasture
in short rotations, this clover may be sown alone
or with other varieties of clover, timothy or tall oat
grass being added. When sown for seed, it is prob-
ably better to sow it alone, but there is no very
strong objection to sowing timothy alone with the
clover, since the latter may aid in sustaining the
clover, and it is not difficult to separate mammoth
clover seed and timothy seed.

When mammoth clover is sown alone for hay or
for seed, not fewer than 12 pounds per acre of
seed should be used. When sown with timothy,
6 and 8 pounds, respectively, would be an average
seeding. If alsike clover is added, the seed of the
mammoth may be reduced by one pound, and the
same amount of alsike added to the mixture. When
sown with the medium red variety to provide short

MAMMOTH CLOVER 23!

rotation pastures, about 6 pounds of each may be
sown. The pasture furnished will be more contin-
uous than where only one kind is sown. If timothy
or tall oat grass is added, a pound of one or the
other of these should be added for every pound of
the clover withheld from the mixture. For perma-
nent pastures 6 pounds of the mammoth clover may
be set down as the maximum to sow per acre, vary-
ing the quantity with varying conditions. And when
the clover is sown with small grain to be plowed
under in the fall or early in the spring, usually only
very moderate amounts of seed ought to be used,
especially where the hazard is considerable that the
dry weather may cause failure in the catch of the
seed.

Pasturing.— Mammoth clover furnishes much
pasture when it is grazed, on into July and some-
times even into August, because of the vigorous
character of the growth, but after that season the
growth is usually light. Nor is there generally
much growth after the crop has been cut for hay.
The palatability of the pasture is much the same as
that of the medium red variety. More grazing is
furnished where the crop is fairly well grown before
the pasturing begins, but it is not so palatable, and
when unduly rank, to defer pasturing thus long
would result in a considerable waste of pasture,
which the stock would tread under foot. When the
crop is wanted for hay, there may be instances in
which it may be advantageous to pasture it for a
time to prevent the growth from becoming overly
luxuriant. There have been instances in which the

232 CLOVERS

clover has grown so rankly that the lodged clover
killed nearly all the plants by excluding the air from
the roots. When grown on soils that in a normal
season produce a rank growth, the quality of the hay
will, in nearly all instances, be improved by graz-
ing. This, however, should be done soon after the
growth begins and should not be long continued,
and it should be close, in order to promote even-
ness and uniformity in the growth of the hay
crop.

When grown for seed, mammoth clover is quite
frequently pastured. In fact, in a majority of in-
stances it is either pastured or cut with the mower
when a seed crop is wanted. The pasturing usually
continues until June ist, but in some instances it is
prolonged far on into June. The duration of the
pasturing season should be gauged largely by the
character of the soil and weather. The better the
conditions for growth in the plants, the longer may
the pasturing be continued, and vice versa. There
are also conditions in which such pasturing may not
be necessary. But when the grazing is not close,
the mower should be run over the field, otherwise
the seeds will not ripen evenly.

There is the same danger from bloating that is
present when pasturing medium red clover. ( See
page 94.) To avoid this danger, cattle that are
being thus pastured are in some instances given ac-
cess to cured clover hay. In other instances the
haulm of the seed is left in the field so that the
cattle have access to it. But the second season of
grazing, the danger from bloat is not so great as

MAMMOTH CLOVER 233

the first season, as usually more of other pasture
plants grow amid the clover.

Horses, cattle, sheep or swine may be used in
grazing off the clover for seed. All of these may
be used at the same time. Horses bite the crowns
of the plants so closely as to somewhat injure sub-
sequent growth; sheep also crop rather closely; cat-
tle do not crop the plants so closely; consequently,
they are so far preferable to horses or sheep for
such grazing. On the other hand, sheep will prove
far more destructive to weed growth in the pasture.

Harvesting for Hay. — Ordinarily, the methods
of making the hay crop are the same as those
followed in curing medium red clover. The mam-
moth variety, however, frequently requires a longer
season in which to cure, owing, first, to the heavier
character of the growth, and second, to the larger
stems of the latter. After it has been mown there
is greater reason for using the tedder in getting it
ready for being raked, and it calls for more curing
before it is put into cocks. The larger the pro-
portion of the timothy in the crop, the more easily
it is cured. It is ready for cutting when in full
bloom, and loses more than the medium red when
cutting is too long deferred, because of the larger
proportion of coarse stems in the crop. It is also
relatively more injured by rain in the cocks, since
it sheds rain even less readily than the medium red
clover, and the same is true of it in the stack.

Some farmers cure mammoth clover in its green
form in the mow as they also cure the medium red
variety, but the same objections apply to curing it

234 CLOVERS

thus that apply to the similar curing of the medium
red. (See page 102.) Others cure it in the mow
by storing good bright straw, preferably oat straw,
in alternate layers along with the clover. From one-
third to one-half the quantity of the straw as com-
pared with the hay will suffice for such curing, vary-
ing with the degree of the wilting in the hay. Clo-
ver cut in the morning after the dew has lifted
may be thus stored the same day. Where the facili-
ties are present such a method of curing mammoth
clover may be eminently wise in showery weather.
The natural color of the hay and blossoms is thus
preserved and the straw is eaten with avidity, be-
cause of what it has imbibed from the clover.

Securing Seed. — It has been already intimated
more seed will be obtained when the clover has
been pastured or cut back with the mower. (See
page 233.) When the mower is used, it should not
be set to cut quite low, or the subsequent growth
will not be so vigorous as it would otherwise be.
The state of growth at which the clover ought to
be cut will be influenced by the luxuriance of the
growth, but ordinarily clover seed should not be
more than 6 to 8 inches high when the mower is
used. What is thus cut by the mower is left on the
ground as a mulch. Mowing the crop thus will
also be helpful in destroying weeds, but some weeds
will sprout again and mature seed as quickly as the
clover.

When mammoth clover is neither pastured nor
mown early in the season, when grown for seed
some kinds of weeds may be prevented from going

MAMMOTH CLOVER 235

to seed in it by cutting them off with the scythe.
When not too plentiful they may be removed with
the spud. Among the more troublesome weeds that
infest mammoth clover are the Canada thistle
(Cirsium arvense}, the plantain (Plantago lance o-
lata), and in some instances the horse nettle
(Solanum Carolinense} and spring nightshade
(Solatium).

The yields of the clover seed will be much influ-
enced by the character of the weather. Excessive
rankness in the crop and excessive rainfall during
the blossoming season are adverse to abundant seed
production. But the seed crop is more injured by
drought than by too much rain. When injured by
drought the growth will not be sufficiently strong,
or, if it is, the blossoms will be of a pale red tint.
Warm winds while the seed is forming are also ad-
verse to seed production, since they cause the crop to
mature too quickly. Some experience will enable
the capable observer to forecast with no little cer-
tainty the probable yield of the seed. If the indi-
cations point to a yield of seed less than 2 bushels
per acre, it is deemed more profitable, as a rule, to
cut the crop for hay. Large heads of a rich dark
purple shade accompanied by vigor in the entire plant
are indicative of abundant seed production.

The crop is ready for being harvested when a
majority of the heads have ripened so far that the
bloom on them is all gone and the shade of color
in the head has not yet become brown. If left until
a majority of the heads are brown many of them
will break off while being harvested. The crop
is usually cut with a self-rake reaper, but it may

236 CLOVERS

be cut with a mower. When cut by either method
the sheaves should be made small, so that they will
dry out quickly.

It is important that the crop shall be threshed
before it is rained on, as one thorough wetting
will so far bedim the attractive brightness as com-
pared with seed that has not been rained on that
it will considerably discount the price that would
otherwise be obtained for it. It is usually threshed
with a huller, but may also be threshed like the
medium red variety by a grain separator with a
suitable attachment.

The yields of the seed vary much. Instances are
on record where as much as n or 12 bushels per
acre have been reaped, but ordinarily even on good
producing soils the yields are not more than 4 to
5 bushels per acre, and under ordinary conditions
for the production of mammoth clover they are
even less than the amount named. Notwithstanding
the greater strength of the plants, the seeds are
apparently no larger than those of the medium red
variety, nor can they be distinguished from them
unless by an expert.

Renewing — Much that has been said with refer-
ence to the renewing of medium red clover will
apply equally to the renewing of the mammoth. ( See
page 109.) Where seed crops are much grown, the
soil becomes so impregnated with the seed that more
or less of the plants will appear any season. Re-
newal in the South is more important, relatively,
than in the North, as under some conditions the
plants survive for a longer period in Southern soils.

MAMMOTH CLOVER 237

Compared with Medium Red Clover. — i. The

mammoth is larger and coarser than the medium red
and is considerably less erect in its habit of growth.
It has larger and longer roots; hence, it goes down
more deeply into the subsoil in search of food.

2. It is, on the whole, longer lived than the
medium red variety and has greater power to grow
in a sandy soil and under conditions in which mois-
ture is not plentiful.

3. It provides more pasture than the medium red
variety during the early part of the season, but not
so much after harvest, the season of growth being
less continuous then than with the former.

4. The hay which it furnishes is usually con-
siderably more bulky and coarse, and because of this
it is not so highly prized by stock.

5. It blooms about three weeks later than the
medium red variety and remains a little longer in
bloom and seeds more freely, but can only be cut
once in a season.

6. It furnishes more green food for plowing un-
der than the medium red ; hence, it is, on the whole,
a better improver of the soil.

CHAPTER VII

CRIMSON CLOVER

Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnatum) is also
known by the names French, German, German
Mammoth, Italian, Egyptian and Carnation clover.
In America it is common in certain areas to speak
of it as winter clover, from the greater powers of
growth which it possesses at that season as compared
with other clovers.

The plants have an erect habit of growth, and yet
they are soft and hairy, and they have much power
to stool. More than 100 stems have been produced
by one plant, but under conditions the most favor-
able. The leaves are numerous. The heads are ob-
long, cylindrical, and considerably cone-shaped, and
are from i to 2 inches long, and much larger than
those of medium red clover. The bloom is scarlet
or crimson and of the richest dye; hence, a more
beautiful sight is seldom seen than that of a vigorous
crop of crimson clover in full bloom. The average
height of the plants may be put at about 18 inches,
but they have been grown to the height of 3 and
even 4 feet. The root growth is fully twice that of
the stems. The roots are strong, go down straight
into the soil, and are to some extent branched.

Crimson clover is an annual, although usually the
growth covers a part of two years. Sown in the

l0 1 M

1

Fig. 6. Crimson Clover ( Trifolium incarna(um)

Tennessee Experiment Station

24O CLOVERS

summer or early autumn, growth is completed by
the advent of the following summer. It is, there-
fore, pre-eminently a catch crop, and because of
this, when conditions admit of it, serves a purpose
in American agriculture, which can be served by
none of the other varieties of clover that are now
grown. It has much power to grow in cool weather,
when the clovers are practically dormant. It does
not cease to grow until the ground has become
frozen, and as soon as the frost leaves the soil
growth begins at once; hence, the greater relative
value this plant has for areas in which the winters
are mild.

Crimson clover is much relished by farm animals,
whether used as pasture, soiling food, silage or hay.
Under some conditions it may be pastured autumn
and spring, and even through much of the winter.
As a soiling plant, its value is high, not only be-
cause it is a legume, but because it comes in season
at a time when it may be fed with winter rye used as
soiling. But the period is short during which it
furnishes soiling food. Its value as hay will al-
ways be lessened by the difficulty in curing it so early
in the season, and because of the danger from feed-
ing it to horses when cut at a too advanced stage
of growth. It is much in favor for furnishing
chicken pasture in winter.

As a catch crop crimson clover may be made to
do duty in seasons in which other clover crops may
have failed. As a cover crop or a mulch for or-
chards, it is in high favor, as the growth which it
produces protects the roots of the same. But its

CRIMSON CLOVER 24!

greatest use lies in the beneficial influence which it
exerts upon soils by enriching them and also improv-
ing their mechanical condition. It is likely, there-
fore, to be grown more for this purpose than for
any other. While growing it in many instances
will not render unnecessary the use of commercial
fertilizers, it will greatly reduce the quantity of these
that would otherwise be necessary. Owing to the
season at which it is grown, it will be found quite
helpful in destroying weeds.

The behavior of crimson clover has thus far been
somewhat erratic, even in areas where the condi-
tions are looked upon as generally favorable to its
growth. The opinions of practical men differ much
with reference to its value. There have been many
instances of success and failure in the same locality,
and even in the experience of the same individual.
These varied experiences are doubtless due in a con-
siderable degree to a difference in seasons, to want
of acclimation in the seed sown, to a difference in
varieties and to want of knowledge on the part of
the growers, whose work, heretofore, has been
largely tentative. Five different varieties have been
grown, and these have not shown equal degrees of
hardiness. But the rapidly increasing sales of seed
point to the conclusion that larger areas are being
sown every year. The increase referred to may be
expected to grow greater for many years to come;
since, when the needs of the plant are better under-
stood, the failures will be fewer.

Distribution. —Crimson clover is probably indig-
enous to certain parts of Europe, especially to the

242 CLOVERS

countries that lie southwest and south. It has been
grown to a considerable extent in France, Germany
and Italy. The name Egyptian would seem also
to imply that it is grown in Egypt. It is not grown
to any considerable extent north and west in Europe,
owing, probably, to the too severe conditions of cli-
mate which characterize these. It is not indigenous
to America, but was probably introduced from
Europe two or three decades ago. Its late intro-
duction accounts for the fact that its adaptation
in some parts of the United States is as yet con-
troverted.

This plant needs a climate rather mild and decid-
edly moist. It cannot withstand severe freezing
when the ground is bare; hence, its uniformly suc-
cessful growth cannot be relied on very far north
of the Ohio and Potomac rivers. True, in certain
winters of much snowfall it has come through in
good form considerably north of the rivers men-
tioned, but in more instances it has failed. On
the other hand, while it grows best in warm cli-
mates, the growth in these is made chiefly when
the weather is cool, as in the autumn and spring, and
in some instances in the winter. It would be about
correct to say that the climatic adaptation of this
plant is nearly the same as that of the peach. Cli-
mates too cold for fruitage in the latter would be
too cold for the uniformly safe wintering of crim-
son clover. It would also seem correct to state
that on suitable soils and with sufficient precipita-
tion, this clover will do best in the United States
when the climate is too warm for the medium red

CRIMSON CLOVER 243

clover to grow at its best. In the United States,
soil and climatic conditions taken -together, would
probably give Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland,
Virginia and Tennessee highest adaptation for the
growth of this plant. Taking in a wide area, highest
adaptation would lie in the States south of the
Potomac and Ohio rivers and east of the Mississippi.
Washington and Oregon, west to the Cascade Moun-
tains, would probably furnish exceptions, but in
these the necessity for growing crimson clover .s not
likely to be so great as in the area just referred
to, owing to the ease with which other varieties of
clover may be grown. In some parts of New York,
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan many farmers
have succeeded well in growing crimson clover, but
a larger number have failed. The failures have
arisen largely through dry weather in the autumn,
want of plant food in the soil and the severity of
the winter weather. Westward from these States
to the Mississippi, the adaptation is still lower, and
the same is true of the New England States. In
fact, it is so low in these that it is far more likely
that it will fail than that it will succeed. Between
the Mississippi and the Cascade Mountains, crim-
son clover is not likely to be much grown. It will not
grow well in any part of the semi-arid belt. In
the mountain valleys it would probably succeed, but
in these alfalfa and some other varieties of clover
will give far better returns.

Crimson clover will not grow well in any part
of Canada, except in that narrow strip of land be-
tween the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. The

244 CLOVERS

winter climate is too cold for it. Some crops have
been grown successfully in the peach-producing
areas of Ontario contiguous to Lakes Erie and On-
tario, but even in these it is an uncertain crop. The
attempt has been made to grow it in some of the
provinces of Canada, and in several of the States,
by sowing the seed in the spring. Some fairly good
crops have been thus obtained, but usually not so
good as can be grown by sowing certain other vari-
eties of clover at the same season. It is but rea-
sonable to expect, however, that adaptation in grow-
ing crimson clover will widen with the acclimation
of the plant, and with increasing knowledge as to
its needs on the part of those who grow it.

Soils. — Crimson clover though usually grown
for the enrichment of soils will not, as a rule, make
satisfactory growth on soils very low in the ele-
ments of fertility, whatsoever may be their compo-
sition or texture. On orchard lands liberally fer-
tilized, in the Middle Atlantic States, excellent crops
have been obtained, whereas on adjacent soils pre-
cisely similar they have failed. In the Southern
States, however, better results, relatively, will be
obtained from sowing this clover on comparatively
infertile lands, owing to the longer season which it
has for continuous growth. Where the winters are
possessed of considerable severity and when the pro-
tection of snow is more or less wanting, unless the
plants are strong when they enter the winter, they
are almost certain to perish. Loam soils with rea-
sonably porous subsoils are best adapted to its
growth. Of these, sandy loams have a higher adap-

CRIMSON CLOVER 245

tation than clay loams, when equal to the former in
fertility, as in the latter the plants can more quickly
gather the needed food supplies, since the roots and
rootlets can penetrate them more readily. Such soils
are well adapted to the growth of orchards, espe-
cially peach orchards, and it is in such areas that
crimson clover has been grown with highest suc-
cess. In the alfalfa soils of the Rocky Mountain
valleys it should also grow well, but on these it
would be less profitable to grow than alfalfa, because
of the permanency of the alfalfa. Even on sandy
soils a good growth will be obtained when these have
been fertilized and sufficient moisture is present. On
stiff clays the growth is too slow to produce crops
highly satisfactory either North or South, and in
dry weather it is also difficult to obtain a stand of
the plants. The alluvial soils of river bottoms in
the South produce good crops. The vegetable soils
of the prairie do not grow the plants very well, and
the adaptation in slough or swamp soils is even
lower. Good crops will not be obtained on soils un-
derlaid with hardpan which comes up near the sur-
face, whatsoever the nature of the top soil may be,
since the roots cannot penetrate these.

Place in the Rotation. — It cannot be said of
crimson clover, in the ordinary usage of the word,
that it is a rotation plant. It has probably no fixed
place in any regular rotation, and yet it can be used
almost anywhere in the rotation that may be de-
sired, and in any rotation whether long or short, reg-
ular or irregular. As previously intimated, it is usu-
ally grown as a catch crop, and primarily to fertilize

246 CLOVERS

the land; and since its growth is cniefly or entirely
made in the late summer, autumn, winter and early
spring, that is to say, when the land is not other-
wise occupied, the only hindrances to using it any-
where in the rotation are such as arise from the
nature of the weather, the mechanical condition of
the land and the needs of the crops that are to fol-
low. For instance, at the usual season for sowing
it, the weather may be so dry as to preclude the hope
of successful germination in the seed. This influ-
ence may also make it impossible to bring the land
into that mechanical condition which makes a good
seed-bed without undue labor, and ordinarily it would
not be necessary to have crimson clover precede an-
other leguminous crop ; since the latter, under many
conditions, can secure its own supply of nitrogen.
To this there may be some exceptions. There may
be instances, as on light, porous and leechy soils,
when it might be proper to grow crimson clover as
an aid in securing a stand of the medium red variety,
or in growing a crop of peas for the summer market.
Ordinarily, however, this crop is grown to increase
the supply of plant food in the soil for crops which
require nitrogen, and to give soils more or less
porous, increased power to hold moisture and ap-
plied fertilizers. It is probably seldom grown to
improve the mechanical condition of stiff soils,
since on these it grows slowly. Some other plants
can do this more effectively. It is pre-eminently the
catch crop for the orchardist and the market gar-
dener, and yet it may be made the catch crop also
pf the farmer, under certain conditions.

CRIMSON CLOVER 247

Crimson clover may be made to follow any crop,
but it is seldom necessary to have it follow another
leguminous crop which has brought nitrogen to the
soil. Nor is it usually sown after a grass crop which
has brought humus to the land. It is frequently
sown after small cereal grain crops that have been
harvested. It may be made to follow any of these.
Sometimes it is sown in standing corn. But oftener
than anywhere else probably, it is sown in orchards
and on soils from which early potatoes and garden
vegetables have been removed.

It is peculiarly fitted for being grown in orchards.
In these it may be grown from year to year. It
may be thus grown not only to gather nitrogen for
the trees, but to make them more clean than they
would otherwise be when the fruit is being gathered,
to protect the roots of the trees in winter and to aid
in the retention of moisture when plowed under.
But this plant may also, with peculiar fitness, be
made to precede late garden crops. It may be plowed
under sufficiently early to admit of this, and when so
buried it aids in making a fine seed-bed, since. the
roots promote friability in the land. When grown
under what may be termed strictly farm conditions,
it usually precedes a cultivated crop, as potatoes,
corn, or one of the sorghums. It is equally suitable
in fitting the soil for the growth of vine crops, such
as melons, squashes and pumpkins.

But in some localities this crop may be grown so
as to break down the lines of old-time rotations,
since in some instances it may be successfully grown
from year to year for several years without change.

248 CLOVERS

Potatoes and sweet corn, for instance, may be thus
grown.

Preparing the Soil — In preparing the seed-bed
for crimson clover, the aim should be to secure fine-
ness of pulverization near the surface and moistness
in the same. The former is greatly important, be-
cause of the aid which it renders in securing the lat-
ter at a season when moisture is often lacking in
the soil. As it is rather grown on soils deficient
in humus than on those plentifully supplied with
the same, fineness in the seed-bed is not so important
as it is with some classes of prairie soils.

In starting the seed, drought is the chief hin-
drance to be overcome in the North, owing to the
season at which the seed must be sown ; hence, the
aim should be to begin preparing the seed-bed as
long as possible before the sowing of the seed. The
preparation called for will be influenced by the kind
of soil, the crop last grown upon it and also the
weather; hence, the process of preparing the seed-
bed will vary. The judgment must determine
whether the land should be plowed, or disked and
pulverized, or simply harrowed. After potatoes and
other garden crops, harrowing may suffice; after
certain grain crops on soils not too stiff, disking
may suffice; but where much trash is to be buried,
plowing would be necessary, and when the ground is
at all cloddy, the roller should be freely used. In
corn fields the last cultivation will make a suitable
seed-bed, and the same is sometimes true in cotton
fields.

To grow good crops of crimson clover, it is neces-

CRIMSON CLOVER 249

sary that there shall be a considerable amount of
plant food in the soil that is readily available. Farm-
yard manure when it can be spared or secured will
supply the need. But the results will probably be
more satisfactory where the manure has been ap-
plied to the previous crop, as, for instance, to pota-
toes or corn, and for the reason, probably, that in
the relatively dry season at which the seed of this
plant is sown, the residue of the manure still in
the soil is more readily available than freshly ap-
plied manure would be. Good crops have been
grown on land thus manured, when at the same time
seed sown on land under similar conditions and sim-
ilar in other respects failed to give satisfactory
yields.

In a majority of instances farmyard manure can-
not be spared for such a use. When it cannot, if
necessary, commercial fertilizers may be applied.
Those rich in phosphoric acid and potash are usually
most needed, but sometimes nitrogen also is necessary.
When nitrogen is used, it may be best applied on
the growing crop and while it is young. Phosphoric
acid and potash may be fitly applied when the land
is being prepared, and in a way that will incorporate
them with the surface soil. These may be used in
the form of wood ashes, bone meal, Thomas' slag,
Kainit, sulphate or muriate of potash, South Caro-
lina rock and acid phosphate. Acid phosphate and
muriate of potash stand high in favor with some
growers when applied in the proportions of 9 and
i parts and at the rate of, say, 200 pounds more or
less per acre.

250 CLOVERS

Sowing.— The date for sowing crimson clover
would seem to depend more upon latitude than upon
any other influence. North of the Ohio River it
should seldom be sown later than September ist,
lest the growth of the plants should not be strong
enough to endure the winter weather. Nor should
it be sown earlier than July ist, lest the plants
should reach the blooming stage without having
made a sufficient growth, an objection which applies
to sowing earlier than July ist in any part of the
United States. All things considered, August is the
most favorable month for sowing the seed north
of the Ohio and Potomac rivers. In the South, sow-
ing at a later period is preferable. In the latitude
of Tennessee, September would usually prove more
suitable for sowing than an earlier date, and near
the Gulf, October. But it may be sown earlier and
later in these respective latitudes. It is a good time
to sow the seed in much of the South when the
autumn rains begin to come, and the same is true
of the Puget Sound country.

The seed may be sown by hand, by the aid of
hand machines, by some makes of grain drills in
the same way as grain is sown, and by others with a
grass-seeder attachment. When sown by the latter,
the seed should usually be allowed to fall before the
grain tubes to aid in securing a covering for it;
the covering thus provided should be supplemented
by additional harrowing and in some instances roll-
ing. When sown by hand or by hand machines on
soils East and South, the roller should in many in-
stances follow and then the harrow, but on cloddy

CRIMSON CLOVER 25 1

surfaces the harrow should be used first and then
the roller. No method of sowing the seed is more
satisfactory than that which sows it by grain drills,
which can deposit it in the soil as grain is sown, as
it is then buried at an even depth. Sowing to a
medium depth, say, yz to ij^ inches, is preferable
to either extreme.

Whether it is advisable to sow a nurse crop will
depend upon conditions. When the seed is sown
early, in hot weather the young plants are helped
by more or less of shade. Such shade is usually pro-
vided by the other factor or factors of the mixture.
But when shade only is wanted from the nurse crop,
a thin seeding of buckwheat has been found to an-
swer. Melons and tomatoes have in some instances
furnished shade satisfactorily, and in others up-
right growing varieties of cow peas or soy beans.
The less complete the preparation of the seed-bed,
the greater also is the necessity for shade. In or-
chards the shade of the trees is usually ample, and
in some instances excessive. The same is true of
vigorous corn and cotton crops.

Whether this clover should be sown alone or in
mixtures will also depend upon conditions. If the
crop is wanted solely for the enrichment of the
land, it will usually be better to sow it alone, as
crops other than legumes do not bring as much fer-
tility to the land. As a rule, therefore, it should
be sown alone in orchards. It should also, usually,
be sown alone for soiling crops and for hay, but in
some instances for both uses it may be sown with
such crops as winter oats or winter vetches. On

252 CLOVERS

some soils, however, these will too much crowd
the clover plants. On others the reverse will be
true. For seed the crop should, of course, always
be sown alone.

For pasture, crimson clover is sometimes sown
with rape, winter rye, winter oats, the common
vetch or the sand vetch. When sown with rape, the
date of the sowing should be early. With the other
crops named the most suitable date for sowing the
clover will usually prove the most suitable also for
sowing these.

When sown alone, from 10 to 20 pounds of seed
are used per acre. With all the conditions favorable,
12 to 15 pounds should suffice. When sown with
rape for pasture, 3 pounds of rape and 10 of the
clover, or even a less quantity, should be enough.
When sown with winter rye or winter oats, about
i bushel of each and 10 pounds of clover should suf-
fice, and when sown with the common or the sand
vetch, y2 bushel of either and 10 pounds of the
clover should be enough. When sown in the chaff,
from 2 to 3 bushels ought to suffice, but the amount
required will be much affected by the character of
the seed crop.

Pasturing. — Crimson clover may be pastured in
the autumn or in the spring or at both seasons,
either when sown alone, or in conjunction with some
other pasture crops, as winter rye, oats, barley or
vetches. But it is not probable that it will ever
become so popular as some other pasture plants
that grow during the same seasons of the year ; since,
first, when it is grown, it is usually wanted for green

CRIMSON CLOVER 253

manure; second, it does not under some conditions
grow satisfactorily with other crops ; and third, when
grazed down in the autumn the covering thus re-
moved renders the plants much more liable to perish
in the winter. When, however, it is sown early in
the season, as in July, along with Dwarf Essex rape,
or even alone, much grazing may be furnished, even
though the clover should not survive the winter.

It may be grazed by horses, mules, cattle, sheep
or swine, but when grazed with cattle and sheep, it
is probable that some danger from hoven or bloat
will be present, as when grazing other kinds of clo-
ver. ( See page 94. ) This danger, however, will be
lessened, if not entirely removed, when nurse crops
are grown with the clover, except in the case of rape.
The grazing should not begin when the plants are
small, lest the growth should be too much hindered
at a season when growth is critical.

Harvesting for Hay. — Crimson clover is ready
to be cut for hay when coming into, and a little be-
fore it is in, fullest bloom. Some authorities claim
that it should be harvested when the blooms begin
to appear. It should certainly not be allowed to pass
the stage of full bloom, lest the hay when cured
should prove hurtful to horses and possibly to other
live stock, because of the presence of hair balls,
which are then liable to form from the hairs so
numerously found on this plant. These balls pro-
duce death by forming an impermeable wedge in
the intestines of horses, thereby impeding and in
some instances totally arresting the process of di-
gestion. These balls, almost circular in form, are

254 CLOVERS

composed of minute and rather stiff hairs, and sev-
eral have been found in one animal. These hairs,
numerous on the heads, do not stiffen sooner than
the period of full bloom; hence, until that stage is
reached in the growth of the plants, the danger from
feeding cured hay made from them does not occur.

In New Jersey and the neighboring States, crim-
son clover is ready for being cut sometimes in May
earlier or later, as the season is early or late. Fur-
ther South it is fit to harvest earlier. At that sea-
son it is not easily cured, since then rains are more
frequent than in the ordinary harvest season and the
weather is less drying. Consequently, hay caps may
frequently be used with much advantage by the
growers of this hay. ( See page 98. )

It is harvested as other clover; that is, it is cut
with the field mower, raked when wilted, put up
into cocks, and left to stand in these until it has
gone through the sweating process, when the cocks
are opened out again on a bright day for a few
hours prior to drawing them. The tedder should be
used freely in getting the hay ready to rake, as at
that season of the year it dries slowly.

Securing Seed. — Crimson clover does not ripen
quite so quickly after flowering as common red clo-
ver, owing, in part, at least, to the less intense char-
acter of the heat and drying influences at the sea-
son when it matures. Nevertheless, when it is ripe,
unless it is cut with much promptness, the seed will
shed much from the heads, and the heads will break
off much during the curing process. If cut even two
or three days too soon, the seeds will not be large

CRIMSON CLOVER 255

and plump. Moreover, showery or muggy weather
will soon greatly injure the crop. One or two days
of such weather after the crop has been cut will
stain the seed; two or three days of the same will
cause much of the seed to sprout, and three or four
days will practically ruin the crop.

Because of the ease with which the seed sheds off
the heads, it is better to cut the seed crop while it
is a little damp, or at least to refrain from cutting
during the greatest heat of the day. In some in-
stances it is cut with the mower and raked early
or late in the day, put up in small cocks and
threshed from these in four or five days after being
cut. But this method of harvesting, however care-
fully done, is attended with much loss of seed. It
is better to harvest with the self-rake reaper, the
rakes being so adjusted that the hay will be dropped
off in small gavels or sheaves, so small that in two
or three days they may be lifted without being
turned over. Much care should be exercised in lift-
ing the sheaves to avoid shedding in the seed, and
it should be drawn on wagons with tight racks.

While it is not absolutely necessary to thresh the
seed crop at once, the work can usually be done at
that time with less outlay and with less loss of seed.
It is threshed with a huller or with a grain separator
with suitable attachments. Some attention must be
given to the arrangement of the teeth used in the
machine, lest many of the seeds, which are large,
should be split; and as it is not easy to separate the
seeds from the haulms, specially made riddles and
sieves must needs be used.

256 CLOVERS

The seed crop is usually harvested in June north
of the Ohio and Potomac rivers, and southward
from these in the month of May. The yield of
seed runs all the way from 10 bushels per acre
downwards. The average crop is 4 to 5 bushels.

Renewing. — Since crimson clover is an annual,
but little can be done in the sense of renewing it
on the same land without breaking the ground. But
in orchards, it is sometimes grown from year to year
by what may be termed a process of self-seeding.
When the seed is not quite ripe in the heads, or
even somewhat earlier, the orchard is plowed so
as to leave some of the heads standing up along
the line of the furrow. When these have matured,
the land is harrowed, which scatters the seeds in the
chaff, and from these another crop is produced.
But to this plan there is the objection that it allow?,
the clover to draw too heavily on the moisture in the
soil before it is plowed under.

Facts Regarding Crimson Clover. — i. When
crimson clover is sown so early in the season that it
has at least three to four months in which to grow
before winter sets in, the benefits to the land from
sowing the seed will usually more than pay for the
seed and labor, even though it should not survive
the winter.

2. Prominent among the causes of failure where
crimson clover does not succeed are: (a) The seed
fails to germinate because of the want of moisture,
or having germinated the young plants are killed
by heat or drought; (&) they perish in the winter
ifrom exposure to cold winds or frosts, or by alter-

CRIMSON CLOVER 257

nate freezing and thawing in the soil; or (c) the
land is too low in fertility to produce a sufficiently
vigorous growth in the plants.

3. The mechanical effects upon the soil from
growing crimson clover on it are very marked, espe-
cially when it inclines to stiffness, owing to the
strong development of the root growth.

4. When crimson clover has been sown in the
spring, a reasonably good growth is usually ob-
tained before midsummer, even as far north as the
Canadian boundary line, but since hot weather
checks further growth and frequently causes wilt-
ing in the plants, this variety is not equal to some
of the other varieties of clover for being sown at
that season.

5. In the Southern States, crimson clover has
been found to render considerable service by aid-
ing in preventing land from washing in the winter
season.

6. When plowed under in orchards, the work
should be done at an early rather than a late stage
in the growth of the plants, lest it should rob the
trees of their rightful share of the moisture. Be-
cause of this, in some instances, if not in all, the
plants should be buried before the season of full
bloom and sometimes before the blooms begin to
open.

7. The seed is more certain to germinate while
yet enclosed in the chaff scales, and because of this,
where home-grown seed is used, it may be worth
while to secure it in this form by flailing out the
seed or treading it out with horses.

CHAPTER VIII

WHITE CLOVER

White Clover (Trifolium rcpcns} is also called
Dutch, White Dutch, White Trefoil, Creeping Tri-
folium and Honeysuckle clover. The name Dutch
clover has doubtless been applied to it because of
the extent to which it is in evidence in the pastures
and meadows of Holland; the name Creeping Tri-
folium, because of the creeping character of the
stems, which, under favorable conditions, send roots
down into the soil ; and Honeysuckle clover, be-
cause of the honey supplies which it furnishes for
bees. It is one of the plants known as Shamrock, the
national emblem of Ireland.

White clover is perennial, the stems of which
creep along the ground and, as above intimated,
root at the joints; so that from this source plants
are indefinitely multiplied. They also come from the
seed. The leaves are small and very numerous,
and with the exception of the flower stems and
flowers, furnish all the forage obtained. The flowers
are very numerous, especially when showery weather
precedes and accompanies the flowering season.
They are large for the size of the plant, are sup-
ported by a leafless stem of considerable length, and
are white or tinted with a delicate rose color. The

Fig. 7. White Clover (Trifolium repens)
(259) Oregon Experiment Station

260 CLOVERS

roots are numerous and fibrous. They cannot go
down into the soil so deeply as the larger clovers;
hence, the dwarfing effect of dry seasons upon the
growth.

This plant is exceedingly hardy. It comes out
from under the snow with a green tint, and the
leaves are not easily injured by the frosts of autumn.
The growth is not rapid until the general late rains
of spring fall freely. It then pushes on rapidly,
and, sending up innumerable flower stems, turns
the pastures in which it abounds into immense
flower gardens in the months of May and J1ine, ac-
cording to the latitude of the locality. The bloom
remains out for a considerable time, and free graz-
ing has the effect of prolonging the period of bloom.
Under such conditions, blossoms continue to form
and mature seeds during much of the summer.
\Yhen these escape being grazed, they fall down
upon the land and aid in forming additional plants.
Hence it is that when white clover has once pos-
sessed a soil, it so stores the land with seed pos-
sessed of so much vitality that subsequently white
clover plants grow, as it were, spontaneously on
these lands when they have been thus grazed even
for a limited term of years.

The power of this useful plant to travel and
possess the land is only equalled by that of blue
grass. When timber lands are cleared, white clover
plants soon appear, and in a few years will spread
over the whole surface of the land. But the amount
of grazing furnished by it varies greatly with the
character of the season. Some seasons its bloom

WHITE CLOVER 26l

is scarcely in evidence; other seasons it overspreads
the pastures.

While it is an excellent pasture plant for stock,
they do not relish it so highly as some other pas-
ture plants; when forming seed, it is least valuable
for horses, owing to the extent to which it salivates
them. Its diminutive habit of growth unfits it for
making meadows, unless in conjunction with other
hay plants. In nutritive properties, it is placed
ahead of medium red clover. Some growers have
spoken highly of it as a pasture plant for swine.

Being a legume, it has the power of enriching
soils with nitrogen, but probably not to so great
an extent as the larger varieties of clover. Its root-
lets, however, have a beneficent influence on the
texture of soils, because of their number, and be-
cause of the power of the stems to produce fresh
plants, which occupy the soil when other plants die.
The latter furnish a continued source of food to
other grasses, which grow along with white clover
in permanent pastures.

Along with blue grass, white clover plants aid
in choking out weeds. This result follows largely
as the outcome of the close sod formed by the two.
But in some soils, plants of large growth and bushes
and young trees will not thus be crowded out.

Distribution. — White clover is certainly indig-
enous to Europe and to the Northern States, and
probably Western Asia. It grows in every coun-
try in Europe, but with greatest luxuriance in those
countries which border on the North Sea, the cli-
mates of which are very humid, and more especially

262 CLOVERS

in the Netherlands and Great Britain. It stands
in high favor in Holland, but is not regarded so
highly in England, owing, probably, to the great
variety of grasses grown there in permanent pas-
tures. It is generally thought that it was not indig-
enous to the Southern States, but has reached
these from those farther north. It would seem to
be capable of growing in all countries well adapted
to the keeping of cattle ; hence, it follows in the wake
of successful live-stock husbandry.

White clover seems able to adapt itself to a great
variety of climatic conditions. Nevertheless, it is
certainly better adapted to a moderately cool climate
than to one that is hot, and to a moist, humid climate
than to one that is dry. It has much power to live
through dry seasons, but it will not thrive in a cli-
mate in which the rainfall is too little for the suc-
cessful growth of small cereal grains. Where snow
covers it in winter, this clover will grow on timber
soils as far north as any kind of cereal can be made
to mature; and it will also grow as far south as
the Mexican boundary on the higher grounds, when
there is enough moisture present to sustain it.

It would probably be correct to say that this plant
is found in every State in the Union, and that it suc-
ceeds well in nearly all the Northern States, from
sea to sea. Although it grows well in certain parts
of the Southern States, especially in those that lie
northward, the general adaptation in these is not
so high as in those further north. The highest
adaptation in the United States is probably found
in the Puget Sound region and in the hardwood

WHITE CLOVER 263

timber producing areas of the States which lie south
from the Great Lakes and in proximity to them, as
Northeastern Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin,
Michigan, Ohio and New York. But the adapta-
tion is also high in the more elevated of the moun-
tain valleys of the Northwestern States when irri-
gated waters may be led on to these lands. The
areas lowest in adaptation are those that lie within
the semi-arid belt. The low-lying lands of the South,
where hot weather is prolonged in summer, are like-
wise low in their adaptation, but not so low as the
former. The prairie areas of the Northern Missis-
sippi basin have an adaptation for growing white
clover that may be termed intermediate, but where
hardwood forests grow naturally on these the adap-
tation is high. In New England the climatic con-
ditions are very favorable, much more so than the
soil conditions.

In Canada, conditions are found highly favor-
able to the growth of this plant in the country lying
eastward from Lake Huron, north of Lakes Erie and
Ontario and also on both sides of the St. Lawrence
River. Adaptation is also high along the Pacific
and in the mountain valleys not distant from the
Pacific. In all the areas of Canada, which once
produced forests, this plant will grow well. But ,
north from Lakes Huron and Superior, the soil con-
ditions are against it, because of their rocky char-
acter. Certain forest areas west from Lake Supe-
rior, and also in other parts, the sandy soils of which
sustain a growth of Jack Pine (Pinus murrayana)
trees, do not grow white clover with much vigor.

264 CLOVERS

The prairie areas of Canada, westward from Lake
Superior to the mountains, do not grow white clo-
ver with much success, and the adaptation for its
growth would seem to lessen gradually until the
Rocky Mountains are approached.

Soils — Small white clover will grow on almost
any kind of soil, but by no means equally well.
Highest, probably, in adaptation, especially when
climatic conditions are considered along with those
of soil, are the clay loams west of the Cascade
Mountains and northward from California to
Alaska. During the moist months of early sum-
mer, this plant turns the pastures in these areas into
a flower garden. Almost equally high in adapta-
tion are the volcanic ash soils of the Rocky Moun-
tain valleys. When amply supplied with water, the
finest crops of white clover can be grown even supe-
rior to those grown on the lands described above.
Almost the same may be said of what are termed
the hardwood timber soils, which are usually made
up of clay loam lying upon clay. Such areas abound
in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario and
some States further south. In these soils it grows
with much luxuriance, more especially when lime
and potash are abundant. Similar luxuriance may
be looked for in the deposit soils of river basins in
which the clay element predominates, but not in
those that are largely made up of sand. It will also
grow well on the stiffest clays, whether white or
red, when moisture is present. On prairie soils, the
success attending it is dependent largely on their
texture, composition and the moisture which they

WHITE CLOVER 265

contain under normal conditions. The more firm
these soils are, the better will the clover grow in
them, and vice versa. This is equivalent to say-
ing- that the more clay they contain, the better will
the white clover grow in them.

Where the humus soils of the prairies are deep
and are underlaid with clay, white clover will grow
much better in the subsoil, if laid bare, than in
the surface soil. Prairie soils which lift with the
wind are ill adapted to the growth of this plant,
whatsoever may be their composition. Much of the
soil in the semi-arid belt would grow this plant in
fine form, but want of moisture, where irrigation
is absent makes its growth prohibitory in a large
portion of this area. On ordinary slough soils, this
clover finds a congenial home, but it will not grow
quite so well, relatively, in these as alsike clover. On
sandy soils, such as those on which Jack pine and
Norway pine (Pinus resinosa) grow, this plant will
maintain itself, and in wet seasons will make con-
siderable showing on these ; but in very dry seasons
the plants will die, the growth the following season
coming from seeds already in the soil. In the soils of
the extreme South, the inability of white clover to
make a good showing is probably more the result of
summer heat than of want of power in the plants to
gather food. In those of the Southwest, want of
moisture and excessive heat render its growth, in a
sense, prohibitory.

Place in the Rotation. — Since white clover is
usually not sown for meadow, but is rather sown
for pasture, it can scarcely be called a rotation plant

266 CLOVERS

in the strict sense of the term; and yet, because of
the extent to which it grows when it has once ob-
tained a footing in soils, it is more or less fre-
quent in all rotations in which grass or clover is
one of the factors. As it usually comes into the
grass pastures, when these have become established,
it will occupy about the same place as blue grass
in rotations; that is to say, whatever would be
proper to sow after the blue grass would be proper
to sow after this plant; since the two usually unite
in making the same sod. It will, therefore, be in
order to follow this plant with corn to feed upon
the nitrogen furnished by the clover. The same
will be true of any small cereal that has special
adaptation for being grown on overturned sod, as
for instance, flax or oats, or of any crop that revels
in the decay of vegetable matter, more especially in
the early stages of such decay, as, for instance, pota-
toes and rape. When white clover is sown on land
that is cultivated, though only sown as a factor
in a pasture crop, as with all other clovers it may
best be sown on land that is clean ; that is, on land
on which the preceding crop has been cultivated to
the extent of securing a clean surface on the same.
If, however, this crop must needs be sown on land
that has not been thus cleaned, its great inherent
hardihood will enable it to establish itself where
some clovers and grasses would fail.

It is common to sow white clover on land from
which the forest has recently been removed, also
on natural prairie, where it has not previously
grown. In these instances it simply follows the

WHITE CLOVER 267

crop of forest in the one case and of native prairie
in the other. But it will not take possession of the
land in either case to the exclusion of other grasses.

Preparing the Soil.— The preparation of the
soil for growing this plant is much the same as for
growing other plants of the clover or grass family.
Fineness, firmness, cleanness and moistness are the
chief essentials to be looked for in making the seed-
bed. For the same reason that it has much power
to grow among weeds for so small a plant, it has
also much power to grow on surfaces not in the best
condition of preparation for receiving so small a
seed. But when sown to provide a seed crop, it is
specially necessary to make the land thoroughly
clean before sowing the seed. This is necessary for
the reason, first, that small white clover, because
of its tardiness in growing in the spring, and be-
cause of its comparatively small growth has not
much power to crowd weeds; and second, because
of the labor involved in preventing weed seeds from
maturing in a crop that ripens its seeds somewhat
late in the season. While it is advantageous to
burn off the grass from a natural meadow where
white clover is to be sown, it is not so essential,
nevertheless, as when preparing such land for being
sown with some other varieties of grass or clover.
The young plants will endure under conditions which
would cause those of many other varieties to fail.

Sowing. — White clover is sown by much the
same methods as the medium red variety. (See
page 75.) But it will stand more hardship than the
other variety; hence, it may be sown earlier. This

268 CLOVERS

means that it may be sown in northerly latitudes any
time, from the melting of the winter snows until
early summer, and in southern latitudes almost any
season, except during the hot summer months. In
either latitude, however, the early spring is usually
the most suitable season for sowing.

The seed may be sown by hand, by hand
machines, or by the seeder attachment of grain drills.
It is more commonly sown along with other clovers
and grasses, and the methods of sowing these will
also be suitable for the sowing of white clover. ( See
page 1 8.) But when the seed is sown alone, as for
producing seed crops, the nurse crop need not of
necessity be sown thinly, from the fear that the young
plants should be smothered by an undue density of
shade.

There is no mixture of clovers and grasses grown
for pasture to which this plant may not be added
with profit, providing the seed is not already in the
land in sufficient supply. But it is seldom sown with
either clovers or grasses, or with these combined,
for the production of hay. It is the judgment of
the author, however, that in localities which have
special adaptation for the growth of this plant, it
should render excellent service in providing hay
for sheep, if sown along with alsike clover, and a
little timothy; the latter being sown mainly to sup-
port the clovers so that they will not lodge. The
white clover would furnish hay considerably finer
even than the alsike; hence, such hay should be
peculiarly adapted to the needs of sheep. Some
authorities object to the presence of white clover in

WHITE CLOVER 269

hay intended for horses or cattle, lest it should in-
duce in them more or less salivation. The author
leans to the opinion that in cured hay injury from
the source named will in no instance prove serious,
owing to the small amount, relatively, of white clo-
ver in average hay crops.

The amount of seed to sow will vary with such
conditions as soil, climate and the nature of the pas-
ture, but in any event it need not be large. The seeds
of white clover are small, considerably smaller than
those of alsike. For ordinary grazing along with
other grasses, or grasses and clovers, it will seldom
be necessary to sow more than i pound of seed per
acre. Sometimes a less quantity will suffice, as
when there is more or less of seed in the land, and,
as already intimated, because of the store of seed in
the land in many instances, it is not necessary to sow
it at all. Especially is this true of sections which
have been tilled for some time. When sown with
alsike clover to provide hay, 2 pounds of seed per
acre would be a maximum amount, and 4 pounds
when sown alone to provide seed.

When sown in newly cleared forest lands or on
prairie sod, the methods to be followed will depend
upon circumstances. More commonly when thus
sown the seed is not covered artificially; conse-
quently, much of it in dry seasons may not grow.
The plan, therefore, of sowing small amounts of
the seed on such lands two years in succession
would be safer than to sow twice the amount of the
same in one year. In time this clover would find
its way into such areas. It comes through such

270 CLOVERS

agencies as birds, hay fed to teams engaged in lum-
bering, and the overflow of streams ; and as soon as
it gets a foothold its distribution is further acceler-
ated by the droppings of cattle which contain the
seeds, and by the winds.

The power of this plant to increase is simply won-
derful. This is owing to: i. The relatively large
number of seedheads produced from the plants.
2. The power which these have to multiply by means
of rootlets from the incumbent stems, which fasten
into the soil. 3. The prolonged season during which
the heads form. 4. The habit of growth in many of
the heads, because of which they are not grazed
off. 5. The strong vitality of the seed. And 6. The
great hardihood of the plants.

Pasturing. — White clover ranks next to blue
grass as a pasture plant within the area of its adap-
tation (see page 261), when its productiveness, con-
tinuity in growth, ability to remain in the land,
palatability and nutritive properties are considered
together. In palatability it ranks as medium only.
In the early part of the season while it is still tender
and juicy, it will be eaten by stock with avidity,
but as the seed-maturing season is approached, it
is not so highly relished. In nutrition it ranks
higher than medium red clover. It does not make
much of a showing in the early part of the season,
but in favorable seasons, about the time that blue
grass begins to fail, it grows rapidly and furnishes
much pasture.

It is pre-eminently the complement of a blue-grass
pasture. When these grow together, the two will

WHITE CLOVER 2/1

furnish grazing in a moist year through all the sea-
son of grazing. Both have the property of retain-
ing their hold indefinitely in many soils and of
soon making a sward on the same without being
re-sown, when the cultivation of the ground ceases.
The blue grass grows quickly quite early and late
in the season, and the clover grows likewise during
much of the summer. As the older plants of the
clover fail, fresh ones appear, and the blue grass
feeds on the former in their decay. They thus
furnish humus and nitrogen for the sustenance of
the blue grass.

But much moisture is necessary in order to insure
good blue grass pastures, and they are more luxuri-
ant when the moisture comes early in the season,
rather than when the plants are nearing the season
of bloom. To such an extent is white clover influ-
enced in growth by such weather, that in some sea-
sons it will abound in certain pastures, while in
others it will scarcely appear in the same. Those
favorable seasons are frequently spoken of as being
"white-clover years."

While this plant furnishes good grazing for all
kinds of domestic animals kept upon the farm, as
a pasture for horses and mules, there is the objec-
tion to it that it will in a considerable degree so
salivate them that much "slobbering" follows. This
is sometimes produced to such an extent as to be
seriously harmful. The trouble from this cause in-
creases as the seed-forming season is approached.
It has been known thus to salivate cattle, but the
danger of injury to them from this source is slight.

272 CLOVERS

These injurious results to horses will be obviated in
proportion as the other grasses are allowed to grow
up amid the clover; in other words, in proportion
as the pasture is not grazed closely early in the sea-
son. The animals which then graze on these pas-
tures must take other food with the clover.

Harvesting for Hay. — Since white clover is
seldom grown alone for hay, and since it seldom
forms the most bulky factor in a hay crop, the
methods of harvesting will be similar to those prac-
ticed in harvesting the more bulky factor or factors
of the crop. The want of bulk in this clover is
against it as a hay crop, owing to the smallness
of the yields, compared with the other hay crops
that may be usually grown on the same land. As
a factor of a hay crop, however, this little plant will
add much to its weight and also to its palatability,
especially for sheep and dairy cows.

When it is grown for hay in mixtures in which
the large clovers or timothy predominates, the white
clover should, of course, be cut at the most suitable
season for cutting these clovers or the timothy, as
one is present in excess. When the larger clovers
predominate, the method of curing will be the same
as for curing these (see page 234), that is to say, it
can best be cured in cocks. When timothy predom-
inates, the method of curing will be the same as for
timothy; that is to say, it may be cured in the cock
or in the winrow, according to circumstances. Ow-
ing to the fineness of the stems, it may be cured
more quickly than red clover; hence, its presence in
a crop of timothy will not delay much the curing

WHITE CLOVER 2/3

of the latter unless when present in great abun-
dance.

Under some conditions it would be easily possi-
ble to grow white clover for hay alone, and in some
instances with profit, more especially in providing
what would be a matchless fodder for young lambs
and young calves. It might be so grown in the clo-
ver lands that lie immediately southward from Lakes
Superior and Huron, in the northern Rocky Moun-
tain valleys and on the valley lands around Puget
Sound. On these lands in a favorable season, it
would be quite possible to cut not less than 2 tons
per acre, while on average land white clover alone
would not yield more, probably, than ^ ton per
acre. But even when grown for the purpose named,
some alsike clover sown along with the white clover
would add to the yield of hay, and without in any
considerable degree lessening its value for the use
named.

Securing Seed. — White clover is a great seed-
producing plant. The season for bloom covers a
period relatively long, and the nurnber of blossoms
produced under favorable conditions on a given area
is very large. But when seed crops are to be pro-
duced with regularity, it is necessary that moisture
can be depended upon in sufficient supply in the
spring months to produce a vigorous growth in the
plants. Such a climate is found in the Puget Sound
country and in a less degree for some distance south
from Lakes Huron and Superior. In areas which
can be irrigated, it is not imperative that the cli-
mate shall be thus moist. Such areas, therefore,

2/4 CLOVERS

may be looked upon as possessed of superior adapta-
tion for the growth of seed crops of white clover.

The areas are limited, however, in which seed
crops are grown in the United States; so limited
are they that it has been found very difficult to
locate them. Wood County in Central Wisconsin
grows a considerable quantity, and some counties
northward in the same State, and probably also
some parts of Northern Michigan, will grow seed
equally well.

Where a seed crop is grown every care should
be exercised to have it free from foul weeds. The
aim should be to grow it on clean land. Sometimes,
however, the seed is self-sown ; that is, it comes into
the land without being sown, but even in such areas
it is safer to sow 3 pounds of seed per acre in the
early spring along with a nurse crop. The best
seed crops in Wisconsin and Michigan are grown
on a reasonably stiff clay soil. To get a full crop of
seed, it should be pastured for a time in the spring,
or the crop should be run over with the mower about
June ist, setting the mower bar so as to cut 3 or
4 inches high. No harm will follow if some of the
tops of the clover should be cut off. The grass
and weeds thus cut are usually left on the ground,
but sometimes it may be necessary to remove them.
In a short time the field should be one mass of
bloom.

The crop is ready for being harvested when the
bulk of the heads have turned a dark brown and
when the bulk of them have assumed a reddish
brown tint, notwithstanding that some of the later

WHITE CLOVER 2/5

heads may still be in full flower. Vigorous crops
may be cut with the self-rake reaper set to cut
low, otherwise many of the heads will not be gath-
ered. To facilitate this process, the ground should
be made quite smooth even before sowing the seed.
But the seed crop is more commonly cut with the
field mower, to the cutter bar of which a galvanized
platform is bolted, the sides of which are about

6 inches high. From this the clover is raked off
into bunches with a rake. These bunches should not
be large, and since nearly all the heads in them
will point upward, they should not be turned over
if rained on, but simply lifted up with a suitable
fork and moved on to other ground.

The seed crop cures quickly. It may be drawn
and threshed at once, or it may be stacked and
threshed when convenient. If stacked, a goodly
supply of old hay or straw should be put next the
ground, and much care should be taken to protect
the clover by finishing off the stack carefully with
some kind of grass or hay that will shed the rain
easily. Since the heads are very small and numer-
ous, and since, as with all clovers, they break off
easily when ripe, much promptness and care should
be exercised in harvesting the seed crop. The best
machine for threshing a seed so small is the clover
huller.

The yields of seed will run all the way from less
than 3 bushels per acre to 5 bushels, and some crops
have been harvested in Wisconsin which gave

7 bushels per acre. Four bushels would probably
be about an average yield. As the price is usually

2/6 CLOVERS

relatively high compared with other clovers, the
seed from white clover would be quite remunerative
were it not that in a dry season the yield is dis-
appointing. In some instances two crops are
grown in succession; in others, one crop is reaped.
The land is then sown to barley the next year, and
the following year clover seed may be reaped again
without sowing a second time. Usually, after two
successive crops of seed have been cut, blue grass
crowds the clover.

It should be possible to grow prodigious crops
of white clover in certain of the northern Rocky
Mountain valleys, as, for instance, in Montana and
Washington, where the conditions for the applica-
tion of water to grow the plants and of withhold-
ing the same when ripening the seed are completely
under the control of the husbandman. The soils in
these valleys, as previously intimated, have high
adaptation for growing white clover.

Renewing. — White clover is probably more
easily renewed than any plant of the clover family.
In fact, it seldom requires renewal in a pasture in
which it has obtained a footing as long as it remains
a pasture. This arises from the abundance of the
seed production and from the power of the same
to retain germinating properties for a long period.
Nevertheless, there may be instances when it may
be wise to scatter more seed in the early spring in
a pasture in which white clover may not be suffi-
ciently abundant. It is also renewed, in a sense,
when suitable fertilizer is applied on the pastures.
A dressing of potash will greatly stimulate the

WHITE CLOVER 277

growth of any kind of clover on nearly all soils;
hence, the marked increase in the growth of the
clover that usually follows the application of a dress-
ing of wood ashes, especially in the unleached form.
Top-dressings of farmyard manure are also quite
helpful to such growth.

The conclusion must not be reached that because
white clover is not much in evidence in a permanent
pasture for one or two, or even three dry seasons,
if these should follow each other, that it will not
come again and with great vigor and in much abun-
dance when a wet season arrives again.

For Lawns — No other plant of the clover fam-
ily is so frequently sown when making lawns. For
such a use it is not sown alone, but is always the
complement of Kentucky blue grass or of a mixture
of grasses. No two plants can be singled out that
are more suitable for lawn making than white clo-
ver and Kentucky blue grass. Both are fine in their
habit of growth. The two in conjunction usually
make a more dense sward than either alone, and
the clover will grow and produce many flowers, if
not kept clipped too closely when the blue grass is
resting in midsummer.

As lawns are usually small, and a dense sward is
desired as quickly as it can be obtained, the seed
should be sown thickly on lawns, at the rate of not
less than 5 pounds of seed to the acre. The early
spring is the best time for sowing the seed, but in
mild climates it may be sown at almost any season
that may be convenient, providing the ground is
moist enough to germinate the seed. In cold cli-

278 CLOVERS

mates, the seed should be sown not later than
August, unless when sown too late for autumn ger-
mination. This in some instances may not only
be proper, but commendable.

As a Honey Plant White clover is prover-
bial for its ability to furnish honey. There is prob-
ably no single plant which furnishes more or better
honey. But its value for such a use varies greatly
in different years. In seasons that are quite dry in
the spring, it makes but little growth and produces
but few blossoms ; hence, in such seasons bees can
obtain but little honey, relatively, from such a
source. It would doubtless be good policy, there-
fore, for the growers to encourage the sowing of
alsike clover where bees are much kept, since the
growth of this clover is less hindered by dry
weather at the season named. Less close pasturing
than is commonly practiced would favorably influ-
ence the production of honey from white clover, and
would also result in considerably greater yields of
pasture.

CHAPTER IX

JAPAN CLOVER

Japan Clover (Lespedcza striata} was introduced
from China or Japan, or from both countries, into
South Carolina in 1849, under the name Japan clo-
ver. It is thought the seed came in connection with
the tea trade with these countries. According to
Phares, the generic term Lespedcza, borne by the
one-seeded pods of the plants of this family, was
assigned to them in honor of Lespedez, a governor
of Florida under Spanish rule. It is sometimes
called Bush clover, from the bush-shaped habit of
growth in the plants when grown on good soils, but
is to be carefully distinguished from the Bush clo-
vers proper, which are of little value as food plants.

Japan clover is an annual, but owing to its re-
markable power to retain its hold upon the soil,
through the shedding of the seed and the growing
of the same, it has equal ability with many peren-
nials to retain its hold upon the soil. It does not
start until late in the spring, nor can it endure much
frost; but its ability to grow in and retain its hold
upon poor soils is remarkable, while its powers of
self -propagation in the South would seem to be
nearly equal to those of small white clover (Trifo-
lum repens} in the North. It is, therefore, one of
the hardiest plants of the clover family. Where it

SO CLOVERS

has once obtained a foothold, in some soils, at least,
it has been known to crowd out Bermuda grass and
even broom sage.

The form of the plants is much affected by the
character of the soil in which they grow. On poor
soils, the habit of growth is low and spreading;
on good soils, it is more upright. But it is always
more or less branched, and the stems are relatively
stiffer than those of other clovers. They rise but a
few inches above the ground in poor soils, not more
than 2 to 4; but in good rich soils it will attain to
the height of 2 feet. About i foot may be named
as the average height. The leaves are trifoliate.
The flower produced in the axils of the leaves are
numerous, but quite small. They appear from July
onward, according to locality, but are probably more
numerous in September, and vary from a pink to a
rose-colored or purplish tint. The seed pods are
small, flattish oval in shape and contain but one seed.
The tap roots are strong in proportion to the size
of the plant and are relatively deep feeding; hence,
the ability of the plant to survive severe drought.
The roots have much power to penetrate stiff sub-
soils.

Japan clover is not usually relished by stock at
first, but they soon come to like it, and are then fond
of it. Close grazing does not readily injure it; it
also furnishes a good quality of hay, but except on
reasonably good soils, the yields of the hay are not
very large. The chemical analysis compares well
with that of red clover.

Japan clover is also an excellent soil renovator.

Fig. 8. Japan Clover (Lespedeza sMata)

Tennessee Experiment Station

282 CLOVERS

In the Southern States, it is credited with the reno-
vation of soils so poor that the return was not worth
the labor of tillage. Throughout much of the
South, it has rendered much service in thus improv-
ing soils. It also grows so thickly on many soils
as to lessen and, in many instances, entirely prevent
washing, that great bane of Southern soils. It will
even grow and produce some pasture under the
shade of grass or Southern pines.

Distribution. — Japan clover is said to be native
to China and other countries in Eastern Asia. When
introduced into Japan, the soil and climatic condi-
tions proved so favorable that before long it spread
out over the whole island. Since its introduction
into the United States it has spread very rapidly.

Since it does not grow early in the season, it needs
a warm climate. It grows much better in moist
weather than in a time of drought, but it will also
continue to grow in the absence of rain until the
drought becomes excessive. It will then wilt down
on poor soils, but grows again as soon as rain falls.

Since the introduction of Japan clover into the
United States in 1849, or» as some think, somewhat
earlier, it has spread over the entire South, from
the Ohio River to the Gulf, from the Atlantic to
the Mississippi, and also to the States of Arkansas,
Louisiana and Texas beyond the Mississippi. It
was early introduced into Georgia, and came into
much favor there. It reached Tennessee in 1870,
and soon spread over many counties. It came later
into Louisiana, but soon became very popular there,
largely through the efforts of Colonel J. Burgess

JAPAN CLOVER 283

McGhee of West Feliciana, who gave much atten-
tion to cultivating it and placing it before the public.
While it will grow readily in any part of the South,
it renders better service in the Gulf Spates than in
those farther north, owing to the longer season for
growth. North of the Ohio River it is not likely
to be cultivated, since in the Northern States it is
not needed, because of the abundance of the red
clovers and also the small white. It is a less abun-
dant producer than the red clovers, and is also less
palatable. Moreover, the season for growing it is
much shorter in these States than in those south;
a fact which greatly lessens its .adaptation to* north-
ern conditions.

Japan clover has no mission for any of the prov-
inces of Canada, and for the reason that it has no
mission for the Northern States.

Soils. — Japan clover is adapted to a wide range
of soils. There would seem to be a concensus of
opinion in the Southern States that it will grow on
almost any kind of soil. It has grown well on hard,
stiff clays, both white and red; on sandy levels; on
gravelly undulations and slopes; on the banks and
in the bottom of gullies ; on soils too poor to produce
other crops, as on denuded hills and also in groves.
But it will grow much better, of course, on good,
rich land, as on moist loams and rich alluvial soils.
While it prefers moist situations, it is not well
adapted to saturated lands. There is no useful
pasture plant in the South that would seem so well
able to fight its own battle unaided on poor soils
as Japan clover, nor is there any which has brought

284 CLOVERS

so much of renovation to these for the labor in-
volved.

Place in the Rotation. — Japan clover can scarcely
be classed as a rotation plant in the strict sense of
the term, since it more frequently comes into the
fields, as it were, spontaneously, and owing to the
uncommon degree to which it has the power of re-
seeding itself, it is frequently grown and grazed for
successive years on the land upon which it has been
allowed thus to grow. Nevertheless, since it is a
nitrogen gatherer, when it has fertilized the land
sufficiently by bringing to it a supply of nitrogen
and by putting humus into it, crops should follow
such as require much of growth to grow them in
best form. Such are cotton, corn and the small
cereal grains. Owing to its power to grow on worn
and even on abandoned soils, and to crowd weeds
that grow on them, on such soils it comes in be-
tween the cessation of cultivation and the resump-
tion of the same. It frequently grows as a volun-
teer crop along with Johnson grass, and where it
comes, it tends to crowd grasses of but little value,
as brown sage.

Where pasture is desired winter and summer, it
should be quite possible in some localities to obtain
it by sowing such crops annually, as winter oats and
sand vetches (Vicia villosa) every autumn, and the
seed of Japan clover on the same. The crops first
named would provide winter and spring grazing,
and the clover, summer and autumn grazing. The
clovers and the vetches would both aid in fertiliz-
ing the land.

JAPAN CLOVER 285

Preparing the Soil. — While careful preparation
of the land will result in more certain and uniform
germination in the seed, and more rapid growth in
the plants, careful preparation of the seed is not so
necessary with Japan clover as with many other
pasture and hay plants. The seeds are strong in
germinating power and the plants are much able to
grow, even under adverse conditions, when they do
germinate. Usually, the preparation which is suited
to nurse crops, amid which this clover is sown, will
be suited also to the clover when it is sown thus.

In many instances, however, it is allowed to re-
seed itself where it has been once sown, or even
where it may have come into the soil without sow-
ing. In this way successive pasture crops have been
obtained. But usually where hay crops are wanted,
it will prove more satisfactory, .all things considered,
to sow the seed.

In many instances, simply scarifying the ground
has been found a sufficient preparation for the seed.
Any implement that will pulverize the surface for
a few inches downward will answer for such work.
In very many instances, seed, of course, self-sown
has become rooted and grown vigorously on un-
plowed land.

Sowing. — Japan clover is more commonly sown
in the spring, but it is sometimes sown in the au-
tumn. There is more or less of hazard in sowing it
in the autumn north of the Gulf States, since when
the plants are young they will not stand much frost.
For the same reason, there is the element of hazard
in sowing it too early in the spring. Spring sowing

286 CLOVERS

stands highest in favor, taking the whole area into
account, in which the clover is grown. While it is
possible to sow the seed too early in the spring, it
will be readily apparent that the earlier it may be
sown without hazard to the young plants, the better
will be the returns, because of the growth secured
before the advent of dry weather.

The seed may be sown by any of the methods
adopted when sowing medium red clover. (See
page 78.) The method which is most labor-saving,
however, when sown with a nurse crop, is that
which sows it with an attachment to the grain drill
used in sowing the nurse crop. If allowed to fall
in front of the drill tubes, it will not usually need
any other covering than that furnished by the drill
tubes followed by the roller.

It may be sown with any of the small cereals,
whether these are grown for pasture, for hay, or
for grain. When these are fall sown and the clover
seed is not sown until the spring, it will be well
worth while, when the weather and soil will admit of
it, to cover the seed with the harrow. It may also
be advisable to sow the seed in pastures, as, for
instance, along with orchard grass, or with tall oat
grass, as it would tend to fill the vacancies in the
land.

When sown alone, 10 pounds of seed per acre
will usually suffice. But where there is much seed
in the land that has been self-sown, a less quantity
will suffice. Where hay crops are wanted from
year to year on the same land, it may be obtained
by simply disking the land and re-sowing. If the

JAPAN CLOVER 287

hay is allowed to approach maturity before being
cut, sufficient seed will fall to re-sow the land for
the next year's crop, but the quality of hay so ripe is
not so good as if cut earlier. In pastures, the graz-
ing must not be too close when self-seeding is
wanted.

Pasturing. — Japan clover is much used in pro-
viding grazing in the South. Some writers have
spoken of it as being the most valuable grazing
plant that grows in the South. Viewed from the
standpoint of productiveness, this would be assign-
ing it too high a place, since Bermuda grass pro-
duces more grazing, but taking productiveness and
the probable influence exerted on soil fertility to-
gether, the estimate may be correct. The ease with
which Japan clover may be propagated is also a
strong point in its favor.

Since it starts late in the spring, it only provides
grazing during the summer and autumn months,
from May, June or July onward, according to the
locality, and it fails with the appearance of the first
heavy frosts. In moist situations, it will furnish
grazing during all the summer and autumn, if not
allowed to seed, but in time of drought,it may wither
on dry, thin soils and come on again when the rains
of autumn begin to fall. In order to keep the graz-
ing tender and palatable, it should be reasonably
close. If allowed to mature much seed before graz-
ing begins, the plants will then die, to the great in-
jury of the grazing.

That stock do not take kindly to it at first, as
they do to alfalfa and some other plants, cannot be

288 CLOVERS

doubted. But they can soon learn to relish it. It
has been praised both for milk and meat produc-
tion; hence, the aim should be to have it in all
permanent pastures. In some of these it may be
necessary to sow a few pounds of seed per acre at
the first. If the grazing is not too close, the plants
thereafter will sufficiently re-seed the land. It has
been found quite possible in short rotations to se-
cure pasture from Japan clover without sowing it
on land on which it has once grown. But to accom-
plish this effectively, the grazing must not be so
close as to preclude a self-seeding. By growing such
plants for winter and spring grazing, as turf oats
and sand vetches, and then grazing the Japan clo-
ver, which will grow later on lands thus managed,
grazing may be furnished indefinitely from year to
year.

Harvesting for Hay — Japan clover is a good
hay plant when grown on strong soils. The quality
is good also when grown under adverse conditions,
but the quantity is deficient. On good soils, the
yield is from I to 2 tons per acre, the average being
about i}4 to i J/2 tons. The hay is also quite mer-
chantable in Southern markets. It is considered
superior to baled timothy — timothy brought in from
the North — especially when fed to cows producing
milk. Japan clover is best cut when the plants are
in full bloom. But harvesting is frequently deferred
to a period somewhat later where self-seeding of the
land is desirable. Late cutting, however, lowers the
quality of the hay, both as regards palatability and
digestibility. Much that has been said as to the

JAPAN CLOVER 289

curing of medium red clover will also apply to
Japan clover.

Successive crops of hay may be grown from year
to year on the same land, as already intimated. ( See
page 285.) But where other crops are wanted on
the same farm, it would be wiser to grow these in
some sort of alternation or succession with the clo-
ver crops, so that the former could feed upon the
nitrogen brought to the land by the clover.

Securing Seed. — Japan clover is ready for be-
ing harvested when the major portion of the seeds
are ripe. This is late in the season. The seed crop
is more easily gathered when grown on good land,
owing to the more upright habit of growth. The
self-rake reaper is probably the best implement for
cutting, since it lays it off in loose sheaves, and on
well-prepared land it may be made to cut so low as
to gather the bulk of the seed. But it may also
be cut with the field mower as small white clover is
frequently cut. ( See page 275. ) Owing to the late-
ness of the season at which the seed matures,
careful and prompt attention may be necessary to
secure the seed crop without loss, owing to the
moistness which characterizes the weather at that
season.

When Japan clover is to be harvested for seed,
care should be taken to prevent weeds from ripening
their seeds in the same. With a view to prevent this,
it will be found helpful in many instances to run
the mower over the field some time after the clover
has begun to grow freely in the late spring- or early
summer. Such clipping will also have the effect of

290 CLOVERS

securing more uniformity in the ripening of the
seed.

The seed may be threshed in much the same way
as other clover seed. (See page 107.) The yields
per acre should run from 3 to 8 bushels. It weighs
20 pounds per bushel.

Renewing — Since Japan clover is an annual, it
is not necessary to renew it, in the sense in which
more long-lived clovers are renewed, as, for in-
stance, the alsike variety. (See page 216.) About
the only renewal practicable is that which insures
successive crops of pasture, hay or seed from the
same land where the crop has once been grown.
(See page 285.) But the growth may, of course, be
stimulated by the application of dressings of fer-
tilizer, such as gypsum, or those that may be termed
potassic in character.

CHAPTER X

BURR CLOVER

Burr Clover (Medicago maculata) is sometimes
called Spotted Medick and sometimes California clo-
ver, also Yellow clover The name burr clover has
doubtless arisen from the closely coiled seed pod,
which, being covered with curved prickles, adhere to
wool more or less as burrs do. The name Spotted
Medick has been given because of the dark spot
found in the middle of the leaflets, in conjunction
with the family of plants to which it belongs. The
name California clover is given because of the
claim that it was much grown in California after
having been introduced there from Chili, and the
name yellow clover, from the color of the blossoms.
After its introduction into the United States, seeds-
men sell California and Southern burr clover as two
varieties, but the correctness of the distinction thus
made has been questioned. Many persons were
wont to confuse it with alfalfa, or, as it is frequently
called, lucerne, but the latter is much more upright
in its habit of growth, grows to a greater height, has
more blossoms, blue in color, and seed pods more
loosely coiled. It is also to be distinguished from
a variety (Medicago denticulata} which "bears much
resemblance to it, and which, growing wild over
portions of the plains and foothills of the West,
affords considerable pasture.

2Q2 CLOVERS

Burr clover may properly be termed a winter an-
nual, since the seed comes up in the autumn, fur-
nishes grazing in the winter and spring, and dies
with the advent of summer. It is procumbent or
spreading and branched. On good soil some of the
plants radiate to the distance of several feet from
the parent root. They have been known to overlap,
and thus accumulate until the ground was covered
2 feet deep with this clover, thus making it very
difficult to plow them under. It is only under the
most favorable conditions, however, that the plants
produce such a mass of foliage. The leaves are
composed of three somewhat large leaflets. The
flowers, as previously intimated, are yellow, and
there are but two or three in each cluster, but the
clusters are numerous; hence, also the pods are
numerous. They are about l/4 of an inch broad,
and when mature are possessed of considerable food
value.

Burr clover grows chiefly during the winter, and
is at its best for pasture during the months of
March and April, and in the Gulf States dies down
after having produced seed in May. Though it is
frequently sown, it has the power of self-propaga-
tion to a marked degree, which makes it possible to
grow many crops in succession without re-seeding
by hand.

It is not considered a good hay plant, but its
value for pasture is considerable, although, as a rule,
animals do not take kindly to it at first, as they do
to alfalfa or medium red clover, but later they be-
come fond of it, but less so, probably, in the case

BURR CLOVER 293

of horses than of other animals. Being a legume,
it is helpful in enriching the land, and being a free
grower, it improves the soil mechanically through
its root growth, and also through the stems and
leaves, when these are plowed under.

Distribution. — Burr clover is said to be native
to Europe and North Africa, but not to North
America, although it has shown high adaptation in
adapting itself to conditions as found in the latter.

Although this plant is hardy in the South, and,
as previously stated, makes most of its growth in
the winter, it is not sufficiently hardy to endure the
winters far northward. Its highest adaptation is
found in States around the Gulf of Mexico. It also
grows with more or less vigor as far north
as North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas. For
these States its adaptation is, on the whole, higher
than crimson clover, although where the latter will
grow readily it is considered the valuable plant of
the two.

For Canada, burr clover has no mission, owing
to the sternness of the winter climate in that coun-
try.

Soils. — While burr clover will grow with more
or less success on almost any kind of soil possessed
of a reasonable amount of fertility and moisture, it
is much better adapted to soils alluvial in character
and moist, as, for instance, the deposit soils in the
bottom of rivers. Its power to fight the battle of
existence on poor lands is much less than that of
Japan clover, but on soils that grow crops, such as
corn, or cotton, it may be made to render a service

294 CLOVERS

which the other cannot, since it grows chiefly in
winter and early spring, whereas Japan clover grows
in the summer and early autumn, when cultivated
crops occupy the land.

Place in the Rotation. — Burr clover is grown
more in the sense of a catch crop and for pasture
than in that of a crop to be marketed directly. Since
it is grown in the winter and spring, it may be made
to come in between various crops. On good pro-
ducing lands of the South it has given satisfaction
as a pasture plant for winter for many successive
years without re-sowing by hand, when sown in con-
junction with crab grass (Panicum sanguinale) for
hay. Dr. Phares grew it thus in Mississippi for
about 20 years. In June crab grass sprang up on the
ground, and being cut when in blossom, produced a
good crop of hay in August. A lighter cutting was
again taken in October. The clover then took pos-
session of the land and was grazed until spring,
but not so closely as to prevent re-seeding in May,
after which the plants died down.

By thus allowing the plants to mature seed, any
crop may follow that can be grown after May. By
following burr clover with cow peas, land may be
much fertilized in one year. By reversing the proc-
ess on land low in fertility, that is, sowing the peas
first and the clover later, a much better growth of
the clover will be secured. The seed may also be
sown in corn and cotton crops, with a view to en-
riching the land. But it is only in the Gulf States
that much attention is given to growing burr clover
thus, and for the reason, probably, that the winters

BURR CLOVER 2p5

are too cold to admit of the plants furnishing a
sufficiency of grazing at that season.

Burr clover is sometimes grown with Bermuda
grass. The latter furnishes summer grazing. There
is some merit in the plan, if the seed of the burr
clover were sown from year to year. When the
re-seeding of the plants is depended on from season
to season there is difficulty in adjusting the grazing
so as to admit of the plants properly re-seeding for
the growth that is to follow. If the Bermuda grass
is not closely grazed many of the burrs which con-
tain the seeds may not reach the ground in time to
germinate.

Preparing the Soil. — Since burr clover has
much power to re-seed the land without preparation,
it is more commonly reproduced thus. But, as with
all other plants, it will grow more quickly and more
luxuriantly on a well-prepared seed-bed, where it
may be thought worth while to thus prepare the
land. The cultivation given to such crops as corn,
cotton or cow peas makes an excellent preparation
of the soil on which to sow burr clover.

Sowing. — Usually, burr clover is allowed to re-
seed itself after it has once become established in
the soil. In this respect it is not unlike small white
clover and Japan clover, but it does not grow so
well as these on poor soil. Where not yet estab-
lished, it must, of course, be sown where it is de-
sired to grow it.

The seed is commonly sown in September or early
October, but some growers recommend sowing in
the burrs as early as June or July, that the tough

296 CLOVERS

surrounding which encloses the seed may have time
to decay. When seed separate from the burr is
used, it is sown in the months named. When sown
on well-prepared soil, grazing should be plentiful
from February onward.

Burr clover is more commonly sown in the burr.
The burrs are usually scattered by hand and on land
that has been pulverized, but it is easily possible,
when the conditions are favorable, to obtain a stand
on land that has not been plowed. Where seed is
scarce, the burrs are sometimes planted in squares
3 feet apart each way, a limited number of burrs
being dropped at one time. When thus planted,
i bushel of burrs will plant several acres. The
plants will soon possess all the ground, but to en-
able them to do so, pasturing must be deferred for
one season. Whether sown in the burr or
otherwise, it is better to cover the seed with the
harrow.

One bushel of burrs weighs from 10 to 12 pounds.
It has been stated I bushel of clean seed weighs
60 pounds. When sown in the burr, it is usual to
sow 3 to 5 bushels per acre, but in some instances
less is sown and in some more. When seed apart
from the burr is sown 12 pounds per acre should
suffice. In some instances it is sown on Bermuda
sod, but the attempts to grow it thus have not always
proved satisfactory. At the Louisiana Experiment
Station it was found that the burr clover remained
long enough and grew large enough to injure the
Bermuda. Possibly closer grazing would have pre-
vented such injury. When sown on Bermuda grass,

BURR CLOVER 2Q7

June, July or August are the months chosen for
scattering the seed.

Burr clover is also sometimes sown in corn and
cotton to provide winter grazing, but when thus
sown the object more frequently sought is to enrich
the land. Both ends may be accomplished in some
degree.

Pasturing.— Opinions differ as to the palatability
of this grass. All are agreed that stock do not take.
kindly to it at first, but that they come to relish
it at least reasonably well when accustomed to it.
It is said to be relished less by horses and mules
than by other domestic animals. It has been praised
as a pasture for swine. It is more palatable in the
early stages of its growth, and will bear close graz-
ing, and also severe tramping. It will provide pas-
ture for six months, but not so bountifully in the
first months of growing as later.

Harvesting for Hay.— Burr clover is not a good
hay plant. Owing to the recumbent character of
the growth it is not easily mowed, nor has it much
palatability in the cured form. The yield is said
to be from ^ to i ton per acre.

Securing Seed In the Gulf States the seed

matures in April and May. The plants grow seed
profusely. Sown in October, stock may usually be
allowed free access to it until March, and if then
removed, it will spring up quickly and mature seed
so profusely that when the plants die and partially
decay seed may sometimes be collected in hollows,
into which it has been driven by the wind. It is
more commonly sown in the burr form, the form

298 CLOVERS

in which it is usually gathered. The more common
method of saving the seed, as given by Mr. A. H.
Beattie of Starkville, Mississippi, is to first rake off
the dead vines so as to leave the burrs on the
ground and then sweep them together with a suit-
able wire or street broom. It is then lifted and
run through two sets of sifters of suitable mesh
by hand to remove the trash swept up in gathering
the seed. It is probable that other methods more
economical of labor are yet to be devised when har-
vesting the seed crop. As much as 100 bushels of
burrs have been obtained from an acre, but that is
considerably more than the average yield of seed.

Renewing — Since this plant is an annual, it can-
not be renewed in the sense in which renewal is pos-
sible with a perennial. But as has been shown above
(see page 294), it may be grown annually for an
indefinite period in the same land and without re-
sowing by hand. It has also been shown that by
sowing the seed in certain crops at the proper sea-
son, from year to year, it may be made to grow from
year to year where the rotation will admit of this.
(See page 295.) When the ground is well stored
with seed, the plants will continue to come up freely
in the soil for at least two or three years, even
without any re-seeding of the land.

As a Fertilizer — The growing of burr clover
exercises a beneficial influence on the land. Its
value for this purpose, since it can be grown as a
catch crop, is probably greater than its value in pro-
viding food for stock. Like all plants that are more
or less creeping in their habit of growth, it shades

BURR CLOVER 299

the soil and keeps it moist, which, in conjunction
with the influence of the roots, puts it in a friable
condition. When the plants grow rankly, it is not
easy to bury them properly with the ordinary plow,
but in such instances, if cut up with a disk harrow,
the work is facilitated. The plants quickly die down
so as to make plowing easily possible, but the aim
should be to have such decay take place within the
soil rather than above it.

CHAPTER XI

SWEET CLOVER

Sweet clover is so named from the sweet odor
which emanates from the living plants. It is of two
species. These are designated, respectively, Meli-
lotus alba and Mclilotits officinalis. The former is
also called Bokhara clover, White Melilot and Tree
clover. It is possibly more widely known by the
name Bokhara than by any other designation. The
latter is sometimes called Yellow clover. The dif-
ference between these in appearance and habits of
growth does not seem to be very marked, except that
the blossoms of the former are white and those of
the latter are yellow.

Sweet clover is upright and branched in its habit
of growth. It attains to a height of from 2 to
8 feet, according to the soil in which the plants grow.
The somewhat small and truncate leaves are not
so numerous, relatively, as with some other varieties
of clover, and the stems are woody in character, espe-
cially as they grow older. The blossoms are small
and white or yellow, according to the variety, and
the seed pods are black when ripe. The roots are
large and more or less branched, and go down to
a great depth in the soil; especially is this true of
the main, or tap root.

The plants, according to Beale, are annual or bi-

Fig. 9. Sweet Clover (MWotus atba)

(301)

Tennessee Experiment Station

302 CLOVERS

enr.ial, but more commonly they are biennial. They
do not usually blossom the year that they are sown,
but may blossom within a year from the date of
sowing. For instance, when sown in the early au-
tumn, they may bloom the following summer. They
are exceedingly hardy, having much power to en-
dure extremes of heat and cold, and to grow in
poor soils and under adverse conditions. In some
soils they take possession of road sides and vacant
lands, and continue to grow in these for successive
years. The impaction of such soils by stock tread-
ing on them seems rather to advance than to hinder
the growth. They start growing early in the spring
and grow quickly, especially the second year. They
come into bloom in June, early or later, according
to the latitude, and ordinarily only in the year fol-
lowing that in which they were sown. Because of
the fragrant odor which is emitted from the plants
as they grow, they are sometimes introduced into
gardens and ornamental grounds.

The uses of the plants are at least three. It has
some value as a food for live stock. It has much
value as a fertilizer. It has probably even more
value as a food for bees. It has also been used in
binding soils. Its value as a food for stock has prob-
ably been overestimated. It is bitter, notwithstand-
ing the fragrant odor that emanates from it ; hence,
it is not relished by stock, insomuch that they will
not eat it when they can get other food that is more
palatable. As hay, it is hard to cure and of doubt-
ful palatability when cured. As a fertilizer, its
value does not seem to have been sufficiently recog-

SWEET CLOVER 303

nized, and the same is probably true of it as bee pas-
ture, although many bee-keepers are alive to its
great merit for such a use.

This plant does not seem to find much favor with
many. The United States Department of Agricul-
ture has spoken of it as a "weedy biennial, concern-
ing which extravagant claims have been made."
The laws of some States proscribe it as a weed, and
impose penalties directed against any who allow it
to grow. Legislatures should be slow to class a
legume as a weed, especially one that has much
power to enrich soils. The author cherishes the
opinion that this plant has a mission in the economy
of agriculture and of considerable importance to
farmers, especially in soils that are poor and worn,
as soon as they come to understand it properly.

Distribution. — Sweet clover is probably indig-
enous to the semi-arid regions of Asia. The name
Bokhara would seem to indicate as much, but it is
also found in many parts of Europe, and if the
facts were known, was doubtless brought from
Europe to North America by the first settlers. For
many decades it has been represented in many flower
gardens in all parts of the country.

The plant will endure almost any amount of cold
when it is once established. It has stood well the
winters of Manitoba. It can also endure extreme
summer heat, since it thrives well in some parts
of Texas. It grows most vigorously where the rain-
fall is abundant, as in Western Oregon, and it makes
a strong growth in the dry areas of Western Kan-
sas and Nebraska.

304 CLOVERS

Sweet clover will grow vigorously in some par!
or parts of every State in the Union. Of course, it
has higher adaptation for some conditions than
others. In some of the Central and Southern
States, it has multiplied to such an extent without
cultivation as to have assumed the character of a
weed ; hence, the legislation against it. When it is
called to mind that this plant is a legume, and when
the further fact is recognized that it may be used
not only in enriching soils, but at the same time im-
proving them mechanically, in addition to other ben-
efits that it may be made to render, surely the enact-
ments which prohibit its growth should be repealed
in any State where these exist. In the Northern
States, with a normal rainfall, the mission of this
plant is likely to be circumscribed, for the reason
that other legumes possessed of a much higher food
value may be grown in these. In the Southern
States, its mission will be more important, since it
may be used in some of these with decided advan-
tage in binding soils and in renovating them, even
when too poor to produce a vigorous growth of cow
peas. It is likely also that it may yet be made to
render good service in the semi-arid country west
of the Mississippi River, where other clovers cannot
be grown.

Sweet clover will grow in all the provinces of
Canada. For economic uses, however, it is not likely
to grow to any great extent east of Lake Superior,
or west of the Rocky Mountains. Other legumes
more useful may be grown in these areas. But in
the intervening wheat-growing region it is possible

SWEET CLOVER 305

that it may come to be used for purposes of soil
renovation.

Soils — But little can be gleaned from American
sources on this subject. Notwithstanding, it may be
said with safety that it has greater power to grow on
poor, worn and hard soils than any forage plant that
has yet been introduced into America for economic
uses.

It will probably be found true of it, as of other
clovers, that it will thrive best on soils that have
produced timber, and more especially timber of the
hardwood varieties. This means, therefore, that it
will grow well in probably all kinds of clay soils
and also in loam soils underlaid with clay. It has
high adaptation for soils abounding in lime. It
can be made to succeed on hard clay subsoils from
which the surface soil has been removed. But it
will also grow well on sandy soils and even on
gravels when a reasonable amount of moisture is
present. The author succeeded in growing it in
good form in 1897 and 1898 in a vacant lot in
St. Paul, from which 6 to 8 feet of surface soil had
been removed a short time previously. The subsoil
was so sandy that it would almost have answered
for building uses.

This clover will probably grow with least success
on soils of the prairie so light in texture as to lift
with the winds, and in which the underlying clay is
several feet from the surface, also in slough soils
that are much saturated with water.

Since it grows vigorously on road sides, in rocky
waste places and even in brick yards when sown

306 CLOVERS

without a covering, the idea has gained currency
that the harder the soil, the better the plants will
grow, and the more surely will they be established
in the soil; but this view does not seem to be in
accord with the principles which usually govern
plant growth. It will, however, send its roots down
into hard subsoils so deeply that in certain seasons
the plants could not be dug up without the aid of
a pick.

Place in the Rotation. — Since sweet clover
seed is more commonly scattered in byplaces, or is
self-sown from plants that have run wild, it can
scarcely be said that it has ever been grown as a
regular crop and in a regular rotation. Nor is it
ever likely to become a factor in such a rotation un-
less its properties shall be so modified that it can
be grown acceptably as a pasture plant. In such
an event it would have the same place in the rota-
tion as other clovers; that is, it would naturally
follow a cultivated, that is, a cleaning crop, and pre-
cede some crop or a succession of crops that
would profit from the nitrogen and humus
which it had brought to the soil, and also
from the influence which the roots would ex-
ercise mechanically upon the same. But the
necessity for sowing it on clean ground would not
be so great as with the other clovers, since it has
greater power than these to overshadow weeds when
the two grow together.

In the meantime, this plant will probably continue
to be grown as in the past; that is, if sown, it will
be sown: I. In byplaces to provide pasture for bees,

SWEET CLOVER 3O/

in which case in time it will be superseded by other
plants. 2. On worn lands so poor that they refuse
to grow valuable food products sown, partly, at
least, with a view to renovate them. And 3. In cut-
tings made by railroads and in gullies that have
been made in fields, with a view to prevent soil
movement. It may also come to be sown in grain
crops in localities where other varieties of clover
will not grow, to be plowed under the following
spring.

Preparing the Soil. — Since sweet clover will
grow on the firmest and most forbidding soils, even
when self-sown, it would not seem necessary, or-
dinarily, to spend much time in specially preparing
a seed-bed for it. The fact stated is proof of its
ability to grow on a firm surface. It does not fol-
low, however, that such a condition of the seed-
bed will give a better stand of the plants than a
pulverized condition of the same, as some have con-
tended. It may be that on soils that are quite loose
near the surface, and under conditions that incline
to dry a seed-bed firm and even hard, may be more
conductive to growth in the plants than one in which
the conditions are the opposite. Much rolling of
loose soils has been recommended when preparing
the seed-bed with a view to firm them.

When the seed is sown along with grain, the
preparation of the soil needed for grain would be
ample preparation also for the clover. When sown
on stubble land, in many instances no preparation
by way of stirring the soil would seem necessary.
And when sown on railroad embankments, road

308 CLOVERS

sides, rocky situations and byplaces generally no
preparation of the soil would be possible.

Sowing. — In the North sweet clover is best sown
in the spring. In fact, it can only be sown then
with the assurance that it will survive the winter
north of a certain limit. That limit will vary with
altitude, but it will probably run irregularly across
the Middle States, from the Atlantic westward to
the Cascade Mountains, beyond which it will veer
away to the North. In the Southern States, it may
be sown fall or spring, but if sown late in the fall
the young plants will in some instances succumb to
the frost of winter. Early fall sowing, therefore, is
much to be preferred to sowing late.

The method of sowing may be the same as in
sowing medium red clover (see page 78) ; that is,
when the seed is sown with grain crops. When
sown in byplaces, it will ordinarily be sown by hand.
In such places it will re-seed itself and will likely
grow in these for successive seasons. On railroad
embankments, the seed is scattered more commonly
on the upper portion, and from the plants which
grow there the seeds produced scatter down-
ward. The plants not only lessen washing in the
soil, but they prepare the same for the growth of
grasses. They also aid thus in the introduction of
grasses into rocky and very hard soils.

Sweet clover may be sown with almost any kind
of a nurse crop desired, which does not destroy it
with an over-abundant shade. Or it may be sown
alone where such a necessity exists. But the in-
stances are not numerous in which it would be de-

SWEET CLOVER 309

sirable or necessary to sow it alone on arable soils.
There may be conditions when it could be sown suc-
cessfully at the time of the last cultivation given to
corn and with a view to soil enrichment.

Since sweet clover is seldom sown for the pur-
pose of providing food for live stock, it is not sown
in mixtures, nor is it well adapted for being sown
thus, because of the large and luxuriant character
of the growth, which would tend to smother other
plants sown along with it.

The amount of seed to sow has been variously
stated at from 1 5 to 20 pounds per acre. The smaller
amount should be enough for almost any purpose,
and a much smaller amount should suffice for sow-
ing in byplaces and along road sides, where the
plants retain possession of the ground through self-
feeding.

Pasturing. —Because of the bitter aromatic prin-
ciple which it contains, known as commarin, stock
dislike it, especially at the first. And it is question-
able if they can be educated to like it in areas where
other food, which is more palatable, grows abun-
dantly. In an experiment directed by the author at
the Minnesota University Experiment Station,
sheep pastured upon it, and did not take kindly to it ;
but by turning them in to graze upon it in the morn-
ing, they cropped it down. In localities where good
grazing is not plentiful, if live stock have access to
it, especially when the plants are young, they will
so crop it down that in a few years it will entirely
disappear. But where other pastures are abundant,
it will continue to grow indefinitely. It would not

3IO CLOVERS

seem wise to sow it for the purpose of providing
grazing, unless where the conditions for growing
other and better grazing are unfavorable.

Some have spoken favorably of sweet clover for
soiling uses. It makes a very rapid growth quite
early in the season, and when cut and wilted more
or less before being fed, the palatability is thereby
considerably increased. Small plots of this plant
near the outbuildings may in this way be utilized
with some advantage in the absence of better soil-
ing plants.

Harvesting for Hay Sweet clover is not a

really good hay plant under any conditions, and if
not cut until it becomes woody, is practically value-
less for hay. It ought to be cut for hay a little
before the stage of bloom. If cutting is longer de-
ferred, the plants become woody. Such early cut-
ting, however, adds much to the difficulty of curing
the crop, since, while naturally succulent, its suc-
culence is then, of course, considerably more than
at a later period. It should be cured like medium
red clover. (See page 96.) If not cut sufficiently
early, and cured with as much care as is exercised in
curing alfalfa, there will be considerable loss from
the shedding of the leaves.

More commonly the plants are not cut for hay
the year that they are sown, but some seasons such
harvesting is entirely practicable in certain situa-
tions. The hay crop or crops are usually taken the
second year. Sometimes the crop is cut twice. It
is entirely practicable to obtain two cuttings under
ordinary conditions, because of the vigor in the

SWEET CLOVER 311

growth, and because of the early season at which
it must be harvested for hay. From 3 to 4 or 5 tons
may thus be obtained in many instances from the
two cuttings.

Securing Seed. —Nearly all of the seed sown
in this country is imported. The author has not
been able to obtain information with reference to
growing seed within the United States; hence, the
inference is fair that but little of it has been grown
for that purpose up to the present time. Since,
however, it seeds freely, and since the price of seed
is high, seed crops, more especially when the plants
are also utilized as bee pasture, ought to prove remu-
nerative in the hands of judicious growers.

The seed crop is obtained usually, if not always,
the second year after the sowing. If cut for hay
before coming into bloom, it will grow up again
and bear seed profusely. This would seem prefer-
able on strong soils, as it would prevent that rank-
ness in growth which would militate against abun-
dant seed production, and which would add much
to the labor of handling the crop.

The seed crop may be cut and handled in sub-
stantially the same way as medium red clover when
grown for seed. It may also be cured and thrashed
essentially in the same way. (See page 105.) The
author has not been able to obtain information with
reference to the average yield of the seed crop under
American conditions. The seed, like that of the
medium red variety, should weigh 60 pounds per
bushel.

Renewing. — In the sense of a pasture or hay

312 CLOVERS

crop, it would not seem necessary to try to renew
this crop, because of the relatively low value which
it possesses for these uses. When grown for bee
pasture, it will renew itself for»an indefinite period
when the plants, are not cut for seed and where
the conditions are favorable to growth. When
grown to keep soils from washing or railroad em-
bankments from breaking down, it will, of course,
renew itself in the same way. In time, however, it
is usually superseded by some kind of grass, for
which it has prepared the way by the ameliorating
and renewing influence which it exerts upon the
soil.

Value for Bee Pasture. — All authorities are
agreed as to the high value of this plant as a honey
producer. The claim has been made for it that for
such a use it is more valuable acre for acre than
any ordinary grain crop. By cutting a part of the
crop before it comes into bloom, the season of honey
production may be prolonged from, say, July ist
until some time in the autumn, as the part thus cut
will come into bloom after the blooms have left
the plants that were cut. When not disturbed,
sweet clover yields honey in the interval between
the blooming of the basswood and the golden rod.
The honey is of excellent quality. There should be
no good reasons, therefore, why bee-keepers should
not sow the seed in by and waste places. But the
wisdom of growing it as a honey-producing crop
on valuable land where other honey crops, as alsike
and white clover, can be grown in good form may
be questioned.

SWEET CLOVER 313

Value as a Fertilizer. — The high value of this
plant as a fertilizer and soil improver cannot be
questioned. But whether it should ever be sown
for such a use will depend on the capacity of the
soil to produce other crops valuable for fertilizing
and also more valuable for producing forage or fod-
der. Where other clovers more useful can be grown,
also cow peas, soy beans and other legumes valuable
for food uses, it would seem unwise to sow sweet
clover. This would restrict its use, therefore, as
a soil renovator ; first, to soils too poor to grow those
useful legumes; second, to areas where the climate
conditions will not admit of the growth of these;
and third, to areas from which the surface soil has
been removed, and which it is desirable to so ameli-
orate and improve the soil thus laid bare that it
could later be covered with some more valuable
cover crop. Under present conditions this would
restrict its growth for the purpose named to sandy
and gravelly soils, to certain areas in the semi-arid
region east of the Rocky Mountains, and to such
small areas as the surface soil had been removed
from.

In the semi-arid region where crops of grain and
also some varieties of field corn can be grown suc-
cessfully, but where the clovers are not successful,
it would seem practicable to sow a few pounds of
sweet clover seed per acre at the same time as the
grains, and to plow under the plants produced some
time in the month of May the next season. The
clover thus buried could be at once followed
by corn or potatoes, or, indeed, by any kind of a

314 CLOVERS

cleaning crop. The high price of seed
at present practically forbids growing clover
thus.

Whether sweet clover grown for renovating uses
should be turned under the season in which it has
been sown will depend largely on the growth that
has been made. In many instances, the growth
made is so rank as to justify plowing it under the
following autumn. In other instances, better re-
sults will follow plowing it under the next season.
It frequently happens that the growth made is so
rank that a strong plow and also a strong team are
necessary to do the work properly.

Value on Alkali soils. —This plant has been
grown to some extent to aid in removing alkali from
soils superabundantly impregnated with the same.
It will grow, it is claimed, under certain conditions
on such soils so surcharged with alkali as to
prohibit almost every other form of vegetable
growth. The extent to which it may be thus used
profitably had not yet been fully demonstrated.
But where it can be grown on such soils,
the fact that it takes up and removes relatively
large quantities of alkali would appear to be well
established.

Destroying the Plants. — Should the conditions
be found so favorable to the growth of the plant
that it persists in growing where it is not wanted,
it will soon cease to appear, if prevented from going
to seed. Ordinarily, the blossoms appear only dur-
ing the second year of growth. If, therefore, the
plants are cut off when in bloom, seed forming will

SWEET CLOVER 315

not only be prevented, but since sweet clover is a
biennial, the plants will die. When thus dealt with,
the only source from which other plants may come
while extermination is being thus sought is from seed
lodged in the soil and still capable of germinating.

CHAPTER XII

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER

In addition to the varieties of clover that have
been discussed at some length in previous chapters
are a number the value of which may be consid-
erable to areas more or less local and limited. These
include Sainfoin, Egyptian clover, Yellow clover,
Sand lucerne, Japanese clover, Beggarweed and
Seaside clover. Some of these, as Sainfoin and
Buffalo clover, have been in the country for several
years, and yet but little is known as to their be-
havior, except in very limited areas. Others, as
Buffalo clover, native to the country are thought
to have merit, and yet the degree of such merit does
not appear to have been yet proved under cultiva-
tion. The three varieties but recently introduced
are thought to have considerable promise for cer-
tain soils and climates to which they have special
adaptation, but sufficient trial has not been given
them to determine even approximately the measure
of their worth to this country. These varieties will
now be discussed, but for the reasons stated above
it will be manifest that the discussion will of neces-
sity be imperfect and fragmentary in character.

SAINFOIN

Sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa) is a perennial, legu-
minous, clover-like forage plant of the bean family.

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 317

The word Sainfoin is equivalent to the French
words for sound or wholesome hay. It is also fre-
quently called Esparcette or Asperset, more espe-:
daily in Germany. It is further known in Eng-
land by the name Cock's Head, French Grass and
Medick Vetchling. In some parts of France and
Switzerland the name has been and probably is yet
applied to lucerne (Medicago sativa}.

In its habit of growth it is more woody in the
rootstock than clover and more branched. It also
grows to a greater average height. The stems,
which are covered with fine hairs, bear numerous
leaves long and pinnate. The blossoms are numer-
ous and of an attractive, pinkish color, brightening
into a crimson tint. The seed pods are flattened
from side to side and wrinkled, and are also sickle-
shaped. They bear but one seed. The roots are
strong and more or less branched.

Sainfoin, as already intimated, is perennial in its
habit of growth. When a field is once well set with
the plants, it should continue to produce crops for
a decade, but will eventually be crowded out with
weeds or other grasses. It grows very early in the
season, quite as early, if not earlier, than alfalfa, and
continues to grow until autumn.

The feeding value of sainfoin is much the same
as that of alfalfa. It is much esteemed where it can
be grown for the production of pasture, of soiling
food, and also hay, valuable for enriching the land,
through the medium of the roots, and also when the
tops are plowed under as green manure.

Sainfoin is native throughout the whole of Cen-

Fig. 10. Sainfoin (Onobryctds saliva)

Oregon Experiment Station

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 319

tral Europe and over much of Siberia. Although
native to the southern counties of England, it does
not appear to have been cultivated there before the
year 1651, at which time it is said to have been in-
troduced from Flanders. From what has been said
with reference to the distribution of sainfoin in
Europe and Asia, it will be apparent that it is a
hardy plant, which has highest adaptation for cli-
mates temperate and mild to moderately cool. Its
hardihood has been shown by its surviving the win-
ters in the latitude of the St. Lawrence River, but
the abundant snow covering then provided should
not be lost sight of.

Its adaptation to the United States does not ap-
pear to have been proved yet, except in limited areas.
In some of the Montana valleys good crops have
been grown with much success in many of those
western valleys, and even on the bench lands at the
base of foothills. Nor would there seem to be any
good reasons for supposing that good crops could
not be grown in various parts of the United States,
where the soil is suitable.

In Canada, sainfoin has succeeded in Quebec. In
trials made by the author at the Ontario Agricul-
tural College at Guelph success was only partial, but
the trials were limited. There would seem to be no
good reasons why this plant should not succeed in
many places in Canada where limestone soils pre-
vail.

This plant is best adapted to dry soils calcareous
in their composition and somewhat porous in char-
acter. This explains its great affinity for the chalk

32O CLOVERS

soils which abound in the south of England. On
the dry, limestone soils of this country it ought to
succeed. It has shown much adaptation for the
volcanic soils of the Western mountain region, where
it has been tried. On stiff clays it grows too slowly
to be entirely satisfactory. It ought not to be sown
on soils wet or swampy in character.

Since sainfoin is perennial in its habit of growth,
and since, when once well set, it will retain its hold
upon the soil for several years, it is not in the strict
sense of the term a rotation plant. When it is
grown, however, it should be followed by crops
which require large quantities of nitrogen easily ac-
cessible, to enable them to complete their growth.
If this plant should ever be grown to any consider-
able extent in the mountain States, much that has
been said with reference to the place for alfalfa in
the rotation will also apply to sainfoin. (See
Page I35-)

It has been found more difficult to get a good
stand of sainfoin plants than of other varieties of
the clover family. This is owing to the low ger-
minating power frequently found in the seed. The
stand of plants is frequently found to be too thin
and scattering. Weeds, therefore, and sometimes
grasses are much liable to come into the soil occu-
pied by the sainfoin and to crowd the same. Be-
cause of this it is specially important that sainfoin
shall be sown on a clean seed-bed.

The seed is very frequently sown in the hull, and
usually in the early spring. But there would seem
to be no reasons why the seed should not be sown

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 32!

in the early autumn in localities where alfalfa can
be sown thus. (See page J45-) In the rough form,
it is usually broadcasted by hand, but would probably
also feed through a seed drill. When sown apart
from the hull, the seed may be sown by the same
methods as alfalfa. (See page 147.) In the rough
form, from 3 to 5 bushels per acre are sown. In
the clean form, it is claimed that 40 pounds of seed
should be sown, but that amount of clean and good
seed would seem to be excessive on well-prepared
land. The seed in the hull weighs 26 pounds per
bushel. The plan of sowing 2 to 3 pounds per acre
of the seed of alsike clover along with the sainfoin
would doubtless be found helpful under some condi-
tions, as it would tend to thicken the crop, more
especially the first season.

Sainfoin is a good pasture plant when properly
grazed. It does not produce bloat in cattle or sheep
as alfalfa does. In this fact is found one of the
strongest reason why it should be grown in areas
where alfalfa is wanted for pasture. It will fur-
nish grazing about as early as alfalfa, and consid-
erably earlier than medium red clover.

This plant is more frequently grown for soiling
food than for hay. For the former use it has high
adaptation, since it will furnish several cuttings of
soiling food per season. It will also furnish two cut-
tings of hay, or one of hay and one of seed, and
under some conditions more than two cuttings can
be obtained. In the latitude of Montreal it is ready
to be cut for hay during the early days of June. It
is ready for being cut when the blossoms begin

322 CLOVERS

to expand. Much care is necessary in curing the
hay, in order to prevent the too free shedding of
the leaves. The methods for making alfalfa hay
will apply also to sainfoin.

Seed may be obtained from the first or second
cutting of the crop. It is usually obtained from
the second cutting, as the yield is much larger than
that obtained from the first cutting. The author has
not been able to obtain any facts based on experi-
ence regarding the harvesting of the seed crop un-
der American field conditions. But the methods fol-
lowed in obtaining seed from alfalfa would probably
also answer equally well for sainfoin. Great care
is necessary in handling the seed crop, owing to the
ease with which the seed shatters. Special pains
are also necessary to keep the germinating power
of the seed from injury from overheating. Nor
does the seed seem able to retain germinating power
as long as the seeds of some other varieties of clover.
In experiments conducted by Profess* C. A.
Zavitz at the Ontario Experiment Station at Guelph
in 1902 and 1903, the average yield per acre was
426.1 pounds.

EGYPTIAN CLOVER

Egyptian clover (Trifolium Ale.vandriamiin) is
more commonly known in the Nile valley as Berseem.
It is of at least three varieties. These are the Mus-
cowi, Fachl and Saida, all of which are more or less
closely related to medium red clover. The term
Alexandrianum as applied above is somewhat mis-
leading, as its growth is not specially identified with

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 323

Alexandria, nor is its growth in Egypt supposed
to be of great antiquity, since no trace of it is found
upon the ancient monuments.

The Muscowi variety, which is commonly grown
more especially in lower Egypt, sometimes grows
to the height of 5 feet and over, but usually it is
not more than half the height named. In its habit
of growth it is rather upright, like alfalfa, but the
hollow stems are softer and more succulent, and the
blossoms occur on heads resembling those of clover,
but not so compactly formed, and they are white in
color. The seeds bear a close resemblance to those
of crimson clover. The roots are much shorter, but
more spreading in their habit of growth than those
of alfalfa, and in Egyptian soils they bear small
tubercles abundantly. This variety, which is usu-
ally grown on land that can be irrigated at any sea-
son, produces in some instances 5 cuttings in a
season. The Fachl variety is usually grown on land
irrigated by the basin system; that is, the system
which covers the land with water but once a year,
and for a period more or less prolonged. But one
crop a year is taken from such land. The hay from
this variety is heavier for the bulk than that of the
Muscowi. The Saida variety is of a lower habit
of growth than the Muscowi and has a longer tap
root, which enables it to stand drought better than
the Muscowi. It is more commonly sown in Egypt
southward from Cairo.

All these varieties are annual. The period of
growth covered by any one of them is never more
than 9 months, and usually not more than 6 months ;

324 CLOVERS

that is to say, from October to March. The Mus-
covvi variety especially grows very rapidly.

Egyptian clover in all its varieties is pre-eminently
a soiling plant. It is sometimes pastured and is also
made into hay. It is practically the one fodder crop
of Egypt, and is more commonly fed in the green
form. All kinds of stock are fond of it, and it
is fed freely to horses, donkeys and camels at labor,
to cows in milk, and to cattle that are being fat-
tened. It also serves to keep Egyptian soils sup-
plied with nitrogen, for the support of crops grown
on them in summer, especially cotton, and
various kinds of grain. Moreover, because of the
frequency of the cuttings, with the Muscowi variety,
its growth tends very much to check the growth
of weeds.

Egyptian clover is not native to Egypt, but was
introduced from some country outside of Egypt, yet
bordering on the Mediterranean. This, at least, is
the view presented in Bulletin No. 23, issued by the
Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, from which source much of
what is written with reference to this plant has
been obtained. In Egypt more than 1,000,000 acres
are grown annually. It is also being tried, with
much promise, in other portions of Northern Africa,
as Tunis and Algiers. It is also now being experi-
mented with in various parts of the Southern and
Southwestern States.

Egyptian clover is only adapted to a warm cli-
mate. In those parts of the United States which
have a climate not unlike that of Egypt, in many

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 325

respects, as Florida, Southern Texas, New Mexico
and Arizona, it may have an important mission. It
may yet be grown in these areas, or some of them,
where irrigation is practiced in conjunction with
cotton, or with certain of the cereals. If it can be
thus grown, it will prove of much value, as it would
only occupy the land when not occupied by the crops
usually grown in summer, and it would bring much
fertility to the same, in addition to the forage pro-
vided. Since in Tunis it has been found that the
plants have not been killed by cold 2° below zero
and in Algiers 9° below that point, the hope would
seem to be justifiable that this clover may yet be
grown much further north than the States named.
If grown thus, however, it should not be as a sub-
stitute for alfalfa, but rather to occupy the ground
in winter when not producing otherwise. It may
yet be found that the Saida variety may have adap-
tation for some localities in the West where irriga-
tion cannot be practiced. This clover is not likely
to render any considerable service to any part of
Canada, because of the lack of adaptation in the
climate.

Egyptian clover has highest adaptation for de-
posit soils, such as are made by the settling of silt
held in solution by waters that overflow. In these it
will grow with vigor, though they rest upon coarse
sand or even upon gravel not too near the surface.
Irrigating waters to some extent are necessary to
grow the plants in best form, although, as previ-
ously intimated, the Saida variety may yet be grown
without the aid of such, waters. It is the first crop

326 CLOVERS

sown on reclaimed alkaline lands, and growing it
on these tends to remove the alkali and to sweeten
and otherwise improve the soils.

The place for this plant in the rotation is readily
apparent. Like crimson clover, it it clearly a catch
crop, as it were, and a winter plant, but with the
difference that it grows much more rapidly under
suitable conditions and furnishes much more food.
The advantage of growing it northward in the
Western mountain valleys when sown in spring, as
intimated by the writer of the bulletin already re-
ferred to, would seem to be at least problematical,
since it could not be sown early enough in the spring
to produce a crop as early as alfalfa already estab-
lished. It would then be grown also as the crop of
the season, rather than as a catch crop. The place
for Egyptian clover in the rotation is clearly that
of a winter crop, to provide soiling food for stock
and plant food for the land, which may be utilized
by the summer crop that follows.

In Egypt the seed is frequently sown on the silt
deposited by the waters that have subsided and be-
fore it would be dry enough to plow. At other
times, it is sowed on land stirred on the surface to
a greater or less depth, and sprouted through the
aid of irrigating waters. In the valleys of the West
that preparation of the soil found suitable for alfalfa
would also, doubtless, be found suitable for this
clover.

The seed is sown in the autumn in Egypt, usu-
ally in October, but the season of sowing lasts from
September to January, and some crops have been

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER y7

obtained sown as late as April ist, but when sown
late, the number of the cuttings is reduced and the
occupancy of the soil by the clover interferes with
the growing of other crops. Under American con-
ditions, it will doubtless be found that the best sea-
son for sowing Egyptian clover will be just after
the removal of the crop that occupied the land in
summer. The seed is usually sowed by hand and
without admixture, but the Fachl variety is sown
in some instances with wheat or barley when seed
is wanted. The methods of sowing found suitable
for alfalfa would also seem to be proper for sowing
Egyptian clover. (See page 78.) As much as
one bushel of seed is sown per acre, but it is thought
that a less amount will suffice under good methods
of tillage.

Egyptian clover is sometimes pastured, but it has
higher adaptation to soiling, because of the softness
of the stems. When pastured reasonably close,
cropping would probably be preferable, as there
would then be less waste from the treading of the
plants. Nevertheless, in Egypt considerable quan-
tities of the hay are stored for feeding in the sum-
mer months when green fodder is scarce.

Egyptian clover is sometimes made into hay, but
it is not essentially a hay plant. Much care is neces-
sary when it is being cured to prevent loss in the
leaves, and when cured the stems are so brittle that
it is difficult to prevent waste in handling the hay.
It is pre-eminently a soiling crop, and the greater
portion is fed in the green form. From 4 cuttings
of the Muscowi variety as much as 25 to 30 tons

'328 CLOVERS

of green fodder are harvested, and about 10 tons
are produced by 2 cuttings of the Saida variety.

Egyptian clover has not been grown sufficiently
long in this country to justify giving information
based upon American experience that could be taken
as authoritative, with reference to the best methods
of harvesting the seed crop. There would seem to
be no reasons, however, to suppose that the methods
followed in harvesting alfalfa could not be followed
with equal advantage in harvesting Egyptian clo-
ver. Nor can anything be said as yet with reference
to which cutting of the series will furnish the best
seed crop.

The best service, probably, which this crop can
render to the United States is the enrichment of the
soils on which the plants are grown. As the same
bacteria which inoculate alfalfa soils will not an-
swer for Egyptian clover, and as the requisite bac-
teria may not be found in soils where it is desirable
to grow this clover, the conclusion that it will not
grow sufficiently well in certain soils on which it
is being tried should not be reached until the ques-
tion relating to the presence or absence of the proper
bacteria has been settled. If necessary to introduce
bacteria from Egypt, the obstacles in the way of
such introduction would not be at all serious, if
undertaken by the Department of Agriculture.

YELLOW CLOVER

Yellow clover (Medicago lupulina) is to be care-
fully distinguished from Hop clover (Medicago
procumbens), which it resembles so closely in the

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 329

form of the leaves and the color of the bloom as
to have given rise in some instances to the inter-
changeable use of the names. The latter is so
named from the resemblance of the withered head
when ripe to a bunch of hops. Its growth has been
almost entirely superseded by Medicago lupulina,
since the other variety was low in production and
also in nutrition. Medicago lupulina is also called
Black Medick, Nonesuch, Black Nonesuch and Hop
Trefoil. In both England and Germany it is now
more commonly grown than white clover. It is more
or less recumbent in its habit of growth, but the stems
do not root as do the runners in the small white var-
iety. The sterna, though tender in the early spring,
become woody as the season advances. The flowers,
as the name would indicate, are yellow, and the
plants produce seed numerously. The roots, like
those of the small white variety, are more fibrous
than in some of the larger varieties.

Yellow clover is perennial. Owing to the power
which the plants have to multiply through rooting
and re-seeding, they can stay indefinitely in con-
genial soils. The growth is vigorous in the early
part of the season, but less so later, and with the
advance of the season the herbage produced becomes
more woody in character.

This plant furnishes considerable pasture dur-
ing the spring months, but in the summer and
autumn it makes but little growth. Though
palatable early in the season, it is less so later.
Nevertheless, it may be made to add materially
to the produce of pastures in which it grows.

33° CLOVERS

It also aids in fertilizing the soil, tliough
probably not quite to the same extent as white
clover.

Yellow clover is indigenous to Europe. It is
grown to a considerable extent in pastures in certain
areas in Great Britain, France, Germany and other
countries. It has highest adaptation for climates
that are moist and temperate. Although this plant
is not extensively grown in the United States, it
would seem probable that it will grow at least rea-
sonably well in a majority of the States. The ex-
ceptions will be those lacking in moisture in the
absence of irrigation. It will grow best in those
that more properly lie within the clover belt ; that is,
in those that lie northward. It grows with much
vigor in Oregon and Washington west of the Cas-
cade Mountains. In Canada, yellow clover will
grow with much vigor in all areas susceptible
of cultivation, unless on certain of the western
prairies.

Yellow clover has highest adaptation for calcare-
ous soils. In certain parts of England it has grown
so vigorously on soils rich in lime as almost to as-
sume the character of a troublesome weed. It will
grow well on all clay loam soils, and reasonably
well on stiff clays, the climatic conditions being suit-
able. It has greater power to grow on dry soils
than the small white variety.

Since yellow clover is usually grown as an adjunct
to permanent pastures, it can scarcely be called a ro-
tation plant. But, like other clovers, it enriches
the soil, and, therefore, should be followed by crops

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 33!

that are specially benefited by such enrichmant, as,
for instance, the small cereal grains.

Yellow clover when sown is usually sown wfth
other grass mixtures, and along with grain as a
nurse crop ; hence, that preparation of the soil suit-
able for the nurse crop will also be found suitable
for the clover. It is, moreover, a hardy plant, in-
somuch that in some instances, if the seed is scat-
tered over unplowed surfaces, as those of pastures,
in the early spring, a sufficient number of plants
will be obtained to eventually establish the clover
through self-seeding.

The seed is usually sown in the early spring, but
in mild latitudes it may also be sown in the early
autumn. It may be sown by the same methods as
other clovers. (See page 267.) It is usually sown
to provide pasture, the seed being mixed with that
of other pasture plants before being sown. As the
plants, like those of the small white variety, have
much power to increase rather than decrease in
pastures, it is not necessary to sow large quantities
of seed, not more usually than i pound to the acre.
But should the crops be wanted for seed, then not
fewer than 3 to 5 pounds per acre should be sown
and without admixture with other grasses or clo-
vers. When the plants once obtain a footing on
congenial soils, there is usually enough of seed in
the soil to make a sufficient stand of the plants in
pastures without sowing any seed, but since the seed
is usually relatively cheap, where an insufficient sup-
ply in the soil is suspected, more or less seed should
be sown.

332 CLOVERS

Since the stems of yellow clover plants become
tough as the season of growth becomes considerably
advanced, where it forms a considerable proportion
of the pasture the aim should be to graze most heav-
ily during the early part of the season. The plants
do not make much growth during the autumn. It
would probably be correct to say that it can grow
under conditions more dry than are suitable for white
clover, and, consequently, it is more uniformly
prominent in evidence in permanent pastures when
it has become established.

Yellow clover is not a really good hay plant,
owing to its lack of bulkiness. But in some soils its
presence may add considerably to the weight of a
crop of hay, of which it is a factor.

This plant produces seed freely. The seeds are
dark in color and weigh 60 pounds to the bushel.
The seed matures early, usually in June or July, ac-
cording to locality. The methods of harvesting,
threshing and preparing the seed for market are
substantially the same as those adapted in handling
small white clover. ( See page 272. )

While yellow clover is not the equal of the small
white clover in adaptation to our conditions, it
would seem that there are no reasons why it should
not be sown to a greater extent than it is sown under
American conditions. A plant that is so hardy, that
provides a considerable quantity of reasonably good
pasture, that stores nitrogen in the soil, and that,
moreover, does not stay in the soil to the extent of
injuring crops that follow the breaking up of the
pastures, should certainly be encouraged to grow.

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 333
SAND LUCERNE

Sand Lucerne (Medicago media}, sometimes
designated Medicago falcata, is probably simply a
variety of the common alfalfa (Medicago sativa).
Some botanists, however, look upon these as two
distinct species. Others believe that Medicago
sativa, with blossoms ranging from blue to violet
purple, and Medicago falcata, with yellow blossoms,
are two distinct species, while Medicago media, with
blossoms ranging from bluish and purple to lemon
yellow, is a hybrid between these. The name Sand
Lucerne has doubtless been given to this plant be-
cause of the power which it has to grow in sandy
soils.

Sand lucerne is so nearly like common alfalfa
in appearance and habits of growth, that until the
blossoming season, careless observers cannot dis-
tinguish between the plants. (See page 114.) Sand
lucerne, however, has a more spreading habit of
growth than common alfalfa, the seed-pods are less
coiled and the seeds are lighter. The root system
is strong and the roots are probably more branched
than those of ordinary alfalfa. Under Michigan
experience, given in Bulletin No. 198 of the Michi-
gan Experiment Station, it has shown considerably
higher adaptation to light, sandy and gravelly soils
than the former. The feeding properties of sand
lucerne would not seem to be far different from
those of common alfalfa (see page 119), but it is
claimed that the former is considerably less liable
to produce bloat in cattle and sheep than the latter.

Sand lucerne is probably native to Europe and

334 CLOVERS

Asia. Some attention is given to growing it in
Germany, the principal source from which comes
supplies of seed at the present time. It was intro-
duced into Michigan by the experiment station of
that State in 1897, and its behavior in several trials
made to grow it on sandy and gravelly soils in vari-
ous places, has, on the whole, been encouraging.

Since this variety, like the Turkestan, being con-
siderably hardier than common alfalfa, can undoubt-
edly be grown further north than the latter, there
would seem to be no reasons at the same time why
sand lucerne would not grow satisfactorily on
sandy soils that lie far south, but this does not seem
as yet to have been proved by actual demonstration.
It is possible, therefore, that this plant may render
considerable service to areas scattered over consider-
able portions of the United States and Canada, in
which the soil is light.

While sand lucerne has higher adaptation than
common alfalfa for sandy and gravelly soils, it does
not follow that it has equal adaptation for being
grown on ordinary alfalfa soils. No advantage,
however, would result from growing sand lucerne
where common alfalfa will grow equally well, as
it is not superior to the latter as a food, if, indeed,
it is equal to the same, and there would be a dis-
tinct disadvantage in the greater cost of the seed of
sand lucerne.

Sand lucerne is not any more a rotation plant
than the common variety. In fact, it is even less
so, since it would not be practicable to introduce
it into short rotations when grown in northerly lati-

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 335

tucles, as it does not reach a maximum growth for
several years after the seed has been sown. But
in mild latitudes, it may be found practicable to
introduce it into short rotations, like other alfalfa
(see page 135), and on land that is too sandy to
grow the common variety in the best form.

Much of what has been said about the preparation
of the soil for common alfalfa will equally apply to
the preparation of the same for sand lucerne. (See
page 137.) But when the latter is sown on sandy
or gravelly land, a moist condition of the seed-bed
at the time of sowing is even more important than
when sowing common alfalfa under ordinary con-
ditions.

The same methods of sowing the seed will be
in order as are suitable for sowing common alfalfa
in any particular locality. (See page 147.) This
will mean that in Northern areas sand lucerne can
best be sown in the spring and as early as the danger
from frost is over, that the plants may get as much
benefit as possible from the moisture in the soil be-
fore dry weather begins. It will also mean that if
sown southward in the autumn, it may in some in-
stances be necessary to wait longer for the sandy
soils on which the seed is sown to become sufficiently
moist to sprout the seed than for such a condition
in soils on which common alfalfa is usually sown.
The amounts of seed to sow will also be practically
the same. (See page 152.)

The adaptation of sand lucerne for providing pas-
ture is as high, if not, indeed, higher, than that of
common alfalfa, since it is said that it has less

336 CLOVERS

tendency to produce bloat in cattle and sheep, and
it is not so easily destroyed, at least in Northern
areas, by grazing. In providing pasture, its higher
adaptation is in furnishing the same for cattle, swine
and horses.

With ample moisture, even as far north as
Lansing, Michigan, three crops of hay may ordi-
narily be looked for. At the Michigan Experiment
Station, sand lucerne sown in 1897 yielded cured;
In 1898, at the rate of 6800 pounds per acre ; in 1899,
10,580 pounds; in 1900, 12,310 pounds; and in
1901, 13,839 pounds. The methods of cutting and
curing are the same as for other varieties of alfalfa.
(See page 170.) The quality of the hay is not
far different from that of common alfalfa. If there
is a difference, it would, perhaps, be a little
against the sand lucerne, owing to the nature of
the land producing it. For soiling food, it may
be handled in the same way as common alfalfa.
(See page 166.)

No further information would seem to be avail-
able with reference to the production of seed in the
United States than the statement that the efforts
to grow it in Michigan had not been altogether suc-
cessful. The question thus raised has an impor-
tant bearing on the future growth of the plant, as,
if seed is to be imported from Europe when sand
lucerne is to be sown, the expense of securing seed
is likely to militate against extending its growth.
It is probable, however, that this difficulty will be
overcome through the more perfect acclimation of
the plants in the North, or by growing seed from the

f MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 337

same in Western areas which have shown higher
adaptation to the production of alfalfa seed.

The value of sand lucerne in fertilizing sandy and
gravelly soils in this country may yet be very con-
siderable. Its value in putting humus into the same
may prove equally high. This value will arise
chiefly from its greater ability to grow on such soils
than various other legumes. When sown primarily
for such a use, heavy seeding would seem to be pref-
erable to ordinary seeding.

JAPANESE CLOVER

The United States Department of Agriculture
has quite recently introduced a variety of clover
known botanically as Lcspedeza bicolor. In 1902
small lots of seed were distributed to ascertain the
value of the plant grown under American conditions.
Sufficient time has not yet elapsed to prove its value,
but the indications encourage the belief that it will
be of some agricultural value under certain condi-
tions.

This variety of clover is more erect and less
branched in its habit of growth than the Japanese
variety Lespcdeza striata. Under Michigan condi-
tions it was found to grow to the height of 3 feet on
sandy soil and to about half that height on clay soil,
the seed having been sown about the middle of
May. The stalks are about the same in structure
as those of alfalfa, and like alfalfa they do not lodge
readily. The leaves are ovate in form and of a pea-
green tint. The seed is formed in pods resembling
those of lentils, only smaller. The seeds are larger

338 CLOVERS

than those of crimson clover and are oblong in
shape. In color they are mottled brown, yellow and
green. The roots in the Michigan test produced
nodules freely and without inoculating the soil by
any artificial means. The plants in the same tests
were killed to the ground by early October frosts.

This variety, like that grown so freely in the
Southern States, is an annual. In the absence of
experience in growing it under varied conditions, it
would be premature to dwell upon its value. If it
should grow readily on sandy land, as the Michigan
test would seem to indicate, it would render substan-
tial service in fertilizing such soils. In the grass
garden of the Department of Agriculture at Wash-
ington, D. C, its behavior has been such as to en-
courage making further tests.

FLORIDA CLOVER

Florida clover (Desmodium tortuosimi) is some-
times grown both for hay and pasture, more espe-
cially in the Gulf States. It has been designated
botanically Desmodium molle, and is also known
by the common names Beggar Weed, Giant Beggar
Weed, Beggar Ticks and Tickweed. The name
Florida Clover has been given to it because of its
prevalence on the light soils of Florida. The name
"beggar" has probably been applied to this plant
because of its relation to poverty in soils, in which
it is more commonly grown, and the name "ticks"
from the clinging habit of the seed-pods to surfaces
with which they come in contact.

Beggar Weed is an erect and branching plant,

•-,

"S V •*.

vv. *,

;V>R-

V Hv

Fig. u. Beggar Weed or Florida Clover (Dtmiodivm tortwwtm)

(Flower and Seed Stems)

North Carolina Experiment Station

34° CLOVERS

which grows from 2 to 10 feet high. The branches
are woody in character, especially in the lower parts,
which prevents close cropping by animals grazing
on the plants. The trifoliate leaves are numerous,
especially on the upper portions. The panicle is
erect and is considerably branched. The pods are
prickly and have many joints. These break asunder
when matured, and are frequently distributed by ad-
hering to the covering of animals and the clothing
of men. The strong, spreading roots have much
power to gather food in the soil and also to enrich
the same by means of the tubercles formed on the
roots.

This plant grows only in warm weather, and it
is able to withstand much drought. Its value for
pasture and hay would seem to depend considerably
on the stage of growth at which it is grazed or
harvested for hay. When nearing maturity, stock
do not relish it much, either as pasture or hay. It
is frequently classed as a weed, but in certain poor
soils it has been deemed worthy of cultivation.

Beggar weed is native to the West India Islands
and also, it is thought, to Southern Florida. In
1879 seeds were distributed by the Department of
Agriculture. It is now grown more or less in the
wild or cultivated form in all the Gulf States. While
it may be successfully grown as far north as the
Ohio River, it is not probable that it will be sown
far north of any of the Gulf States, since other fod-
der plants more valuable in producing food can be
grown to supply the wants of live stock. At the
Minnesota University Experiment Farm, the author

Pig. 12. Beggar Weed (Decmodium tor/nosum)

(Root System)
(341) North Carolina Experimsut Station

342 CLOVERS

sowed seed in May. The plants came into bloom in
September, but did not mature any seed.

Beggar weed will grow on almost any kind of
soil reasonably free from an excess of ground mois-
ture. Its power to grow on poor and light soils,
even light enough to lift with the wind, is very
considerable. Its highest use will probably be
found on soils so light and sterile that better
forms of useful vegetation are not easily grown
on them.

It can scarcely be called a rotation plant, since
it more commonly grows in the wild form, and on
lands so poor as to be considered unprofitable for
regular cropping. But when cultivated, it should
be followed by some crop that can make a good use
of the nitrogen left in the soil in the tubercles formed
on the roots of the beggar weed plants.

The soil does not, as a rule, require deep stirring
when preparing it for beggar weed. This fact finds
demonstration in the ability of the plants to re-seed
the ground when grown for grazing.

The seed is usually sown in the Gulf States late
in March or early in April. It germinates slowly,
and the plants make the most vigorous growth after
the weather becomes warm. The seed is more com-
monly scattered broadcast, but may be drilled in,
and at distances that will or will not admit of cul-
tivation as may be desired. Thick seeding is pref-
erable to prevent coarseness and woodiness in the
growth of the plants. Not less than 10 pounds of
hulled seed per acre should be sown in the broadcast
form when sown for hay. When sown in drills, less

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 343

seed is required, but usually the seed is sown broad-
cast. In the hulled form, in which the seed is more
commonly sold, according to Professor H. H. Hume,
the measured bushel weighs 60 to 64 pounds, and
with the hulls on, from 10 to 40 pounds, the aver-
age weight, as purchased by dealers, being about
20 pounds. The cleaned seed bears considerable
resemblance to clover seed.

All kinds of farm stock, as cattle, horses, mules,
sheep and even swine, are said to do well when graz-
ing on beggar-weed pastures in the summer and
autumn. They do not usually graze it closely after
it has been well started, owing to the woody char-
acter of the stems. When thus cropped back, it
starts out afresh, and thus continues to produce
grazing until the arrival of frost. It is said that
the pasture is of but little value in winter. One
strong point, however, in favor of such pastures, is
the ability of the plants to re-seed the land when
not grazed too closely, and thus to perpetuate the
grazing from year to year.

No little diversity of opinion exists as to the value
of this plant for producing hay. Some growers
speak highly of its palatability and nutrition.
Others speak of it as being of very little value as a
hay plant. This difference in opinion is doubtless
due largely to cutting the crop at different stages
of growth. If allowed to become too advanced
before it is cut, the woody character of the hay
would doubtless make it unpalatable, whereas, if cut
early, at least as early as the showing of the first
blooms, if not, indeed, earlier, it would be eaten

344 CLOVERS

with a much greater relish. The yields of hay are
said to usually exceed 2 tons per acre.

The seed matures in September and October. The
methods of saving the seed have usually been of a
somewhat primitive character, as by hand when
saved in small quantities. But there would seem to
be no reason why the seed crop could not be har-
vested by the binder.

Where alfalfa or cow peas can be successfully
grown, either crop would be preferable. But on
some soils these are not a success, especially when
the first attempts are made to grow crops. The
choice of hay may be one between a crop of beggar
weed and no crop at all. All are agreed as to the
renovation which it brings to soils; hence, when
grown or allowed to grow on unproductive soil for
a few years and then plowed under, the soil be-
comes productive. Since it grows late rather than
early in the season where the seed is in the land, it
will not interfere with the growth of the corn, but
will come on later, and thus exert a beneficial influ-
ence on the soil. But the fact should not be over-
looked that beggar weed once in the land has con-
siderable power to stay there. In other words, like
sweet clover, it has some of the characteristics of
a weed.

BUFFALO CLOVER

Buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) is a
native species procumbent in its habit of growth.
The leaves are most abundant at the base of the
plants. The flower heads, about an inch in

MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER 345

diameter, are rose colored, and rise to the height
of about one foot from the ground.

This variety, said to be perennial in its habit of
growth, is probably the same as Trifolium reftexum,
said to be biennial in Kansas. Plants are found
growing wild in prairies, between forests, and in
open woodlands, from Kentucky on the east, to
Kansas on the west. It is thought that this clover
would repay cultivation, but the author has not been
able to get any information bearing upon its be-
havior under cultivation.

SEASIDE CLOVER

Seaside clover (Trifolium invulneratum} has ren-
dered some service to agriculture in what is known
as the "Great Basin," which includes parts of Ore-
gon and Nevada. In Bulletin No. 15, Bureau of
Plant Industry, issued by the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, it is referred to as one of the
most promising species for cultivation in that area.
Under the influence of irrigation it has spread, in
one instance cited, into sage brush soil, and there,
along with timothy and red top, has aided in pro-
ducing fine crops. In low, swampy, non-alkaline
areas, it often yields from y2 to 1 1/4 tons of hay per
acre. It has been estimated that with correct condi-
tions it would be found about equal in producing
power and feeding value to alsike clover. It is at
least questionable, however, if it is likely to super-
sede to any considerable degree the varieties already
under general cultivation.

INDEX

Alfalfa

discussion of 1 14-193

described 114

distribution 120

soils 129

place in rotation 135

preparing the soil 137

sowing 145 Clover

Burr clover. Continued.

sowing 295

pasturing 297

harvesting for hay 297

securing seed 297

renewing 298

as a fertilizer 298

cultivating 154

pasturing 155

as soiling food 166

harvesting for hay 170

storing 172

securing seed 179

introduction 1-5

definition I

varieties 2

distinguishing character-
istics 3

plan of discussion 4

renewing....... 184 Clover, general principles

sources of injury. ....... 187

as a fertilizer 191

Alsike clover

discussion of 194-217

described 194

distribution 197

soils 199

place in rotation 201

preparing the soil 202

sowing 204

pasturing 208

harvesting for hay 210

securing seed 212

renewing 216

Bloating 94

Buffalo clover
discussion of 344

Burr clover

discussion of 291-299

described 291

distribution 293

soils 293

place in the rotation 294

preparing the soil 295

for growing

discussion of 6-56

adaptation in 6

place in the rotation 7

preparing the soil n

fertilizers 13

seasons for sowing 16

methods of sowing 18

depth to bury the seed. .. 21
sowing alone or in combi-
nations 22

with or without a nurse

crop 25

amounts of seed to sow. . 27

pasturing 29

harvesting 31

storing 33

feeding 35

renewing 37

as soil improvers 38

as a weed destroyer 43

clover sickness 45

possible improvement in.. 46

bacteria and clovers 47

348

Clovers, synonyms

INDEX

Alexandrian 322

Alsace 194

Aspercet 317

Berseem 322

Beggar ticks 338

Beggar weed 338

Black Medic 329

Black Nonesuch 329

Bokhara 300

Branching 114

Broad-leaved 57

Burgundy 114

California 291

Chilian 114

Cocks head 317

Cow clover 218

Cow grass 218

Creeping Trifolium 258

Dutch 258

Elegant 194

Esparcette 317

Fachl 323

French clover 338

French grass 317 Crimson clover

German 238

German mammoth 238

Giant beggar weed 338

Giant 218

Honeysuckle 258

Hop 328

Hop trefoil 329

Hybrid 194

Italian 238

Large 2:8

Lucerne (Alfalfa) 114

Mammoth 57

Clovers, synonyms, Continued.

Saida 323

Sand Lucerne 118

Saplin 218

Shamrock 258

Sicilian 114

Soiling 218

Spotted Medick 291

Stem 114

Swedish 194

Styrian 114

Tall 218

Tickweed 338

Tree 300

Turkestan 118

Wavy stemmed 218

White Dutch 258

White Melilot 300

White Swedish 194

White trefoil 258

Winter 238

Yellow 291

Zigzag 218

•imson clover

discussion of 238-257

described . .-. 238

distribution 241

soils . . . 244

place in the rotation 245

preparing the soil 248

sowing 250

pasturing 252

harvesting for hay 253

securing seed 254

renewing 256

facts regarding 256

Meadow 218 D°dder 190

Meadow trefoil 57 Egyptian clover

Medick vetchling 317 discussion of 322-328

Mexican 114 Florida clover

Minnesota 118 ' discussion of 338-344

Monthly 114 Grasshoppers 189

Muscowi 323 Hoven 94

Nonesuch 329 Inoculation, soil 53

Pea vine 218 Japan clover

Perennial 114 discussion of 279-290

Perennial hybrid 194 described 279

Perennial red 218

Pod 194

Red perennial meadow .. 118
Rhenish 218

distribution.... 282

soils s.°-

place in the rotation 2\

preparing the soil 28^

INDEX

349

Japan clover, Continutd. Sand Lucerne

sowing 285 discussion of 333-337

pasturing 287 Sanfoin

harvesting for hay 288 discussion of 316-322

securing seed 289 Seaside clover

renewing 290 discussion of 345

new variety 337 Sweet clover

Mammoth clover discussion of 300—315

discussion of 218-237 described 300

described 218

distribution 220

soils 222

place in the rotatiofo 224

preparing the soil 226

sowing 227

pasturing 231

harvesting for hay 233

securing seed 234

renewing 236

compared with medium

red 237

Medium red clover

distribution 303

soils 305

place in the rotation 306

preparing the soil 307

sowing.,.. 308

pasturing 309

harvesting for hay 310

securing seed 311

renewing 311

value for bee pasture 312

as a fertilizer 313

value on alkali soils 314

destroying the plants 314

discussion of 57-113 Tubercles, root 50

described 57 Weeds troublesome 235

distribution.. 61 White clover

soils 65

place in the rotation 70

preparing the soil 74

sowing 75

pasturing 91

harvesting for hay 95

storing 100

securing seed 103

renewing 109

as a fertilizer no

Micro-organisms 48

Nitragin 53

Nodules in clover plants. . . 49 Yellow clover

Root tuberclea 50 discussion of ... 328-332

discussion of 258-278

described 258

distribution 261

soils 264

place in the rotation 265

preparing the soil 267

pasturing 270

harvesting for hay 271

securing seed 273

renewing , 276

for lawns 277

as a honey plant 278

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(O

This book is DUE on the last date stamped below

Form L-9-15tn- 11/27

205
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Clovers and how to

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