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PEOVER. CULTURE

BY HENRY WALLACE.

’

HOMESTEAD COMPANY.
Des Moines, Iowa.

; ey
ENTERED ACCORDING TC
1 THE YEAR 1892,

IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIB
WASHINGTON, D. C,

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PREGA

The scientific facts pertaining to agriculture, so far as
they have been discovered, are scattered through many books
and other publications, comparatively few of them being ac-
cessible to the ordinary farmer; the practical experience in
the application of these facts, so far as known, is in the pos-
session of the thousands of widely scattered farmers and
largely beyond the reach of the public.

It has occurred to us that we might do some service to

the farmers of the United States, and especially of the West,

by collating as many as possible of the facts that are accu-
rately and certainly known, and the experience of farmers over
as wide a district as possible, on the one subject of ‘‘ Clover

]

Culture,” and presenting them to the public in compact form,
in language within the comprehension of every farmer and at
an expense within the means of every man who grows an
acre of clover. We began the investigation of the subject
some years ago with the sole purpose of solving the difficulties
encountered in obtaining satisfactory stands of clover on sev-
eral hundred acres of land in western Iowa. Discussion of
various phases of the subject through the Homrsrrap has
brought us hundreds of letters from farmers in many states
who were meeting the same or similar difficulties, and the
following pages are the condensed results of our study of the
subject, of the experience of our correspondents, of our own

experience and our observation both at home and abroad.

ky ie)

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As such we submit. it to the choughtfal reader. ns ‘
Pra The book is not written for the instruction of t ee
__ tist,,nor is it intended as an exhaustive discussion « of t ;
of. = ject, but to place in the hands of the practical farmer su
information, both scientific and practical, as he needs on | thi roe
subject under consideration. We have therefore, writer ie
possible, translated scientific terms into every-day ‘English fe
and have aimed to put the fodder in the rack where even thee
lambs can reach it. Such has been the aim; howhine we have
: succeeded the reader must be the judge.
HENRY WALLACE.

THE CLOVERS AND OTHER GRASSES.

CHAPTER I.

In the very outset of our investigation of the subject of the
clovers, it is important tonotice the distinction between these
and the other grasses. While in popular usage we apply the
term grasses to all kinds of herbage that is summer food for
the lower animals, botanically speaking clover is not a grass.
The term grass. pertains to plants with simple leaves, stems
generally jointed and tubular, husks or chaff, technichally
called g/umes, in pairs and seeds single. A slight observa-
tion will show that the clovers do not belong to this class.
The true grasses include all our commonly called grasses, the
clovers excepted, and besides nearly all our grains, such as
wheat, oats, barley and corn and also the sorghums. Clover
belongs to the Legumznos@, or Pulse familiy, andto the same
family belong peas, beans, and vetches, sanfoin, lupines
and many others among what are popularly termed grasses.
It includes a large number of weeds such as wild indigo,
wild peas, shoestring, etc., also a. large number of shrubs
such as the Wisteria, Carragana, Robinia, etc., and forest trees
of which the locusts are the best known in the temperate
zone and logwood and mahogany in the torrid zone. There
are 6500 known species of Legumznos@, it being surpassed by
but one family, that of the Composite, to which belong the
goldenrods, asters and sunflowers, and in the wealth of its
products for the supply of human wants the family of the
Leguminos@ surpasses all others.

The Clovers as a rule differ trom the other grasses in thei:
habit of root growth. Most true grasses throw out their roots

~ CLOVER CULTURE.

horizontally, and while these often reach to great depths,
much further than those who have not particularly investiga-
ted the matter believe, they penetrate to these depths only af-
ter having exhausted the fertility of the surface, and then in
separate rootlets, while the cultivated clovers go down with
along, straight tap-root, some ofthem, as the alfalfa, reaching,
under favorable circumstances, to a depth of eight or ten feet,
and sometimes from fifteen to twenty, while three to four feet
is by no means an uncommon depth to be reached by the or-
dinary red clover. The most striking difference between the
clovers and the other grasses is in their power to increase the
fertility of the soil, and in away which has, until recent years,
been unaccountable on any known scientific principles.
This power is now believed to be shared by the entire family
of plants called Legumznos@, of which the best known cul-
tivated varieties in America are peas, beans and the clovers.
This mysterious power of enriching the soil, while at the
same time taking from it large crops of the highest feeding
value, has been well known to practical farmers ever since
agriculture had a history, and no doubt for a long time before.
We find Virgil, for example, more #iana century before the
Christian esa, singing in the first Georgic:
‘At least, where vetches, pulse and tares have stood,
And stalks of lupines grew (a stubborn wood)
The ensuing season in return may bear
The bearded product of the golden year.
For flax and oats will burn the tender field
And sleeping poppies harmful harvest yield.”’
—Georgic 1st, Dryden's Trans.
The fact that good grain crops may be expected after a
crop of Legumes was as well understood in those far-off
days as it isnow, anditis only in very recent years that scien-
tists have been able to offer any adequate explanation. Flax
seems to have had as bad a reputation as asoil robber as it
has now, and we suspect our modern wise men know as little
of the real reason as did the ancients. We find Virgil giving
directions as to sowing the legumes in the following:
‘‘Sow beans and clover on the rotten soil,
* * * * * * *

Vile vetches would you sowand lentils lean,
The growth of Egypt, or the kidney bean,
Begin when the slow Waggoner descends,
Nor cease your sowing till midsummer ends.”’
—Thbid.

CLOVER CULTURE. 5

The old poet had some notions about clover as food for
daity cows, for he sings:
“Tf milk be thy design
Bring clover grass.’?
‘ —Tbid.

It isa matter of history well known to all students, that
the revival of English agriculture, which has made such won-
derful development in all linesin the last century, was syncyron-
ous with the introduction of clover and turnips, the clover
enriching the soil in the material needed for the production
of turnips, and the turnips furnishing the winter feed that
has enabled Englishmen to bring to perfeetion their famous
breeds of livestock. Norneed we go to a remote age, nor to
foreign lands to noticethis wonderful distinction between the
clovers and the other grasses.

While it isgenerally conceded among intelligent farmers
that exclusive grain-growing impoverishes the soil, and that
grass culture must be resorted toin order to restore wastes of the
soil robber, it isnot generally known, as it should be, that
this restoration comes almost exclusively through the medium
of the clovers. Hence, we find that wherever farming is con-
ducted on scientific principles, clover culture assumes a posi- |
tion of prime importance. At first, farmers are disposed to
believe that grasses of any kind add to the fertility of the soil.
In a measure this is true, but mainly true because they are
grown im connection with some of the varieties of clover. The
discovery that the recuperative power of the grasses lies al-
most wholly in the clovers comes to some farmers as a very
great surprise, and often in connection with blasted hopes.
How often have farmers who have sown their lands to timo-
thy exclusively, and after mowing two or three years and then
plowing them up and planting them to corn, been grievously
disappointed in the results? It is a matter of common obser-
vation and remark that while timothy alone is a doubtful
and uncertain crop, when sown with clover it yields abund-
antly and nearly as much timothy is grown with the clover
as without and a fine crop of clover besides. The next year
it will be noticed that while the clover is said to be ‘‘frozen
out,’’ but really dying out by the natural limitation of its
life, the timothy grows most luxuriantly, and the faith of the
farmers in this crop revives. The common explanation that
clover keeps the land moist or that it keeps it loose, is wide
of the mark. The true explanation is that clover feeds the
timothy with nitrogen by means of its decaying roots. Farm-

6 CLOVER CULTURE.

ers have also notieed how difficult it is to maintain a blue-
grass sod for a series of years, unlessit isaccompanied by white
clover. Blue grass maintains its selfish monopolizing policy
for a year or two, but is compelled to yield sooner or later to
the white clover and the two ever after grow together, for the
simple reason that the blue grass, being a greedy nitrogen feed-
er, and always nitrogen hungry after thenatural resources of
the soil have been exhausted, is compelled to depend upon the
nitrogen furnished by the white clover. If blue grass were
used as a meadow grass, and the entire crop taken from the
soil, it would be clearly seen to be as exhaustive of fertility as
is timothy or grain crops. Every farmer understands that
all kinds of grain or grass crops grow more luxuriantly
when planted or sown with clover or on clover sod. This fact
points out the clear and wide distinction between the clovers
and the other grasses. All other grasses outside of the Ze-
guminosae, the principally cultivated classes of which in Amer-
ica are the clovers, are great nitrogen feeders and always ni-
trogen hungry and, having no means of obtaining nitrogen
except from the soil itself, are dependent either upon farm
yard or artificial manure or the clovers for their supply, when
once the virgin fertility of the soil in nitrogen is exahusted.

The most vital distinction, then, between the clovers and
the other grasses is this: that the clovers, together with other
varieties of Leguminosae, are able to obtain a supply of nitro-
gen, the most costly element of fertility, from a source
quite independent of the stored fertility of the soil or of ap-
plied manure. Itisimportant for the farmer to keep this dis-
tinction in mind in order that he may understand not only
the reason why the cultivation of the clovers has always ac-
companied the introduction of improved farming, but also the
bearing which their cultivation will have upon the develop-
ment of the resources of the West, and in fact of the entire
Nation.

The sources from which clover obtains nitrogen, the
relation which nitrogen sustains to the other two great ele-
ments of fertility in the soil, potash and phosphoric acid, and
the place which the clovers and other species of Leguminosae
occupy of necessity in any cheap and practical feeding ration
and their relation to the improvement of live stock as well as
to the production of grains which will: be demanded by the
rapidly increasing population in America, will be discussed
in the concluding chapters of this work. It is enough now
to point out the facts which are clearly recognized by agricul-

CLOVER CULTURE. 7

tural students and which have in the last few years been
clearly demonstrated and for the first time really understood.
Our object at present is to call the attention of our readers to
the wide distinction betwixt the clovers and the other grasses,
and to point out the fact that the cultivation of some variety
of the Lzguminosae is essential to any great improvement,
either in grain production, the production of live stock or the
conservation of the fertility of the soil.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE CLOVERS,

CHAPTER II.

If the statement in the last paragraph of the previous
chapter be true that ‘“‘the cultivation of some variety of the Ze-
guminos@ is essential to any great improvement, either in
grain production, the production of livestock or the conserva-
tion of the fertility of the soil,’? then the distribution of the
legumes, and especially of the clovers, becomes a question
alike of great scientific and practical importance. A crop
that can not only supply itself with nitrogen, to a great ex-
tent independently of the nitrogen of the soil, but, by the de-
cay of its roots and haulm supply other crops with nitrogen,
is the very keystone of thearch of successful agriculture where-
ever its cultivation is possible.

The importance of the subject is greatly enhanced when
we take into consideration the relation it sustains to the fer-
tility of the soil, to growing crops and to the structure of all
animals. Nitrogen, while the most costly and an absolutely
essential element in soil fertility, in plant growth and in ani-
mal life, is one of the most abundant elements in all nature.
It constitutes about four-fifths of the atmosphere, where it
‘seems to be used merely to dilute the oxygen. It enters
into no chemical combinations with it, but co-exists simply
as a mixture, like sand in sugar. The process by which the
free nitrogen of the atmosphere is transformed into the ni-
trogenous compounds of the soil haslong been a puzzle to
scientists, a puzzle all the more complicated and difficult of
solution because it has been held until quite recently by all
scientists and investigators that plants can uot appropriate
free nitrogen fromthe atmosphere. It is astriking fact, how-
ever. that all the sources from which either the nitrogen of

CLOVER CULTURE. 9

commerce or that which enters into grain, grasses or the ani-
mal forms is drawn are either the sedimentary ‘rocks, the
remains of animal or plant life, the soil in which plant life
flourishes, or, finally the atmosphere itself. The sedimentary
rocks abound in animal and vegetable remains, and the
atmosphere before rains, and especially after protracted
drouths, contains available nitrogen in the form of ammonia
which the rains bring down. It is evident that this latter
form is a mere exhalation from decaying plant or animal life
on earth, a supposition rendered still more evident by the
fact that the amount of ammonia brought down by therains is
greater near large cities where decey isgreater than it isin agri-
cultural districts. Twomethods alone have been suggested with
any show of proof, by which the nitrogen of the atmosphere
may be transformed into the nitrogenous compounds that
make up the fertility of the soil—the one the combination
called nitric acid, and believed to be a result of power-
ful electrical action in the air during thunderstorms, and the
other the action of the legumes through the microbesin the
tubercles on their roots. ‘The last hasbeen demonstrated to
be a fact, but the exact way in which it is done seems to be
as mysterious as ever. May it not be (and we put the ques-
tion merely as a suggestion, never having heard it advanced
by any scientific authority) that the supply of nitrogen for
the support of the life of the plant or animal is main-
ly, if not wholly, obtained from the legumes which alone
of all plant life have been clearly demonstrated to have the
power to procure it, in a way not yet explained, from the free
nitrogen of the atmosphere?

Speaking. more ‘particularly of the place of nitro-
gen in the animal economy, it, or rather the albumi-
noids, (the form in which the nitrogen is appropri-
ated. by the animal), forms the lean meat of
all animals, much of the blood, the white and yolk of
the egg, and is in fact the flesh-former and strength-giver of
the animal economy. Potash, lime and the phospates enter
into the bony structure, and to some extent into the flesh.
Carbon is the main element of the fat, but without the albu-
minoids there can be no muscular formation, and hence no
animal life. It is perfectly clear that the animal can receive
nothing into its organization except through the food it con-
sumes, and hence the flesh-forming element must be in the
pliant, the grass, the grain, or new milk fed to the young,
and in the proportion adapted to the age ofthe animal—about

10 CLOVER CULTURE.

one of nitrogen to four of carbo-hydrates in its youth, and in
decreasing proportion after the muscular system has been
built up. It will be seen, therefore, that the great problem
of feeding lies in supplying nitrogen or albuminoids in this
proportion, and consequently in supplying foods which in their
combination have this proportion. Onaccount of its relative
scarcity to the elements that make up bone, or that keep up
heat, it is always the most costly, and hence any plantor any
class of plants that can draw supplies from the atmosphere in-
stead of the soil becomes invaluable in the economy of the
farm and the economy of nature. It is this fact that makes
the distribution of the Leguminose, and especially of the
clovers, a matter of such great importance.in agriculture.
The Leguminose as we have seen constitutes a very
large class of plants in all parts of the world, and in all con-
ditions of soil and climate. It embraces some of the largest
trees of the forest, especially in tropical countries, and, in the
temperate zone, one of the most distinctive varieties is that
of the locust, and the fact that the Legwmznosae are able to
procure nitrogen from the atmosphere explains what has
doubtless been a puzzle to many readers, why grain crops can
be grown close to a locust tree while they refuse to grow for
rods around an oak, sugar tree or a walnut. They are found
in all wild pastures, both in the shape of weeds and grasses.
The wild indigo, the vetch and shoestring may be cited as
prairie illustrations. If, as we have suggested, it is mainly
through the Legumznose that the nitrogen of the air can be
appropriated for the use of vegetable life, it will be clearly
seen that the absence of the legumes would make plant lite
impossible. Whether this be true or whether science may
yet reveal other hidden secrets of nature, showing that she is
not limited to this class ofplauts, itis but reasonableto expect
that they should have a wide distribution in every soil that
is at all capable of supporting plant life. Without speaking
ofother leguminous plants, such as peas, beans, vetches and lup-
ines that have been highly prized by agriculturists in all parts
of the world, and in all ages, it is worth while to notice that
there are in America more than forty native varieties of the
clovers, in addition to those introduced since the settlement
of the country, and that among these are species apparently
adapted to all climates and to all varieties of soil’ and all of
them noted for being nitrogen feeders of other plants and re-
storers of the wastes created, in the first years of cultivation
in every country, by the soil robber. The clovers in some of

CLOVER CULTURE. 11

their varieties seem to be adapted to almost every soil where
the plow can provide the means of human existence. Were
nature as thoughtless as man, some portions of the earth
would become a desert waste. She is ever aiming to build
up and restore, and much of the skill and success in agricul-
ture depends upon noting carefully her processes and working
with her instead of at cross purposes.

As an example of this we might note the fact that the,
Japanese clover, (/espedeza striata) sown by no human hand,
spreads over the abandoned fields ofthe South and restores the
wastes of the cotton planter, the robber of the Southern soils,
The Bur clover, (medzcago deutzculata) and half adozen varie-
ties of érzfolia ,sown by thehand of Nature herself, gives rich-
ness to the pastures of California with itsrainless summers; the
alfalfa, (wzedicago sativa) makes the desert bloom like the gar-
den of the Lord wherever the hand of man furnishes the life-
giving water; the white clover, (¢rzfolium repens) follows
hard after the soil: robber of the prairies and kindly binds up
the broken-hearted land; the alsike camps in the sloughs and
swales and along the bottoms, providing pasture for the bees
while reclaiming the marshes; the white sweet ‘clover, (mel-
tlotus alba), and the Bokhara, a closely related variety, take
possession of the highways; the crimson clover, (¢rz/olzum in-
carnatum), flourishes all along the line between the cotton
lands of the South and the distinctively corn lands of the North,
while the medium red and the mammoth (¢r7folium pratense)
pre-empt the carboniferous and calcareous soils wherever there
is twenty inches of rainfall, mainly in the growing season.
None of these ever take a foot-hold in the soil without en-
riching it and none ever fellowship with other grasses with-
- out increasing their luxuriance.

As this work is intended to be practical rather than scien-
‘tific, for the guide of the farmer and not the instruction of the
scientist; dealing in scientific facts and conclusions only in so
far as it is necessary for the farmer to understand them in or-
der to deal intelligently with clovers, we discuss the distribu-
tion of the clovers only in so far as it interests the American
farmer. ‘The mammoth and common red have a very wide
distribution, and we group these together because they are
not different species, as many suppose, but merely an early
and late variety of the same species. ‘This distinction is im-

portant, and because of the failure to note it carefully, many
farmers have been led into serious error in their methods of
handling mammoth, otherwise known as ‘‘pea-vine’’ or ‘‘sap-

12 CLOVER CULTURE.

ling’’ clover. They regard the red asa species that produces
two crops in a year, and seed only in the second.crop, and the
mammoth as a variety that produces seed in the first crop but
furnishes nonein thesecond. This isa mistake. The common
red does produce seed the first erop wherever it has an opportu-
nity of insect fertilization. We have cut on our own farms as.
much as three bushels of seed per acre from the first crop and
from a thin stand, but ordinarily it is only the late blooms
that become fertilized. This is owing to the scarcity of
bumble bees, and to the fact that during the season of first
blossoming there is an abundance of preferred bloom which
prevents the Italian bees from visiting the clover.
Farmers have abundant proof of this fact when they cut tim-
othy for seed, in which they find more or less clover seed
when the common red is grown with timothy. The mam-
moth would yield a second crop if the season were long.
enough. Ifa mixed crop of mammoth and medium red is cut
by the 15th of June, or even the 2oth, and the season is
favorable, many plants of the mammoth will ripen seed,
and if they are both cut by the roth of June, a crop of seed
may be expected from both. As proof of this we cite the fact
that we have mown a meadow of mixed varieties for ten years
and the mammoth in this meadow holds its own, which it
could not do were it not annually ripening seeds. ~ It has
never, except on one occasion, been mowed prior to the 4th
of July. The mammoth is simply a late-maturing variety of
trifolium pratense, the botanical name for both, its season of
growth being from two to three weeks longer for the crop
than that of the medium red. This distinction will be more
fully pointed out when we come to discuss the best methods
of the management of each. These two varieties ot the ¢rz/o-
lium. pratense have a very wide distribution, being co-exten-
sive with the limestone and calcareous soils over the entire.
continent,.limited on these only by the amount of rainfall.
They grow luxuriantly on all the limestone soils of the East-
ern and Middle states and refuse to grow with a profitable
_ luxuriance wherever the rocks are deficient in the mineral ele-
ments peculiar to these soils. They reach far south on the
Appalachian range, and their limitation by soil formation is
most striking in Tennessee. They grow luxuriantly in Mid-
dle and East Tennessee, but whenever we pass west’ of the
carboniferous formations into West Tennessee; they there dis-
appear or fail to grow in desirable luxuriances ‘They may
be found in North Alabama and Georgia, and even far south.

CLOVER CULTURE. 13

wherever the peculiar geological formation of the Appalachian
range appears, and they disappear with this formation.

The peculiar composition of the drift soil that covers the
prairies of most of the Western states gives these varieties a
very wide distribution. It is well known that most of these
soils are not made zz stu, in other words, they are not the result
of decomposition of the rocks that underlie these states, al-
though in many places modified by them. This drift is the
result of the decomposition of rocks far distant and is min-
gled so thoroughly that scarcely any section may be found
in the Western states in which there is not abundance of car-
boniferous or calcareous matter to develop a luxuriant growth
of clover. The calcareous soils of the Missouri Valley, the
deposit of the calcareous formations of the Upper Missouri,
furnish material for the growth of clover in the greatest abun-
dance. :

We have for several years past been endeavoring to locate
in crude outline the western limit of the medium and mam-
moth clovers. Without coming to any very definite conclu-
sions and leaving the matter as yet undetermined, it is safe to
say that in ordinary seasons these varieties may be grown suc-
cessfully on fair soils as far west as the longitude 96° 40 m. west
from Greenwich, and in favorable seasons there is practically
no western limit; in other words, the limit is determined not
by the structure of the soil, which on good lands is favorable
for clover everywhere, but by the rainfall. Magnificent ex-
amples of common red and mammoth, white and alsike have
been sent us this year from the extreme western boundary of
Nebraska, longitude 102°30 m., showing conclusively that the
soil conditions are of the best on the edge of what is known
as the desert, and all that is lacking is the rainfall. The
northern limit of the growth of these clovers has not yet been
determined. It is safe, however, to say that the reports of
the destruction of these crops by freezing during the severe
winters in many cases are the result of not understanding the
nature of the plant, which is that ofa biennial or short peren-
nial and when used as a hay crop would naturally disappear
at the second year whether the winters were favorable or un-
favorable. * ;

The white, ¢rifolium repens, has even a wider distribu-
tion than the mammoth and common red, (¢7z/olkum pratense),

* NotTE.—It is more than probable that under the name of common red
clover we have several varieties of ¢rifolium, some of which are biennials
and some short perennials.

14 CLOVER CULTURE.

being able to grow on soils on which the larger varieties do
not succeed and to grow.on all soils in which they do.

The alsike, (¢7zfolium hybridum), is distributed less wide-
ly, mainly because to grow a profitable crop it requires a
much largeramountof moisture andit is especially valuable for
wet lands where none of the other varieties succeed so weil.
It takes its technical name from the mistaken belief of the
earlier botanists that it is a hybrid, or cross between the red
and the white. This has long since been ascertained to be an
error. ‘The technical name is further objectionable because
the term ‘‘hybrid’’ is properly applied only to the results of
those violent crosses such as that of the ass and the horse, of
which Nature forbids the reproduction. Alsike is preferred
to the mammoth or common red, not only on wet sloughs,
but on soils where it is believed that these varieties winter-
kill. We are inclined to the belief that its preference in
northern latitudes is due not so much to any peculiar ability
to stand extreme cold, but to the fact that unlike the two
former, it is perennial, and hence does not ordinarily perish
at the end of the second year. ‘The illustrations that will be
furnished when we come to discuss the best methods of the
cultivation of each will enable the reader to clearly distin-
guish these different varieties.

Alfalfa is the clover peculiarly adapted to the semi-arid
regions and to the arid regions where irrigation is possible It
is entirely true that it can be cultivated on any good corn
lands, that are not underlaid with rock, hardpan or heavy clay,
provided it is protected during the first winter in northern
latitudes, but when thus grown is much inferior to the mam-
moth or common red in latitudes where these can be grown
profitably, and hence its cultivation under these circumstances
is not advisable. It is, however, to be preferred to any other
in the regions of deficient rainfall, or where the rainfall, how-
ever abundant, in any given year, can not be depended upon
for a succession of years. It has been grown very successfully
over Central and Western Kansas, every,county in the state
but three reporting more or less alfalfa,” and these counties
lying in the eastern part of the state where red clover is
so pronounced a success that farmers do not need to look fur-
ther. The extreme length of its root enables it to go down
in the years of sufficient. rainfall to depths where it is in a.
measure independent of surface moisture, and the normal dry-
uess of the climate furnishes the condition for curing it into
excellent hay, a difficulty that is almost insuperable in sec-

CLOVER CULTURE. 15

tions of the country which enjoy an abundant rainfall in the
months of June and July. Itis therefore in the semi-arid re-
gions the best of all substitutes for other clovers.

The great value of alfalfa lies in its adaptability to the
arid lands of the mountains and the plains and the lands that
have a winter rainfall and summer drouth as on the Pacific
Coast. Itis possible under these circumstances to cut three,
four aud even five crops in a single year, irrigation furnish-
ing the moisture and the dryness of the atmosphere making-
the curing the crop entirely practicable. This will be more
fully explained when we come to discuss the proper method
of handling this crop.

Much has been said in recent years, and particularly by
the Eastern press, of the value of crimson clover, ¢vzfolium
incarnatum. ‘This, unlike those previously mentioned, is an
annual clover, the seed being sown in July or August and
maturing earlyin the spring. Itis therefore peculiarly adap-
ted to the soils along the latitude of 40 degrees and south,
and should not be attempted on the soils of the corn belt of
the Northern states. Utterly valueless as it is in these soils,
it is of very great value in its peculiar climate, as it can be
sown in mid-summer, and removed in the spring in time for
another crop. Its value asa forage plant is much inferior to
any of theother clovers, and it is therefore adapted only for
local cultivation in soils and climates specially suitable to its
growth,

THE RED AND MAMMOTH CLOVERS.
CHAPTER III.

There is, perhaps, no agricultural subject in which the
farmers, especially of the Western states, are more deeply in-
terested than the cultivation of these two varieties of clover.
In taking this deep interest they are but following in the
wake of farmers in other countries. The cultivation of these
clovers comes in everywhere, apparently, in the wake of the
soil-robber. After lands have been exhausted of their virgin
fertility, their owners begin to enquire how the lost fertility
can be restored, and no means has yet been discovered so cer-
tain and reliable as the cultivation of red and mammoth clo-
ver. The Western states are now where the Eastern states
were forty or fifty years ago, and where England was in 1633.
In Sir Richard Weston’s report on the Husbandry of Brabant .
and Flanders, published by Hartlib in 1645, wé have some
interesting statements as to the cultivation of clover at that
time, both with regard to its object and methods, from which
we quote as follows:

‘Tt thrives best when you sow it on the worst and barren-
est ground. The ground has to be pared and burned and un-
slacked lime added to the ashes. It is next to be plowed and
harrowed; and about ten pounds of clover seed must be sown
to the acre in April or the end of March. If it is intended to
preserve seed then the second crop must be let stand until it
come to a full and dead ripeness and it will yield at least five
bushels per acre. Being once sown, it will last five years;
and then being plowed it will yield, three or four years to-
gether, rich crops of wheat, and after that a crop of oats, with
which clover is to be sown again. It is in itself an excellent
manure.’’

CLOVER CULTURE. 17

The cultivation of clover seems to have spread as rapidly
in England as it has in the Mississippi states of America in
the last few years, for in less than twelve years, that is, before
1655, its cultivation, exactly according to the present method,
seems to have been well known in England, and had also
made its way to Ireland. ‘The little change that has been
made in the methods of cultivating clover in that country
would seem to indicate that those early farmers had hit on
about the right method. When a method does reasonably
well, there is no inducement to change, anditisonly when this:
method fails that farmers are forced to a more profound study
of the principles involved. In the moist climate of England
and of Flanders, and in the comparatively moist climate of the:
Eastern states, surface-sown clover, and especially when sown
on winter wheat or rye, in the months of February or March,
did reasonably well, but when it was tried on the lighter and’
drier soils of the West, and especially on spring grains, sown
generally in April, the failures in securing a stand became
very much more frequent. Farmers in these newer coun-
tries have, therefore, been compelled to get hold of the great:
principles that underlie the growth of clover in any and all
countries and apply them to their own particular circumstan-
ces. Five things are essential to plant life: A soil that has:
all the elements of fertility essential to the life of that. plant;
that soil in a proper physical and mechanical condition, and
in addition to these two, light, heat and moisture. No mat-
ter how fertile the soil, or how abundant may be the elements
of fertility especially adapted to the plant, no plant will even
germinate in utter darkness. For this reason clover bedded
in a manure heap, wth every element of fertility needed and
with abundanee of moisture and heat, will not germinate ex-
cept where it lies near the surface and secures the proper de-
gree of light. No matter what may be the light, moisture,
or fertility, plants will not germinate at zero nor where the
temperature is continually below the point of freezing. No
matter how suitable the temperature, the sunshine or the fer-
tility, they will not germinate without sufficient moisture,
and no matter how cqmpletely all these elements are com-
bined they will not make a profitable growth unless the soil
is in a proper mechanical condition to meet the requirements
ofthe plant. Itis only by the proper combination of all '
these essentials that success is attained.

Of all the multitude of elements that enter into the com-
position of the clover plant, all soils have an inexhaustible

1s CLOVER CULTURE.

quantity, with the exception of three or perhaps four, These
are potash, phosphoric acid, nitrogen and perhaps lime. It
is, however, very hard to find a soil so deficient in nitrogen
that it will not grow clover. Clover has been grown in ex-
perimental pots of pure sand, from which every element of
fertility has been washed out, and to which potash and phos-
phoric acid in their proper proportions have been added, and
the only difference observable between their yield and that of
similar plots rich innitrogen, as well as the other elements, is
during the brief period when the nitrogen in the seed has
been exhausted and before the action of the microbes in the
nodules or tubercles on the roots has been fully established.
These experiments, of which we shall hereafter have much
to say in detail, show conclusively that clover is less depend-
ent on the nitrogen in the soil than almost any other plant,
the only other exceptions in fact being other members of the
leguminosae, to which order, as we have before said, clover be-
longs.
ert will be noticed in the above extract from Weston that
clover apparently did best on poor soils, a fact then inexplica-
ble but which, it is well understood now, is not due to the
poverty of the soil, but to its ability to supply itself with ni-
trogen, of which these soils are deficient, from the great source
of nitrogen, the atmosphere. It is, therefore, one of the pecul-
iarties of the clovers and one of their greatest merits, that
they are less particular about the first condition of plant life, —
the fertility of thesoil—in nitrogen, than any other true grass-
es or grains. It is, therefore, almost impossible to find a soil
in the Western states so far deficient in nitrogen that it will
not grow clover, and it is almost as difficult to find one on our
drift soils so far deficient in phosphoric acid, lime or potash.
The question, therefore, as to whether the soil is rich enough
to grow red and mammoth clover may as well be dismissed.
In the matter ofthe mechanical or physical condition of the
soil, the red and mammoth clovers are as accommodating as
are the other grasses. None of them require the garden cul-
ture demanded by most grains. They go on reproducing
themselves in the pasture—where the plants are allowed to go
to seed—year after year, and thisself-seeding in the meadow
or the pasture goes on successfully where careful seeding in
the well-tilled field often fails. Im fact, we have often seen
clover sown on the wild prairie, when pastured closely with
cattle orsheep, make a perfect stand while it almost corm-
pletely failed when sown on spring grain, on improved land

CLOVER CULTURE. | 19

adjoining, in the best possible condition for the growth of the
cereals. Why it is, we shall see when we come tospeak more
particularly of the conditions of light and moisture.

Nor is there any difficulty in growing these clovers on
account of temperature. The season attends to that. The
success or failure in growing clover depends on skill
in regulating the mechanical condition so as to secure light
and moisture.

The reader may learn much on this subject by examining
the germination of clover seeds in an old stack of clover hay
in May and June. He will find that on the outside, no matter
how abundant the seed, it does not germinate, for the reason

that while it has light and heat, it has no moisture. By lift-
ing up the edge of the hay he will find that a certain distance
inward it germinates freely, but beyond that a certain distance
it does not germinate at all, simply because the proper com-
bination of light, heat and moisture is not present. Success
lies in getting the light and moisture in the soil in the combi-
nation supplied in the stack at the point where the germina-
tion is perfect. Given, then, almost any kind of soil that will
produce a moderate crop of spring grain of any kind, how
shall we secure a standof cloverthat will holdagainst possible
drouth for the first ninety days? This is the point to be con-
sidered in determining the very first question in growing
these clovers, the depth at which they shall be covered.
After the first ninety days they are safe against anything ex-
cept the extreme drouths. We are satisfied that nine-tenths
of the failures in growing clover, about which we hear so
much, and especially on the lighter soils of the West, depend
upon the lack of proper covering in order to secure the condi-
tions requisite tor vigorous germination and the support ofthe
life of the plant during the first three months of its existence.
The management will, of course, depend upon the kind of
grain crop in the soil. If it is intended to grow on land al-
ready in winter wheat and rye, the custom of sowing early in
March can not well be improved. No matter how early it
may be sown, it will not germinate until the season gives the
right temperature. The freezing and thawing of the ground
gradually imbeds the seed in the soil and growth is all the
‘quicker because of the shallowness of the covering. Begin-
ning at the commencement of the growing season, it is able
to strike its roots deep in the soil and to stand any probable
drouth in the earlier partof the year. Success will be all the
more certain if the nurse crop is rye, for the reason that the

20 CLOVER CULTURE.

narrow blades of the rye give the young clover plant plenty of
airand sunshine. There are few soils and few seasons in any
country, in which clover growing is practicable, in which a
fine stand of clover can not be obtained by sowing on rye
in March, and then pasturing off the crop with sheep, hogs
or cattle. ‘The best success is obtained by pasturing with the
two former, and, if cattleare used, the lighter they are the bet-
ter. Some little damage will be done the clover by tramping
with heavy cattle, especially in wet weather, but we have found
by experience that the advantages in securing the more per-
fect covering of the seed by treading are much greater than
the disadvantages. Clover sometimes fails of a stand when
sown on winter wheat, for the reason that a crust is likely to ©
form on the top, especially if the month of March be dry, and
the ground deficient in moisture and the seeds therefore do
not become sufficiently imbedded. ‘This may be remedied to
a very great extent by harrowing the ground after the clover
has been sown. In this way sufficient covering can be se-
cured and the benefits to the wheat will far more than com-
pensate for the labor. Success would be all the more certain
if in adry time a heavy roller were used, thus compressing
the soil around the roots of the wheat as well as the seeds of
the clover. It requires, however, a good deal of sound judg-
ment and discretion to use the roller in a country subject to
high winds.

When sown with spring grain, the problem is much more
dificult. ‘Ihe season is necessarily later and care must be
taken at all hazards to bury the clover deep enough to secure
moisture, and not too deep to exclude light. Just how deep
clover should be covered is a problem that can be determined
only by the farmer himself. Everything depends upon the
season and upon the nature of the soil. The lighter the soil
and the drier the season the deeper must the seed be covered.
Untold damage has been done to the clover interests of the
Western states by the publication in works that are regarded
as standard authority, and copied into the agricultural news-
papers, of the depths at which clover germinates best and re-
fuses to germinate. Prof. Flint in his work on Grasses and
Forage Plants, quoting from a treatiseon grass by the Messrs.
Iawson, the noted seedsmen of Edinburgh, states that the red
clover germinates best at a depth of from nothing to one-half
inch; that half the seeds germinate from one and one-quarter
to one and one-half, and that none of the seeds gerniinate
when covered to the depth of two inches. ‘This is no doubt

CLOVER CULTURE. 21

truefor the climate and soil of Edinburgh, and to some ex-
tent true in the moister climate of the Eastern states, but it
is entirely misleading and false on the light, soils and drier
climate of the West. Acting upon this advice Western farm-
ers have adopted the methods of surface sowing common in
Europe and in the Eastern states and have been grievously
disappointed. Clover sown on our own farms by this method
has failed to germinate the first year, and sometimes the sec-
ond, coming up asa full crop inthe third year where the
ground has been undisturbed, and that for the simple reason
that the supply of moisture was deficient, for the lack ofsuf-
ficient covering in dry seasons. ‘The clover simply waited
until there was sufficient moisture to secure germination.
Mr. Jethro Tull, an English gentleman who wrote a book on
Horse-Hoeing Husbandry, published in 1731, has a paragraph
which incidentally refers to the depth of covering, which is
worth quoting. Speakingof his experience in drilling plants
in rows for the purpose of using the horse-hoe, he says: “‘I
was formerly at much pains and at some charge in improving
my drills in planting the rows at very near distances and had
brought them tosuch perfection that one horse would draw
a drill with eleven shares, making the rows at three and one-
half inches distant from one another, and at thesame time
sow in them three different sorts of seeds which did not mix
and these, too, at different depths. As the barley rows were
seven inches asunder, the barley lay four inches deep. A
little more than three inches above that in the same channels
was clover; betwixt every two of these rows was a row of san-
foin covered one-half inch deep. I had a good crop of barley
the first year; the next year twocrops of broad clover, where
that was sown; and where hop clover was sown, a mixed crop
of that and sanfoin, but I am since, by experience, so fully
convinced of the folly of these or any other mixed crops, and
more especially of narrow spaces, that I have demolished
these instruments in their full perfection, as a vain curiosity,
the drift and use of them being contrary to the true principles
and practice of horse hoeing.”’

It will beseen from the above that even in the moist cli-
mate of England clover succeeded well when covered almost
an inch deep, and the practice was abundant, not on account
of the failure to grow clover but because the narrow spaces
between the drills of the different seeds did not allow the
practical operation of the horse-hoe. In view of the import-
ance of this question at the present time in the Western

22 CLOVER CULTURE.

states, we requested Prof. Wilson, of the lowa Experiment
Station, at Ames, Iowa, to determine the depth at which clo-
ver grew best in the light soil of the College farm. He has
kindly furnished us the results of this experiment, as follows:

“The College Experiment Station sowed red clover at
different depths in the spring of 1892, to ascertain the effect
on germination. The spring was late, owing to repeated
rains that prevented seeding. ‘Theland used isa dark, sandy
loam that had been in barley the previousyear, and had been
fall-plowed. Plots a rod square were used and the seeding
was done on the ninth of April. A plot was sowed broadcast
on the surface and raked in. A plot was sown in drills one
inch deep. A plot was sown in drills two inches deep, and
one three inches deep. ‘The seed sown broadcast was above
the ground and a good stand April 25th; that sown an inch
deep was also a good stand April 25th; that sown two inches
deep was through the ground only partly on the 25thof April,
while that sown three inches deep was as good astand as any
on the 27th of April.

The season was favorable to germination and growth of
grass seeds. Rains were abundant during both spring and
summer. On July 2oth the four different plots were very
similar, being about eight inches high and ready to cut for
hay. ‘That sown three inches deep was the most vigorous of
any. ‘The plots were hoed between the rows and kept free
from weeds. Severalother grasses were sown simultaneously
with the clover that showed quite different results, but depth
of sowing in this case raises no decisive objection to any of
the depths at which the seeds were sown.

It may be well to state that the soil used is entirely free
from any trace of clay, consequently it does not pack as much
as some lands in the state, while it is not as loosea soil as the
bluff deposit of the Missouri slope. Repeated experiments
must be made todetermine the effect of different depths of
sowing indryseasons. ‘The indications so far, with the wet-
test season for some years, are that clover seed germinates as
promptly at a depth of three inches as at a depth of one inch
where the frost is out of the ground and the temperature is
the same, and further, that there is no evident weakening of
the young plants when the seed is sown three inches deep.

Contemporaneous with the foregoing it may be observed
that the station sowed peas from three to five inches deep,
and while the latter sowing was longer in coming up, yet at

ln
?

CLOVER CULTURE. ° 23

this writing, July 15th, there is no apparent difference in the
vigor of the sowings.’’

For two years past we have called attention of the farm-
ers of the West throughthe Homestead to this important mat-
ter, and their experience as reported from time to time largely
pletely verifies the results of the experiment above quoted.
The most successful clover growers in the West, and especial-
ly in the light soils of the Missouri valley, sow their clover
with their spring grain and give it the same depth of cover-
ing. The almost universal custom is to cover either with the
ordinary corn cultivator or with the disc cultivator, which in
farm practice would give clover a covering of from one-fourth
of an inch to two inches. The results of their experience,
however, are not uniform, the failures being the exception,
and success the rule. As an example of the very rare excep-
tions we give the following from Mr. George Geary, of Win-
terset, Iowa. In response to a letter of inquiry Mr. Geary
writes:

‘In the spring of 1892 I soweda field to clover about ten
days before sowing the oats. The oats were sown about the
3rd or 4th of April. It was disced twice, after the oats were
sown and then harrowed twice. I can not tell how deep it
was covered. The oats, however, all grew and none of the
clover except at the head-lands, which were not so well culti-
vated, where a few plants appeared. On the head-lands the
clover was not sown until after the discing was done. It was
then harrowed and floated. After giving the matter full con-
sideration I think the trouble was not in the deep covering,
but because the clover sod had sprouted before the ground
was cultivated, and this cultivation destroyed it. If this were
not the case, some of it would have grown, no matter how
deeply it was covered.”’

It is therefore extremely dovbtful whether even in this
case the failure of the stand in this field was due to the deep
covering or to the fact that the clover had sprouted and was
then destroyed by the tillage. It should be stated in this con-
nection that many farmers who harrow in clover in corn
stalks sow the clover seed a week or two in advance, and
where the covering is not so deep as that practiced by Mr.
Geary they have had good success. The advantage in sow-
ing in advance is that it gives the clover time to take up
moisture and swell and secures a quicker germination than
when sowed with the oats or spring grain. In case of dry
weather at the time of cultivation, it might prove hazardous.

24 . CLOVER CULTURE

Mr. Geary’s farm lies on the edge of the timber and is,
therefore, a much heavier soil than the prairie lands in the im-
mediate vicinity. Besides, it rests on a very heavy bed of
limestone, and the conditions of that farm are somewhat simi-
lar to the conditions on the heavy clay soils of the Eastern
states. It is not, therefore, surprising that deep covering does
not always succeed on that or like conditions even in the
West. ‘All this emphasizes the necessity of each farmer, no
matter where his location may be, determining by actual ex-
periment on his own farm the depth at which clover seed
germinates best in an ordinary season. ‘This will vary with
the normal amount of rainfall in the spring months and the
mechanical condition and character of the soil. The lighter
the soil the deeper should clover be covered, and there are
many parts of the West in which it should not be placed at
less than two inches.

It must be remembered that in discussing the depths of
covering at which clover does best, we are speaking solely
with reference to land in cultivation in small grain, and
not with reference to Jandin other grasses, whether wild or
tame. A moment’s reflection will convince anyone that deep-
er covering is required in soil in condition for the reception
of small grains than in soil that is already compacted by the
weather. For this reason clover requires a much shallower
covering when sown on winter wheat or rye than when sown
on newly cultivatedland, on which spring grain has been sown.

We have devoted much space to the depth at which red
and mammoth clover should be covered when sown with spring
grain, for the reason that the proper depth of covering is one
of the first conditions of success, and we are persuaded that
most failures in growing these clovers have been due to the
fact that farmers have not fully comprehended the first prin-
ciples, and thus have failed to apply them to their particular
conditions and circumstances.

Whether common red or mammoth clover should be
selected for sowing dependsaltogether upon the rotation of
crops that he has adopted andthe objects for which the clover
is grown. On good, rich land, where a crop of hay is desired,
and where fall pasture is an important consideration, the com-
monredisto bepreferred. This is especially the case in regions
where there are no insect enemies, such as the clover-root worm,
the clover midge, the thrips or the clover hay worm. Inthe ab-
sence of these pests, if it is desirable to secure a crop of clover
hay and the question of seed is less: important than an abun-

CLOVER CULTURE. 25

dant aftermath, we advise in every case to select the common
red, as there are probably two or three varieties, different in
the color of the blossom, in size and in maturity, and it would
not be difficult by selection to develop a variety with pure,
white blossoms, another with deepred and still others with
minor shades, and with essential differences in growth and
in the time of maturity. Possibly in the near future this may
be done. ‘These differences would seem to indicate that the
mammoth was the original type, and that the different varie-
ties of common red are simply variations from this type, the
effect of soiland climate, or in other words, of environment.
As stated in a previous chapter, we regard the mammoth
simply as a late-maturing variety of the red, and not a differ-
ent species. ‘The differences between them were regarded by
‘Linnaeus as sufficient to justify a different classification, and
he styled the common red, ¢vzfolium pratense and the mam-
moth ¢rzjolium medium. According to Prof. W. J. Beal, of the
Chair of Botany in the Michigan Agricultural College, in his
standard work on the grasses, page 346, the two spécies
freely cross, and show all grades of intermediate forms.
This would indicate that the distinctions are not so great as
to justify the earlier classification. We have, therefore, in
this work, where minute scientific accuracy is not the aim ex-
cept in so far as it seems essential to the practical guidance of
the farmer, treated them as different forms of one species,
without presuming to settle the question as to whether the
distinction heretofore made is scientifically correct or not.
The original differences may be seen by comparing the illus-
trations on pages 28 and 29, as taken from Sudlow. It
might, however, be somewhat difficult to find in any field o
mixed Mammoth and common red clover two plants that vary
quite as widely as the two illustrations. a
On tarms where the main object 1n growing clover is to
increase fertility, where it is not essential to secure a crop of
hay from every seeding of clover, and where it is desired to
procure a reasonably certain crop of seed as a money crop, the
mammoth should be preferred. The mammoth may also be
used with advantage on thin soils, and ésfeczally at their first
seeding, for the reason that on these soils it does not develop,
to the same extent at least, the objection that is urged against
it where on ordinary soils a hay crop is to be secured. This
objection is that it grows so rank and lodges so early that the
lower foot or eighteen inches of the stock becomes black and
entirely void of leaves and that the stalk is so coarse that it

26 CLOVER CULTURE.

is difficult to cure andis largely rejected by live stock. These
objections do not apply where it is not desirable to secure a
hay crop. Many farmers are so situated that they prefer to
grow both in separate fields, the medium red for hay, after-
math and fertility, and the mammoth for securing with rea-
sonable certainty acrop ofseed. In this case they sow timothy
with the mammoth and cut the first crop for seed, sometimes
mowing or pasturing it off until the first weeks of June for the
purpose of getting rid of the lower foot of the stalk and also
for the purpose of securing more abundant stooling. A crop
of seed is then taken about the 1st of September and theafter-
math of timothy and clover is allowed to grow for the pur-
pose of pasture. About two-thirds of the stalks of the mam-
moth clover die out the year after sowing, and the result is
usually a very heavy crop the next year, about two-thirds
timothy and one-third clover. The clover being at its best
at the same time as the timothy, the crop of hay resulting is
of a very fine quality, and comes inat a time when the best
conditions are usually present for curing it in its best estate.
It is very important, however, when growing timothy for
seed to secure seed free from admixture with the common
red and to sow it on soil not self-seeded with the latter
variety.

In sections of the country where the insect enemies of
clover are abundant it is advisable to discontinue the growth
of common red for a time and: take the mammoth in prefer-
ence, with all its disadvantages. All the insect pests with
which we are acquainted that infest the blossoms of clover,
produce two broods in the season, the first at the time of the
first bloom of red clover, and the second at the time of the sec-
ond bloom. By using the mammoth the fly of these. pests
has no opportunity to deposit its eggs, and hence, no second
crop is possible on that field. This is likely to bea very im-
portant consideration in the West when-the growth of clover
is tully established.

While the mammoth is far inferior to the medium red as
a hay crop, and therefore we do not advise its cultivation
where a hay crop is the main object, it has very important ad-
vantages to the farmer who has exhausted the fertility of his
land by long years of cultivation in wheat, corn, oats or flax,
and who is not in shape either to buy live stock or to provide
the shelter necessary to keep them at aprofit. In such cases
as this we advise the sowing of mammoth clover with every
crop of spring grain, even though it be the intention to plow ~

-

CLOVER CULTURE. 27

it up the succeeding year. The seed crop of mammoth clo- .
ver 1s about as certain as any other farm crop, while the seed
crop of the common red is one of themost precarious of crops,
unless the first cutting be made at the right time. It is rea-
sonably certain when the first crop is cut the last ten days of

June. Under Western conditions this is not always, nor in-

deed usually, possible. It is also liable to be greatly injured
by an early frost.

These. objections do not apply to the mammoth which
matures its seed -crop about the 1st of September in the lati-
tude of Central Iowa and Nebraska, and, owing to the high

temperature of the season, can be cured rapidly and threshed

easily. The yield is from two to six bushels per acre, which
at present prices is equal asa cash crop to anyother. The
farmer, therefore, can by the use of mammoth clover restore
the fertility of the soil for the time being without incurring
the expense of investing in cattle, fences or barns, and to him
it isinvaluable. Where the object is pasturage, we would
prefer sowing mixed seed in about equal proportions for the
obvious reason that, plants beingat their best about the period
of bloom, the season of continuous bloom is prolonged, mam-
moth clover coming in. bloom two or three weeks later
than the’common red. By using this method there can be a
constant succession of clover bloom from May until frost.
Keeping in mind these two peculiarities of the two different
varieties, the reader will be able to determine for himself
which is best adapted to the soil, climate and the character
of his farm operations.

The question of the amount of seed per acre whether
alone or mixed with each other, or with other grass seeds and
the best method of sowing will be discussed fully in a subse-
quent chapter.

CLOVER CULTURE,

Ay \y
ENN

(Trifolium, pretense.)

COMMON RED CLOVER.

CLOVER CULTURE. 29

MAMMOTH CLOVER. (Zrifolium medium.)

.

ALFALFA,

CHAPTER IV.

While the red and mammoth clovers are justly regarded
as the sheet anchor of the farmer in the sections of country to
which they are adapted, there is a point westward where,
by reason of deficient rainfall, their cultivation ceases to be
practicable or profitable. ‘There is alsoasouthern limit be-
yond which, by reason of the deficiency of limein the soil and
of the long continued summer heat, they cease to be reliable.
We have before noted—so important does she seem to consider
the clover family to the welfare of the race—that Nature
provides some member of the family to meet the wants
of almost every soil and climate adapted toeither tillage or
pasturage. This wantis mettoa very great extent, on the Paci-
fic coast of America, in the mountain valleys, on the great
plains, and on the Southern and along the Eastern Atlantic
coasts round to where it meets the red clover, by the alfalfa.
While not belonging to the same species as the ordinary clo-
vers, it has the same general characteristics and economic
values. It has the same three-cleft leaf and characteristic
pea blossom, as will be seen by the illustration on the follow-
ing page, the same power of assimilating nitrogen from the
atmosphere, an even higher ratio of albuminoids to carbo-
hydrates and therefore a similar feeding value. It is not a
trtfolium but a medicago and belongs to the same class as the
bur clover of Calitornia and the western plains.

In its origin it antedates history. It has been traced
back to the ancient kingdoms of Media and Persia and we
have no doubt that when Nebuchednezzar was testing the
value on Daniel and his companionsof the legumes or ‘‘pulse,’’
as food for young statesmen, alfalfa was growing luxuriantly on
the royal farms on the banks of therivers of Babylon. It was

ot

CLOVER CULTURE.

(Medicago sativa.)

ALFALFA.

32 CLOVER CULTURK,.

brought to Greece during the Persian war about 470 B. C.,
thence to Italy;and it naturally followed the march of the all-
conquering legions to France, Spain and Portugal. The
Spaniards brought it with them to the new world and it soon
became established along the La Plata and in Chiliin South
America, whence it was brought to California. Its very great
value under irrigation having been recognized, it soon be-
came established in the mountain valleys and ou the plains.
Oflate years farmers are beginning to recognize its value as a
substitute for clover on lands that are not susceptible of ir-
rigation, and now it may almost be regarded as a maxim that
where clover ends alfalfa begins, limited only in the practical
application of the maxim to soils that havea sub-soil suit-
able for alfalfa.

Alfalfa has travelled under various names. While its bo-
tanical name is medicago sativa it is knownin European coun-
tries as ‘‘lucerne,’’ from the city of Lucesie, in Switzerland,
where it is largely cultivated. The Spaniard named it alfalfa,
a name said to be of Arabic origin and this name has natur-
ally followed the plant to the new world. It has some strik-
ing peculiarities, one that its stalk is very small in proportion
to its root, the former growing under favorable conditions
about two feet in length, the latter measured only by the dis-
tance to water. It may be anything from five feet to twenty
feet.

It has been used for so many ages for the specific purpose
of a meadow and forage plant that it does not adapt itself
readily to pasturage, and inorder to secure the best results, re-
quires to be cut asa hay crop whether it be long or short,
about the time one fourth of the flowers are in bloom, other-
wise the stalk becomes woody and the value is very greatly
reduced. It need scarcely be said that a grass cut with such
an excess of sap is difficult to cure in a climate of great sum-
mer rainfall, andtor this and many other reasons is not adapt-
ed to the soil and clim te where clovers can be grown success-
fully. This difficulty of curing.the hay is not the only ob-
stacle in the way of its adoption by farmers who can grow the
other clovers to perfection. It must have: room to stretch
out its roots and: hence will not succeed on lands where the
moisture is near the surface, for the same reason it will not
succeed on lands that have a subsoil of heavy, impervious
clay or are underlaid with rock. Requiring several years to
attain its maxim of usefulness, it does not fit readily into the
rotations especially the short ones which are so essential to

CLOVER CULTURE. 33

diversified agriculture and of which the red and mammoth
clovers are so integral and essential a part. It cannot endure
cold winters in soils saturated with water or covered with ice
during the winter season, and hence, while having a wider
range than the ordinary clovers, it is almost as rigidly exclud-
ed from their domain as they are from the domain of alfalfa.

Alfalfa then has two leading uses, one, and the main one
as a forage crop in the regions where irrigation is possible,
and the other asa substitute for the ordinary clovers where
they fail from lack of summer moisture. It is the peculiarity
of arid soils and to a certain extent of the semi-arid, that the
conditions under which they are deposited prevent the forma-
tion of heavy clays, thus removing one of the’ main obstacles
to the growth of alfalfa. These soils have also comparatively
rainless summers and therefore provide the conditions for
curing with dispatch this clover which seems to have been
designed especially for their benefit. The discussion of the
growing of alfalfa naturally divides itself into two parts, its
culture under irrigation and its culture asa substitute for
other clovers, on soils and in climates where irrigation is not
practicable and where the latter are not a reliable crop.

When it is remembered that over more than one third of
the United States perennial grasses can be grown only by ir-
rigation the importance of the position sustained by alfalfa
will be readily recognized. It will grow steadily in popular
favor when irrigated lands lose their virgin fertility, as they
will in time, and when therefore it becomes necessary to find
some method of restoring the wastes of the soil robber. The
farmer on the plains and mountain valleys and on the Pacific
coast will then be compelled to call on alfalfa to do for him
what red clover does for the farmer in the Eastern states and
on the prairies.

In the Pacific states and in the mountain valleys it is
possible, by irrigation, to produce, on suitable land, from ten
to fifteen tons of alfalfa hay perannum. This alfalfa hay has
a higher feeding value than that made from any other known
grass grown in the United States. This immense yield is se-
cured in the southern sections by four or five cuttings dur-
ing the season; the first crop is taken off early, the land being
flooded immediately afterward and soaked to the depth of sev-
eral feet. The alfalfa then grows with wonderful vigor and
in a few weeks is ready to cut again, the extreme dryness of
the atmosphere and freedom from summer rains rendering it
possible to handle the crop and secure it in the best condi-

34 CLOVER CULTURE.

tion at almost any time during the season. In the more
northern sections, fewer cuttings are possible and of course
the yield is less per acre. The hay crop is taken when the
plant is just coming into bloom and before the stems have
been converted to woody fiber, to a great extent indigestible.
When a seed crop is desired one of the latter growths is al-
lowed to ripen, the yield sometimes reaching as high as ten
bushels per acre.

While alfalfa is in the main a forage crop and its princi-
ple use that of a. permanent meadow, it can be pastured with
safety after it has become well established and its roots have
penetrated to great depths. It is largely used in this way in
connection with the ranches of the mountain states, furnish-
ing, as it does by its last growth, a means of ripening the
vast herds of cattle that have been carried through the sum-
mer on the wild grasses of the ranges. It has provenequally
valuable on the great plains wherever there are suitable facili-
ties for irrigation, or where by reason of the nature of the
subsoil the roots can reach down in a year or two to perma-
nent moisture. It is not at all uncommon, in regions where
the sheet water or the underflow of the rivers of the plains,
such as the Arkansas or the Platte, is within reach, to find
alfalfa flourishing without irrigation after the second or third
year, or, in other words, after the roots have reached a perma-
nent supply of water.

In sowing alfalfa for cultivation under irrigation the soil
must be well prepared. Alfalfa tolerates no slovenly culture.
There being no heavy clays in this region and the under soil
being, to a very great depth, as rich as the upper,: this 1s a
comparatively easy matter. The seed is usually sown broad-
cast at the rate of from fifteen to twenty pounds per acre and
covered sufficiently to insure germination.

Should weeds threaten to smother the young plants
they should be clipped, setting the mower high, and in this
way the plants are allowed free access to air and sunlight.
In order to prevent weed growth, alfalfa is sometimes sown in
drills twelve or fifteen inches apart, and cultivated until per-
manently established. This is the English method of alfalfa
culture.

A stand once secured, it lasts for many years with proper
care and management. It must not however be either mow-
ed or pastured until it has become well established. Some-
times, under very favorable conditions, one or two crops can
be taken the year it is sown and the second season three, but

CLOVER CULTURE. 35

it is better to allow, as in the case of the other clovers, a good
start before making any demandson the crop. While alfalfa,
like all the clovers, isa fertilizing crop and increases the sup-
ply of nitrogen in the soil, while at the same time producing
an enormous quantity in the forage, it is not a suitable crop
for poor, wornout land. It requires good land to start with.
Arid and semi-arid soils nearly all have abundant fertility,
(owing to the fact that they have not been subject to the leach-
ing process, so far as nitrogen is concerned, inseparable from
a sufficient annual rainfall,) to secure vigorous plant life, and
therefore the main consideration is a proper mechanical con-
dition of the soil and an abundant artificial supply of mois-
ture. In soils that are not capable of irrigation the growth
must be rapid in order that the roots may speedily reach per-
manent moisture and for this reason the land must be in good
heart.

It is easy to see from the above statements what a veri-
table godsend alfalfa has been to the arid regions of America.
When theirrigated wheat lands have lost their virgin fertility,
which is only a question of time, its culture will be greatly
extended. It will then be used asa rotation grass, as well
as a source of hay and pasture, the rotation being of necessity
along one, on account of the number of years required to se-
cure a crop that will give the best results.

Of late years farmers in the semi-arid regions are begin-
ing to realize the value of alfalfa as a substitute for the clo-
vers usually grown on regions of sufficient permanent rain-
fall. It is not easy to locateon themap what, for the purpose
of thiswork, should be called the semi-arid region, using the
term as we do to describe the region. west of the Missouri
where the ordinary clovers cannot be grown asa reasonably
reliable crop. We have in view that large region east of the
Rocky Mountains where the methods of farming followed
over the greater part of the Mississippi Valley, as for instance
in the states of lowa, Missouri, Minnesota and the eastern
portions of Kansas and Nebraska, cannot be followed with
success. ‘I‘hisregion may be said to beapproximately bound-
ed on theeast by a line which, on the southern border of
Kansas, begins near the 98th meridian of longitude west from
Greenwich, and passing thence west of north crosses the Ne-
braska line near the 100 meridian and continuing in the same
direction some seventy-five miles into that state, it changes a
little to the east of north and thence extends into the Dako-
tas. In’this region the limitations as to what crops can and

30 CLOVER CULTURE.

what cannot be grown successfully, whether of grain or grass,
have not been fully determined. It is quite clear that corn
cannot be depended upon as a paying crop, and the same is
true, asa rule, of the clovers and other grasses grown farther
east. The experience of farmers hasalready determined their
unprofitableness except in certain favored localities.

With these important crops stricken from the list, the
entire aspect of farming changes. Other crops suited to the
climatic conditions must be found, and even the methods of
work to which the farmer has been accustomed in other lo-
calities and under other conditions, materially changed.
There is no plant that gives promise of greater usefulness to
the farmers of thatregion than alfalfa, and witha view to giv-
ing our readers the most reliable information onthe subject
we have requested Prof. Georgeson, of the Kansas Agricul-
tural College, to contribute to these pages the results of his
valuable experience and observation, which he has kindly
consented to do in the following:

As has been noted elsewhere, alfalfa is a perennial plant. It sends its
roots deep into the ground, and once established in a suitable soil, it will
yield profitable crops for an indefinite number of years. Because of its
deep rooting nature, it is less dependent upon the rainfall than almost any
other farm crop. Its wonderful roots, which in some instances have been
traced thirty feet deep, reaching down far below the influence of loca
showers and the solar heat, and pumping up moisture from below, sus
tain the plant in periods of drouth. This feature is greatly in favor of
alfalfa for that region But what is more to the point, it has been proved
to be a success both with and without irrigation in this semi-arid region—
with irrigation producing magnificent yields, and on the uplands withou*
irrigation, producing an occasional good crop of hay, and at all times bet
ter pasture than the native grasses afford. In Kansas there are instance
of its successful culture in nearly every one of the- western counties.
Particularly is this the case in Ford and Finney counties, where efforts ip
this direction have been more persistent than elsewhere. Along the Ar
kansas valley in these counties it grows to perfection.

The prospect of alfalfa growing in the West may be studied under three
conditions. First, underirrigation. This aspect of the case requires but
little notice here. With irrigation, whether on upland or lowland, it is
one of the surest as well as one of the most profitable crops that can be
raised, and its successful culture is not at all problemati ‘al.

Second, on the lowlands without irrigation. Under this condition it is
also grown successfully, as is testified by thousands of acres now in alfalfa
in western Kansas. But the success, that is, the yield, varies with the
situation. A very large proportion of the bottom lands in that region
have a porous, sandy subsoil, through which the water of the streams
percolate with ease for long distances, forming what i: known as ‘‘sheet
water.” This water is, in some places, very near the surface, in others it
is ten, twelve, or more feet below. On such lands, where the roots pene-
were with ease to the water, alfalfa is successfully grown without irriga-
tion. ;

Third, on uplands and without irrigation. It is especially this aspect
of the case that commands our attention, because, at best, but a small
fraction of the country is made up of valley lands of the above character.

CLOVER CULTURE. 37

There are a hundred acres of dry upland ‘o one of bottom land. Land
that isin itself very fertile, with a beautiful, gently undulating surface,
but which is hopelessly beyond the reach of any system of irrigation, and
which. owing tothe dry climate with an average rain fall of less than
twenty inches, cannot be cultivated as farms are cultivated further east.
Can alfalfa be grown here? Theanswer isa qualified affirmative. Actual
trials in many places have demonstrated that alfalfa can be grown on
these dry uplands, but the yield in forage is not to be compared with the
yieldin the lowlands. In the first place, the obtaining of a good stand is
attended with more difficulties. If the rain in the early part of May is
sufficient only to germinate the seed, but not enough to sustain the young
plants till they get a foot hold, the stand will be light, and at times it may
require two or more seedings before the crop is well launched. Again,
the growth the first year is feeble, and nothing, either in the way of pas}
ture or hay, can reasonably be expected from it the first season; no pas-
ture, because it would kill the crop to turn the stock on it, and no hay
because the growth is too light. The second, third and succeeding years
it will ,ield increasingly good pasture, but itis only in favorable seasons
that it will produce fair hay crops. Under the conditions named it is,
however, a great thing for the plant to live and yield pasturage, for as
pasturage it far exceeds the wild grasses both in quantity and quality.
There is no better pasture for horses, hogs and sheep, nor indeed for cat-
tle, except that it sometimes causes them to bloat. This upland alfalfa
has one other good feature—it yields seed of superior quality, even though
only in moderate quantity. Combining these features—good pasture, an
occasional hay crop and a sure producer of good seed—and add to this
its manurial properties, which, as we shall see, is by no means its least
virtue, we have in alfalfa a better forage plant for the western plains
than any other parenni2! that has yet been brought to our notice.

The claims here made are moderate. Oftentimes it will exceed the re-
sults here promised. In favorable seasons the crop may be started with
ease even on the unbroken prairie. The Hon. R. P. Kelly, of Eureka,
Kansas, who is a close observer and an accomplished scientist, informs me
that he has seen a cass in point which is worth noting here. On a large
ranch in Meade county, avout three hundred acres of creek bottom were
sown to alfalfa. It grew well and yielded abundantly. On one occasion
the crop was cut late, part of it having matured seed. This hay was fed
to a large herd of cattle during the fall and winter, and for that purpose
was spread over quite a large area of the adjoining slopes and upland. To
the surprise of the owners, as well as to all others who subsequently saw
it, the seed thus scattered on the pra‘rie sod took root the following spring
and made a good and permanent stand of alfalfa. Another almost iden-
tical case happened in another place and has been related to me by the
owner of the pasture. If such accidents lead to success, what is to hinder
the same results being attained with the judicious use of proper imple-
ments and a good supply of seed ?

There are places where alfalfa cannot grow, regardless of climate.
Wherever there is an impervious clay, the so called ‘‘gumbo,”’ or a layer
of hardpan, or rock within a few feet of the surface, it will be a total
failure if on the uplands, and but avery indifferent success on the bot-
tom lands. Likewise on the bottom lands, where the soil water stands
too near the surface, or where it is overflowed for considerable periods,
alfalfa should not be sown.

For successful seeding prepare a good seed bed by whatever: means
may be found most expedient In most cases I should prefer to plow in
the fall; or, in sections of light soil with dry and windy winters, early in
spring. Pulverize the surface well, and do not sow the seed in this ele-
vated western region until the latter part of April, or the beginning of
May. Late frosts are liable to occur here, and these sometimes nip the

38 CLOVER CULTURE.

young plants severely if they germinate too early. On the uplands I
would sow not less than twenty-five pounds of seed to the acre, and on
the low lands, twenty pounds. sow broadcast, either by hand, or witha
grass seed attachment toa drill or disc harrow. Cover the seed well with
some implement that suits the nature of the soil. If sown by hand the
disc harrow, run shallow, will afford the best covering; then apply a
heavy roller. On the uplands it should always be sown by itself. If
sown with oats, barley, or the like, the young plants are apt to be killed
by exposure to the sun after the ‘‘nurse crop”? has been removed. On
irrigated land ther» is but little danger of this kind, and the seed is gen-
erally sown with some spring crop. I prefer, in all cases, to sow broad-
cast. When young or newly cut the ground is not then so exposed to the
scorching sun as when it stands in rows.

The first year is always the most precarious period. No stock should
ever be allowed on it that year and care should be taken that it is not
choked out by weeds. To kill these run over the ground two or three
times with the mower during the season and set the finger-bar high,
especially the first time, to avoid injuring the young plants. On the
uplands a second year of this treatment may occasionally be necessary.
When pastured, care should be taken that it is not over-stocked; for, if
in addition to a drouth and a weary search for water on the part of the
roots, it is kept grazed to the ground, the crop will be brought to an
untimely end. It makes one of the best pastures for hogs imaginable,
but for the good of the crop they should not be put on till it is thoroughly
established. They should be prevented from rooting by ringing their
noses and they should not be kept on long enough at.a time to injure it.

For hay the crop should be cut every time it comes in bloom, no mat-
ter what its height may be. It does not grow any taller after it begins to
bloom, and if allowed to go to seed it will drop its leaves, and, moreover,
will make little or no growth after that for the rest of the year. Cut it
when about one-fourth in bloom. The hay is very brittle, and the leaves,
the best part of it, break off easily in handling. To diminish this waste
it must be cured with care. The best practice is to rake in the afternoon
what has been c1t in the forenoon, put it into good sized cocks and let it
cure there thoroughly before it is stacked. If the crop is light and the
sun strong, the rake may follow soon after the mower... If dried too
much in the swath, there will be little besides the dry stalks left when
the crop is raked. To keep alfalfa hay well the stack must be covered,
or it must be housed. It does not shed rain well and a single soaking
rain will cause it to mould and spoil. Growers of alfalfa in western Kan-
sas prefer, for these reasons, to dispose of the crop as soon as possible
after itis secured. It sells usually in the towns to local consumers for
about $3.00 a ton. Some of it is baled and shipped to other points, but
the frieght rates are so high as to make this impracticable, unless it can
be sold to unusual advantage. On low lands, or when under irrigation,
the fields are usually cut three times and sometimes four during the
season. It is a usual practice to take two crops of hay and to let the
third crop go to seed. Sometimes, however, an early frost will catch this
crop before the seed matures, and, of course, blast the prospects of
seed. So, to make it sure, the second crop is often taken for seed. The
seed can be threshed and cleaned on an ordinary separator. The yield
on the bottom Jands is reported to haye fallen off in late years. Y/hen
first started the alfalfa crop frequently yielded from ten to twelve tashels
of seed to the acre; now it is said to average only between five and seven
bushels. This is for the vicinity of Garden City. On the uplands the
yield is nearly as good. There is a large demand for the seed from seed-
men and it sells at from $3.50 to $4.00 per bushel, and these prices are
likely to remain stationary for some years to come-until the supply has

CLOVER CULTURE. 39

‘been largely increased. At present the increase in demand is equal to
the increase in production.

As regards its nutritive qualities there are but few other plants that
can compare with alfafa. Red clover is the best known and most uni-
versal leguminous crop. For the sake of comparison I quote the follow-
ing analyses of the two from Wolf’s tables. The figures refer to the
digestible ‘nutrients in each case:

Red clover. — Alfalfa.

Quality very good. Quality very good.

Green. Green.
Hay In blcssom. Hay. In blossom.
REGS OE TOUGIIN in sac tus op 85 nie 12.3 3.2
Carbohydrates ........... 38.2 8.8 31.4 8.1
VOT ot ies BOS SSS eee ee dail 0.4 1.0 03
Nutritive ratios... 5... .... 5 5.7 2.8 3.1

It will be here seen that alfalfa, either as hay or green, contains more
of the most valuable nutrient (protein) than red clover, and the nutri-
tive ratio indicates that it is nearly as narrow. The figures speak for
themselves. . Further argument on that point is unnecessary.*

What place, then, can alfalfa take in western farming? It is grown
with excellent succéss on the bottom lands and under irrigation. It can
be grown, and is grown, with comparative success on the uplands. But
this is not all. Asa fertilizing agent of the soil it is fully equal, if not
superior, to red clover. It is a nitrogen gatherer of the first magnitude,
and its habit of growth renders it peculiarly efficient as a renovator and
enricher of the soil... The long roots draw up ash elements from depths
where no other crops could feed, and store them until, by their decay,
they again give them up to succeeding crops. By their penetration into
the subsoil it is on their decay rendered more porous; it is aereated more
perfectly than by other crops; the water will drain through the soil bet-
ter for the openings they leave and thus store more water beiow which
can again be raised more easily through the capillaries they have formed.
These are all beneficial features.

Alfalfa, however, has some drawbacks. Owing to the fact that it tikes
solong to develop its full powers it can never take the place in a short ro-
tation that clover occupies farther east. For that purpose we must look
to some other leguminous crop which can thrive in that region, and it
seems probable that the soy bean will meet the want. But alfalfa can be
used in a longer rotation. If itis allowed to stand five years and then
plowed under, it will have served for pasture or meadow at least three or
four years and at thesame time will have developed a large root growth
for the benefit of the soil. Many would hesitate to break up a good alfalfa
field, but by breaking up a portion and seeding an equal portion every
year the acreage could be maintained, and there would be no loss of feed.
I should consider this the safest practice. It will not doto allow the
soil to lose fertility. Our western farmers must resort to renovating
crops of some kind, and, used in this manner, alfalfa will answer the pur-
pose. JIf,in the course of a few years, farmers in the section of country
above described, find themselves tilling an exhausted soil in addition to
the precarious circumstances which now mark the situation, their lot will

* It should be remembered, however, that it is customary to cut alfalfa when one-
fourth in bloom, while red clover is usually cut for hay after it is full bloom and one-
third or more of the heads have turned brown. It should also be remembered that the
relative supply of protein decreases rapidly in all plants after blooming has commenced.
Unless these facts are borne in mind the aboye comparison is in danger of mislead-
ing.—The Author.

40 CLOVER CULTURE.

be hard indeed. ‘But this need not happen. They have already discov-
ered that land which has been in alfalfa far out yields adjoining land of
_ equal original fertility. And I already hear of instances where compar-
atively young alfalfa fields are broken up to be followed with wheat be

cause of the increased yields they afford. This is right and should be
encouraged. While permanentand exclusive stock farms with alfalfa the
main if not the only crop will of course be numerous, and while stock
raising must always be a prominent feature of agriculture in that region,
the vast majority of the farmers must engage more or less in mixed hus-
bandry. They must grow wheat, barley, oats, Kaffir corn and such other
crops as will prove to be certain and profitable, and this system leads to
certain exhaustion of the soil and consequent ruin of the farmers unless
some renovating crop keeps up the balance of fertility. Eastward clover
is that crop; in the West alfalfa can and doubtless will take the same
function, if not exactlyin the same manner at least with the same result.

The above from Prof. Georgeson so completely covers
the ground in the territory and under the conditions indicat-
ed that every reader who knows the character of his soil and
subsoil can. determine with reasonable accuracy at. once
whether it will pay him to grow alfalfa. We have recently
made a careful personal investigation of the conditions in the
territory indicated, and our observations coincide with the
conclusions of yProf. Georgeson in every particulz:. It is our
object to make this work a reliable guide to the farmer in
growing clovers best adapted to his own particular soil and
climate; and for this reason we have supplemented our own
studies and observations with the experience of other men
who have made the growing of the clovers a matter.of special
study and experiment in the several sections of the West.
We have no doubt that there are very considerable areas of
country east and south of the district indicated in which it
will pay to grow alfalfa without irrigation. In fact, subject
to the conditions of subsoil indicated by Prof. Georgeson, we
believe it may be regarded as a maxim that where clover
ends, alfalfa begins. The Creator has made no mistake in
providing leguminous plants for every country where he in-
tended the farmer to prosper.

In traveling over Kansas and Nebraska for the special
study of the problem of growing the clovers, we were im-
pressed by the failures of many alfalfa growers because of the
lack of reliable information as to the best methods of grow-
ing alfalfa, under their present conditions. With a view of
giving the reader of the far West definite and reliable informa-
tion ou this point we requested Prof. C. I.. Ingersoll, of the
Nebraska State University to contribute to these pages the
results of his wide observation and special studies on the sub-
ject of alfalfa under irrigation. Prof. Ingersoll has special

CLOVER CULTURE. 41

qualifications for this work. He was for five years connected
with the Colorado Experiment Station, and during these five
years made alfalfa under irrigation a matter of special study
and experiment. He has kindly consented to give fhe féader
the benefit of his knowledge and experience. In the follow-
ing pages he so completely covers the ground that the reader
in this district, whether in Nebraska or the states further
West, who carefully studies and follows his instructions, can
scarcely be said to be experimenting with the plant:

The subject of alfalfa culture in the United States has received great
impetus within the last fifteen or twenty years because of its peculiar
adaptation to culture in the more arid regions, and the excellent results
obtained. The plant itself is not a modern one, but has been cultivated
for several centuries. It is perennial, and when once successfully estab-
lished in a soil, will remain and grow vigorously for years. In this
respect it is quite unlike its congener—the red clover, which usually
lasts but'two, or at most three years without reseeding. On this account
the alfalfa is, therefore, of special value.

The plant has been known by the Spanish name, alfafa, rather than
by its French name, lucern, because it has come to us by the way of
South America and California, where, with a Spanish speaking popula-
tion, it would naturally be called by its Spanish name. Its botanical
name is Medicago sativa, and it is supposed to have been raised by the
ancient Greeks and Romans to some extent, as long ago as the Christian
era. Indeed the name Medicago, applying to the genus, is derived from
the Greek word signifying forage or forage plant. Other persons have
supposed that the name was derived from the Province of Media, where
it was supposed to have been cultivated in early times. Some of the
Roman writers have memtioned it in their writings. In its introduction
into America, it-seems first to have found its way into the countries of
South America, where there is little rainfall and where irrigation has
been practiced to some extent. From these countries and especially Chili,
it has found its way into some parts of Mexico, and also into Southern
California, from which place it has spread into the states and territories
lying to the eastward and reaching as far as the Missouri river. Agricul-
ture in these regions on account of the physical conditions occasioned by
lack of rainfall, must be carried on almost exclusively by means of irri-
gation, and whi'e varied crops could be grown successfully, it was with
_ difficulty that good stands of grass or the ordinary clover could be ob-
tained under this system. In alfalfa, then, those farmers seemed to have
secured the plant with all the conditions necessary to supply them with
forage. They found thatit was a plant easily raised, provided proper
care were used to put the soil in proper condition, that it grew thrifty,
that it maintained its hold upon the fields, was strong and did not kill
easily by winter exposure. They found that a given area would produce
a much larger cutting of forage of good quality, than one set of grasses or
ordinary clover. Although they were liable to be prejudiced against it
because of the prevailing systems in the East, they soon found that al-
falfa was valuable in flesh producing compounds, and that animals soon
learned to love it and thrived upon it. They also found that it was an
excellent milk producer, and that when fed to sheepit produced a good
quality of wool. All of these things combined to induce farmers of this
region to forego their former experiences, and to learn, as it were, the
new agriculture, with alfalfa as the forage plant as the basis. Y

42 CLOVER CULTURE.

Alfalfa is adapted to all the soils found upon the slope of the mountaing .

in the aboye mentioned region, such soils as a whole being made up of
the disint@grated rocks of the region lying above them. In the erosion
of the rocks, and in the distribution of the material we find considerable

and hardness.

It is Mot usual to sow this crop upon prairie land broken for the first
time, although this is sometimes done. The best results are usually at-
tained when the land has been cultivated in two or three crops, such as
wheat, barley or oats, and then to have the land well prepared the fol-
lowing spring for the seed bed. In ordinary cases we are to suppose a.
depth of plowitig varying from five to seven inches. Great depth of plow-
ing, however, is non-essential, as the roots of the plant penetrate in ordi-
nary soils to many feet in depth, the plant having one well marked tap-
root which thrusts itself downward into the soil and largely sustains it,
while the lateral roots that are thrown off are few in number and:only
contribute a small portion to the nutrition of the growing plant. One
might suppos3 that it would be labor wasted to plow the ground again
after a crop, unless he were to raise another crop of grain, but it has
been ascertained that the best way to secure a nice even stand of alfalfa
under irrigation is to raise it without other crops. . This may seem like
losing the use of the land for a season, but the farmer will find that he
is well repaid in the end by the strong and better growth of the alfalfa
during the year, making it strong to pass the first winter. Therefore,
where best results are expected, the ground should be plowed in the early
spring or late in the previous fall, and as soon as danger from frosts is
passed, in April or May, the seed bed should be carefully prepared. This
must be done by repeated harrowings and the use of the roller or a plank
smoothing arrangement, so that there is a well pulverized seed bed
of one to two inches upon the surface. The ground should be moist, or
at least moist enough to sprout and grow the seed successfully without.
irrigation. If there is not this degree of moisture in the Jand, it should
be irrigated before the seed bed is prepared. As alfalfa seed is about the
size and has the same appearance as red clover, it can be sown in approxi-
mately in the same manner, either broad-cast or drilled, but more seed is
generally used than of red clover. Various quantities are stated as be-
ing used by successful farmers in the arid region, and with equally good
results. One of the finest fields the writer has seen was prepared as
above stated, and the seed drilled in about one inch in depth in two direc-
tions, making cross checks, using twenty-five pounds of good seed per
acre. The field produced one of the finest stands of forage that we have
ever seen. i DOLE

Alfalfa will grow at almost any elevation below 7,000 down to sea level;
above that the winters seem too severe and the nights in spring o* early
summer too cold and frosty for the plant to thrive well. The number of
cuttings of forags which alfalfa produces is marvelous. In northern Col-
orado and this parallel extending east and west at an elevation of 5,000
feet, the usual number of cuttings in a single season is three, while in ex-
ceptional seasons, four and even five cuttings have been made. In south-
ern Colorado and northern New Mexico, four, five and six cuttings are
quite usual, and the yield at each one of these is as great as the yield of
good meadow grass. If the total growth of the plant during one season
were taken, it would be found to vary from nine to fifteen feet in length;
this varies, of course, with the soil, local circumstances, latitude and the
elevation above sea level; in this case we are supposing a proper amount
of water for irrigation.

The irrigation of alfalfa is comparatively easy after the young plants
are started, but sometimes the ground, if not well sloped and smoothed,
will tend to wash and some cf the seed will be covered toe deeply by soil

snd hardjeas in the first place, the rocks vary somewhat in character

-

CLOVER CULTURE. . 43

which is conveyed in other places, and in other cases the entire seed and
soil may be washed away. Much care, then, and labor must be used in
order to prevent this condition of thing and have a free and equal distri-
bution of the water upon the field. The second irrigation, a few weeks
later, will be much easier, while the third irrigation will usually cost ‘little
or no effort. The water should be turned upon the alfalfa, after the first
year, as early in the spring as it can be obtained from the canals, and the
growth of the plant will thus be pushed very early and an accordingly
larger growth made. The experience with reference to later irrigation
varies somewhat. Some good farmers prefer to turn the water upon the
field just before it is ready to be cut, and then as soon as the soil has be-
come reasonably dry to commence the haying; others prefer to make the
hay and turn the water immediately upon the stubble. Both methods have
their adherents and advocates, and both obtain equally good results as far
as qur observation extends. It is usval to irrigate at least once for each
‘cutting; sometimes an extra irrigation would be valuable if the weather be
extremely hot and dry. A late irrigation just before the ground freezes is
‘desirable to give moisture for winter.

We have alluded to the yield of alfalfa as a forage plant. It is no‘un-
usual thing to take six or eight tons of forage from a single acre, and that
upon large areas, so that a man who has a comparatively small area well
set in alfalfa is master of the situation as far as forage is concerned. We
must remember that in this region corn cannot be successfully raised in
large quantity; and if alfalfa is to be the great forage plant in this region,
it must successfully take the place of corn in the agriculture at low eleva-
tions. The amount of forage which it furnishes per acre gives us the first
great factor in this comparison and makes it especially valuable. The
farmers of Colorado especially have found alfalfa to be a very strong nu-
tritive plant for feeding, and in some instances it has been used success-
fully in the fattening of beef steers for the market without the addition
of a single ounce of grain ration. We have seen the fattening of nearly
one hundred and fifty in one bunch that was conducted in this way, and
the animals brought the highest price in the Denver market. Perhaps a
statement of the composition of the alfalfa plant at this point might not
be out of place. The green alfalfa contained 39.11 per cent. of dry mate-
rial and 60.89 per cent. of water. The alfalfa hay contained 9.59 per cent.
of water, 11.90 per cent. of ash, 3.85 per cent. of fat, 12.87 per cent. of al-
buminoid nitrogen, 18.01 per cent. of crude fiber and 43.78 per cent. of
nitrogen free extract

This was for alfalfa cut when the bloom was half turned, showing that
it was rapidly ripening. Experiments at several of the experiment sta-
tions in the United States have shown that this is the proper time at
which to cut grasses and clovérs in order to have them retain the greatest
amount of nutritive qualities. Alfalfa, like other clovers and grasses,
should be carefully cured for hay. As the leaves are somewhat smaller
than those of other clover, and the climate of the arid region is exces-
sively dry, it should be secured before the hay has cured too much so as
to prevent the breaking off of the leaves and leaving the hay largely of
barestems. A very little experience will teach one what is best in regard
to this. Again, if the plant stands too long and becomes too ripe, the
seed begins to form and there is too much woody fiber in the stalk, and
much of it is quite indigestible, even when eaten by stock. It is cus-
tomary in many places, however, to cut one crop of hay, then to take a
crop of seed and to pasture for the remainder of the year. I[n cases of this
kind we have known three tons of good hay to be secured, and eight
bushels of fine seed per acre, beside the pasture. It is thus readily seen
that a plant, which, under irrigation, will produce such results as those
mentioned, is extremely valuable to the farmer who practices irrigation,
and that in the agriculture of the west, at an elevation of from 2,500 to

44 CLOVER CULTURE.

7,000 feet, there is no other plant we know of that can take its place.

We have often been asked what was our opinion relative to alfalfa for
the state of Nebraska. We have always replied that it would be valuable
for a large portion, if not for all the state. If a line were to be drawn
from Sioux City, Iowa, southwest, passing through Grand Island, in Hal}
county, extending to the south line of the state, all lying west and north-
west of that line would, in our opinion, be benefitted by raising more or
less of this plant for forage. In the more eastern and southeastern
counties, the propriety of its general growth might, perhaps, be ques-
tioned; but even there, in small areas for special purposes, it might be
valnable. In many places farmers have made the mistake of sowing this
plant upon low ground, where it was but a short distance to water. It
should be grown where its roots would be obliged to go some distance for
water and where there is no impervious sub-soil. When grown with too
much moisture the plants turn yellow, having a feeble, sickly appear-
ance and usually die in one or two years. The same appearance is found
when the roots of the plant cannot penetrate shaly sub-soil. In summing
up this whole matter of alfalfa growing, we believe that no single plant
has been introduced in the western part of the United States that is of
such great utility and value as alfalfa.

wong ,é
brse sy
{yss? f

+ er)

WHITE AND ALSIKE CLOVER.

CHAPTER V.

White clover sustains the same relation to permanent
pastures on dry calcareous or carboniferous soils, and alsike on
pastures of slough, marsh or other wet lands, that the red
and the mammoth ‘sustain to the meadows in the carbonifer-
ous soils in the northern and western states that have rain-
fall of twenty inches and over, and that alfalfa sustains to
the deep, sandy’or other light soils in the Pacific states and
territories and other arid or semi-arid regions where irriga-
tiou.is possible. The relation is not merely that ofa source
ot an abundant supply of pasture and forage on the one hand
or of hay and forage on the other, but each is a hand-maid, a
help-meet, as a source of nitrogen to whatever other grasses,
non- leguminous, may be associated with them. ‘There is no
true grass that we know of that will not flourish better and
produce more abundantly when associated with the clovers,
whether in the pasture or in the meadows.

It is unnecessary for us to enter into any detailed descrip-
tion of the white clover nor is any illustration needed to
ideutify a plant so widely spread and generally known. It
is called trifolium repens, or the creeping three-leaf plant,
because of its creeping habit of growth. Its deficiency in
length prevents it from being of much value as a meadow
grass, although*the analysis of its hay shows it to be equal, if
not, indeed ,Superior,to- either the red or the mammoth clover.
It differs from the redand mammoth in many particulars.

First. It is perennial; that is,it grows from the same root
year after year, while the others are for the most part, biennial

46 CLOVER CULTURE.
i

that is,growing two years, or at most short perennials, which
they are said to become if prevented from flowering by con-
tinued pasturage, and thus last for three or four years. It is
probable that there is ground for the statement made by
English botanists, and at which we have hinted ina previous
chapter, that there are at least two varieties known as the
common red clover, one of which is strictly a biennial and
the other a short perennial. Another point of difference is
that when the creeping vines of white clover are allowed to
grow long, they, throw out rootlets along the vine which
give it an ability to stand prolonged summer drouths better °
than the red or mammoth varieties with their longer tap

roots.

White clover seeds abundantly, the seeds growing four
and sometimes six in a pod. It secretes a great abundance of
nectar and being easily fertilized by the common bee, and
therefore independent of the bumble bee, it yields a far more
certain crop of seed, It isa common saying among farmers
that white clover never fails to produce a seed crop. When
we come to examine the ash of the plant and compareit with
red clover, the white contains nearly twice as much phosphoric
acid, nearly four percent. more lime, and potash in the
proportion of two to five. It will therefore flourish on soils.
that aredeficient in potash, while it requires more phosphoric
acid than the red clover. Both, however, by reason of the
bacteria in the nodules or tubercles on their roots, obtain their
nitrogen to a very large extent from the atmosphere.

The history of white clover is somewhat obscure. It is
probably indigenous to the Eastern states of America, and is.
said, on what authority we do not know, to have been domes-
ticated, by cultivating the seeds of the wild plant, about the
beginning of the last century. It is recorded of a farmer in
one of the Eastern states at that time that he ‘‘sowed the wild
white clover which holds the ground and decays not.’’ In
Sir John Norden’s Surveyor’s Dialogue, printed in 1607 and
re-printed in 1618, we find the growing of ‘‘clouer grasse or
the grasse honey. suckle (white clover) with other hay seeds”’
advised. This would indicate that itis probably indigenous
to England, and that the attention of the farmers was. called
to its merits a hundred years earlier in England tham in
America. It precedes the introduction of red clover from
Europe almost fifty years, . Itis not, so far as we have
observed, indigenous, that is a natural product of the soil, to
the West. It seems to have come in as did blue grass (joa

CLOVEHK CULTURE, 41

pratensis), with the introduction ot lawn grasses into the
villages, and from this it spread with the blue grass in all
directions following naturally the main traveled roads, and
especially the ridge roads that meandered over the unbroken
prairie. We have usually observed blue grass gaining a foot-
hold, where the prairie grass had been tramped out, three or
four years in advance of the white clover; and after the white
clover had become established in connection with the blue
grass, it always retains its footing. These two grasses seen
to be united by a marriage bond stronger than that of squire
or clergy, and one which no court has sufficient jurisdiction to-
dissolve.’ There are two obvious reasons for this close and inti-.
mate relation between blue grassand white clover. The blue
grass needs the white clover to supply it with nitrogen which
it requires in large quantities, and the period of growth of
each is such that neither interferes seriously with the other.
The blue grass has thrown up heads and blossoms and its:
seed is well on the way to maturity before the white clover
is ready to make its push for the occupancy of the ground..
The latter then has the field mostly to itself until the blue:
grass is ready to make its fall growth, hence, in mid-summer
farmers sometimes claim that the white clover has taken the
blue grass and a1: disposed to mourn over the fact. An
examination of the same field in the fall will show that blue
grass occupies the ground almost wholly and they are dis-
posed to wonder where the white clover has gone. It is for
these two reasons that these plants are found inseparable in
the permanent pasture.

The place for white clover is in the permanent pasture. -
It should never be sown in any pasture that is not intended
to remain undisturbed for three years or more, and it should
be as far as possible carefully excluded from all meadows and
from lands intended for rotation of five years or less. The
reason need scarcely be stated. If sown on lands that are
intended for meadows, it willvery soon crowd out timothy and
the largerclovers, and thus greatly reduce the yield of forage.
It is liable to spring up every year in lands cultivated in corn
or other tillage crops, and hence becomes a weed, compara-
tively harmless, but at the same time useless, while the
amount of nitrogen it may supply in its brief life as a weed
among cultivated crops is not worth mentioning.

Like most other good things, and we might add good
people, it has its faults. In the earlier part of the sea-
son cattle take the Jarger clovers and other cultivated grasses

48 CLOVER CULTURE.

in preference, probably on account of some particular flavo1
which they prefer. This objection, however, is speedily
overcome as the season progresses, and it is never found that
a crop of white clover is necessarily wasted. Another and
more serious objection is that in certain seasons, and par-
ticularly during the months when the seed is ripening, it is
believed to slobber stock, particularly horses and occasionally
hogs, the so-called salivation being believed to be produced
by the supposed pungent character of the seeds. It is, how-
ever, extremely doubtful whether the white clover is justly
blamed for this result. Ifthe salivationis produced by the
seeds. there is reason to believe that the seeds of the other
clovers are equally to blame. It is at least possible that the
slobbering is due to wild plants in the pasture. The whole
subject should be thoroughly investigated by the various
Experiment Stations. It is worthy of notice, however, that
whatever may be the objections of farmers o1 this question,
they always disappear with the first season of real drouth.
The same objections made to this plant ten or fifteen years |
ago from the State of lowa now come to us from Kansas and
Nebraska where it is being introduced as a grass essential to
the permanent pastures. It might be well to remark that in
Scotland where it has been grown for nearly three hundred
years, many of the best authorities claim that the proportion
of white clover in a good permanent pasture should be kept
up. to twenty or thirty per cent. of the total grasses. This
fact shows the high favor in which white clover stands where
it has been cultivated the longest. Farmers, therefore, in
the newer parts of the West should not hesitate to sow it,and
more especially as but little seed, a pound or two fer acre,
is all that is necessary. This will not only seed the ground
in a year or two, but the seeds will be carried by birds and
live stock into all parts of the farm and adjoining farms, and
will spread over the adjoining country until it ceases to
be necessary to seed at all, even wherea stand in connec-
tion with blue grass is desired. The seeds are about one-
third the size of those of the red and mammoth ‘clover and
hence the small amount per acre above suggested.

When it is desired to sow white clover as a part of the
permanent pasture, it is always best to sow it with as great a
variety of grass seed as possible, and the mixture should
include varieties that will for the first year or two give an
abundance of forage. If we were making a permanent pas-
ture in which white clover was expected to bear a prominent

CLOVER CULTURE. 49

part, we would sow red and mammoth clover in about equal
proportions, the usual amount of timothy, more or less blue
gtass, and, south of latitude 42, more or less orchard grass,
and on all wet lands and sloughs in dry lands, we would sow
alsike clover. The reason for this suggestion is that the blue
grass, which forms a prominent part in all permanent pas-
tures where it does well, can not be expected to be ready to
completely occuny the ground inside of three years. Dur-
ing this time the land should-be-producing to its full capacity
and hence should be occupied by the larger clovers and other
grasses which can afford less resistance to the growth of blue:
grass than white clover would if a full stand were sown with.
it. This subject will be more fully discussed when we come:
to speak in detail of grass mixtures suitable for different ro-
tations and parts of a rotation.

In sowing the smaller seeds such as blue grass and white
clover the depth. of covering which is so necessary for the
larger clovers in a light soil and a dry climate is not required.
It is not sate, however, in the drier and lighter soils to trust
to surface sowing, and white clover, while it grows when
seeded naturally on the surface, yet has the advantage of the
freezing and thawing of the soil in winter to enable it to im-
bed itself in the soil. This imbedding on land under tillage,
such as is necessary for grain crops can be secured by the use
of acommon smoothing harrow and it were better still if this
were followed bya light brush harrow, or, where the condi-
tions are suitable, light rolling.

One of the varieties most recently introduced into the
West is alsike or Swedish clover, (¢rz/clium hybridum,) an
illustration of which will be found on the following page. Its
botanical name (Aydr7dum) was given by the early botanist,
Linnzeus, who believed it to be a cross or hybrid between the
white and the red. This, however, has,long since been dis-
covered to be amistake. It is a distinct species, native over
a large part of Europe, and is believed to have been first cul-
tivated in Sweden, deriving its name from the village of
Syke in that country. It was first introduced into England
in 1834 and intoGermany in 1854,where it is said to be large-
ly grown not only for its forage but also for the seed. Our
attention was first called to it some ten or twelve years ago.
We instructed the tenant on one of our farms to sow some
fowl meadow grass,(foa serotzza) on a small patch of wet bot-
tom land,and to sow a small quantity of alsike for experiment
onapiece ofdry, corn land. Instead he sowed the two together

50 CLOVER CULTURE.

X

\
+

NI Ih,
SS \

(
N

a

VAN

~_ 2)

er
as
Soc
Qs

S

\

NS
os wi .

16, <j
CAs

& \

Qh \ y)
ae
MNS

<ZAz ee “a

7 ;

4» 5 ~

ba Ue = ,
ei >

ALSIKE. (Trifolium hybridum.) i

CLOVER CULTURE. 51

on the wet land, and the seed of the fowl meadow proving
worthless and so reported, we paid no further attention to the
plot until a year later, when, driving near it, our attention
was called to the hum of the bees. apparently among the
slough grass surrounding the patch. We found on examina-
tion that the alsike was growing luxuriantly and was a favo-
tite with the bees, and it then occurred to us that we had
thus accidentally found the grass for wet sloughs that would
not, at the prices of tile in that locality, pay for drainage and
yet should be made productive in some way. We therefore
began sowing alsike as an experiment at the heads of sloughs
and learned, after the experience of a year or two, that an
excellentst ind could besecured by burning offthe slough grass
in the fall, s»wing the seed in March and then mowing the
slough early i in June in order to allow the alsike abundance of
air and sunlight. We have ever since recommended it
through the Flomestead and it is now sown quite extensively
especially east of the grand divide in Iowa, and where our
farmers find it difficult to secure a profitable crop of anything
else from the sloughs so common in the Mississippi Valley.
Alsike differs from both the red and mammoth and the
white. It grows, when supported by other grasses, taller than
the red but not so tall as the mammoth and is more slender
in the stalk, more succulent and hence makes even€better
hay. It has fuller heads, onlong stems and intermediate in
size between the white and red. It differs from the white in
its habits of growth, the stalks when lying down not throw-
ing out rootlets at different points, and hence it is unable to
stand extreme drouth, and does not succeed well on the drier
lands. Itpartakes in its root growth somewhat of the habits
of both the red and the white, throwing down, in connection
with its main root, similar, but not so long as the red, a
number of fibrous roots. Its seed differs in color both from
the white and the red, but in size is similar tothe white. Like
the white itis a perennial. It spends itsmain strength on the
production of the seed crop and throws up but little aftermath
in dry ground orin a dry season, It is, therefore, pecyliarly
adapted to marsh lands, swales, sloughs and bottoms subject
to overflow, succeeding in lands of this character better than
any clover as yet introduced, but on the whole inferior to red
or mammoth for lands capable of regular cultivation, or what
in the west are termed ‘‘corn lands,’’and inferior to the white
on the high, dry soils. Like all the clovers it does best on
calcareous or carbomiferous soils, Like the white, when once

§2 CLOVER CULTURE.

introduced, its seed stays in the ground. In the fall of 1898
we plowed under a bottom field of alsike. On account of
continuous rains in the spring of 1892, corn planting was
necessarily delayed and by the roth of June the entire field
was covered with a rank growth of alsike that had grown up
from the seed that had been lyingin the soil. We have known
lands that have been overflowed for a sufficient length of time
to destroy all the tame grasses, covered, after the waters had
receded, with a vigorous growth of alsike, the seeding of for-
mer crops. The value of alsike, therefore, lies inits adaptation
to lands, whether bottom, marsh or slough, whichon account
of lack of drainage or possible drainage facilities, are not
capable of cultivation in regular rotation and will not produce
profitable crops of other tame grasses. On lands of this kind
it is not at all difficult to secure a stand on the following
plan: First, burn off, the fall preceding, all wild grasses
that may have grown on the land. In March of the following
year sow from four to five pounds of alsike, mixing the seed
with sand so as to secure an even cast. Then either pasture
closely or else early in June mow off whatever grass may be
growing on it, first leveling the ant hills and removing what-
ever obstructions to the mower that may exist. This will
secure light and air to the young plants and the entire crop
of alsike and wild grass may be mown in the fall as a grass
crop. The next year, unless either the land or the season be
very wet, but little will remain save the alsike, which may be
used either as a hay crop or for seed. The effect of seeding in
this manner will be somewhat surprising. On wet lands where
the coarser varieties of slough grass grow, the growth of the
alsike will be accompanied by the decay of the roots of the
coarser grasses, they being smothered out by the rank growth
ofthe alsike. This will have the effect in time of allowing the
water to sink away that has heretofore been held by the mass of
roots of the wild grass, and especially if the land be pastured after
the firstand second year’s mowing, the entire surface will be com-
pacted by the tramping of cattle, and if a slough, the water con-
finedtothe center. It willthen be possible in the course of two or
three years to sow white or red clover or blue grass, the result
of drier conditions. In fact, we know of no way ot reducing
the width of a slough and limiting it toa narrow channel so
effective as sowing with alsike and treating in the manner
above indicated.

We are not advised as to the climatic range of alsike
clover. Manifestly its cultivation is not practicable in the .

CLOVER CULTURE 53

drier Western states, nor is it likely to be very popular where
dry draws take the place of sloughs. The fact that it was
first cultivated in Sweden indicates that itsnorthern limit will
be beyond that of the red and mammothclovers. It is worthy
of experiment as far South as the carboniferous and calcare-
ous soils extend, and anywhere in the region covered by the
drift when there is sufficient moisture. It is not likely to be
in favor in» the Eastern states, nor do we recommend it on
well-drained soils anywhere, as under these .conditions red
clover or mammoth would be preferable. Within the limits -
indicated, farmers who allow their wetter lands to growup in
coarse slough grass or their sloughs to become an eye-sore
either through lack of ability or unwillingness to drain, will
find it greatly to their advantage to sow them to alsike, thus
drying and narrowing them and preparing the way for blue
grass, t mothy and other clovers.

Wherever farmers keep Italian bees, which everyone
should for the purpose of fertilizing red clover if not for the pur-
pose of procuring the one pure sweet, distilled by Nature her-
self, they should sow or induce their near neighbors to sow
a few acres of alsike clover even on lands that will produce a
greater crop of red or mammoth clover. As a honey plant
it probably has no superior. In addition to this it should,
whether on dry or wet land,form an ingredientin themixture
for hog pastures, if for nothing else than for the sake of great-
er variety and more continuousbloom. When sown withother
grasses, it should be given the same covering suggested in
the former part of this chapter for white clover. It is, as will
be seen from the above, a special-purpose grass. The illus-
tration on page 50 will enable our readers to identify it
teadily. .

MINOR VARIETIES OF THE CLOVERS.

CAHPTER VI.

While the red and mammoth clovers (¢rz/olzum pratense)
the alfalfa (medicago sativa) the white or Dutch clover (é7-
folium repens) and the alsike(¢rzfoliaum hybridum) are the. clo-
vers most valuable in the eastern, northern and north-western
states, there are a number of other varieties of no little local
value. Some of these will grow in what is usually known
as the ‘‘corn and grass belt,’’? but being inferior to the varie-
ties just mentioned, are properly neglected or regarded as
weeds. Of these is the melzlotus alba,commonly known as
sweet clover, which can be found growing in gardens, whence
it escapes to the highway, vacant lots, especially in cities, and
to neglected fields. A sub variety of it is known as Bokhara
clover. It grows to the height of six or eight feet on good
land when not cropped, and its only value, on lands that will
grow red or mammoth clover profitably is as bee pasture. For
this purpose it will pay apiarians to sow it along the road-
sides or in the vacant corners and other neglected lands. In
the drier portions of the West and in the South this clover
has very considerable value. It is proving a valuable forage
plant and also one of the renovating crops greatly needed in
some of the more southern states. An illustration of this
variety will be found on next page. Trials at the Mississippi
Agricultural College and by planters in that state seem to
have established this fact beyond question. Like all the
other clovers it has the capacity of appropriating nitrogen
from the atmosphere and thus enriching the land and prepar-
ing it for the profitable production of other crops. Where it
has been found impossible to grow the better varieties of clo-
ver it is worthy of trial, and experiment stations in those
states where the better varieties are not a success should
make a still more careful and thorough investigation of its
merits,

CLOVER CULTURE.

alg
Fh,
CH

Oe

BE
she

On ax he

SWEET CLOVER. (Melilotus alba.)

on
oA)

56 CLOVER CULTURE.

Scarlet om crimson clover. Within thelast tew years
a good deal has been said in the eastern and southern papers
with reference to scarlet or crimson cloyer (¢7zfolium incarna-
4um) an illustration of which may be found on next page. This
is sown in midsummer or early autumn, and blooms, in the
latitude to which it is adapted, early in May. It grows from
twenty inches totwenty-eight inches in height, and is harvested
in time to prepare the ground for another crop. It has a
long slender head brilliant scarlet in color and yields large
crops which cau be cut from the tenth of May to the first of
June, according to the latitude. The Delaware Experiment
station has recently been carrying on experiments with a view
of determining the value of thiscrop and reports that it yields
easily eight tons of green fodder per acre, if cut between the
5th and t1oth of May, that its roots run down four feet in
favorable locations and that it is superior to the ordinary red
or mammoth clover in two respects: 1. Its ability to flourish
on relatively poor soils. 2. Its capacity for growth during
the tall, spring andin open winters. It also reports that it can
not be seeded witli winter grain owing to the fact that it
grows when winter wheat or rye seem dormant and as the
result, onecropor the other would be destroyed. -It is
specially valuable for soiling and for plowing wnder as a
green crop instead of rye. European writers mention five
varieties of this clover, differing to some extent from each
other in their relative powers towithstand winter conditions,
and :t may be that some variety may yet be introduced that
will be able to withstand the rigours of a northern winter.
Until this is done the crimson or scarlet clover must be
regarded as a crop especially adapted to the southern and bor-
der states. We tried it one year, on our own farms in south-
ern Iowa, sowing after harvest on wheat stubble, and the next
spring we failed tofinda single stalk that had survived the win-
ter. Similar experiments were made at the Iowa Agricultural
College, and in I&inois in the latitude of North Missouri, so
that any variety known in America must be regarded as
adapted only to the latitudes of the southern border states.
Having the same power of appropriating nitrogen from the
atmosphere, it will no doubt prove of great value where its
cultivation is practical, and especially to truck farmers whio
after the removal of their crop can sow the land to clover and
plow it ynder or use it for hay and turn the roots in time for
a profitable crop on the same land next season,

Our object in experimenting with it was to ascertain

a
CLOVER CULTURE. Bf.

ANN
Mi

SCARLET OR CRIMSON CLOVER. ( 7rifolium incarnatum.)

38 CLOVER CULTURE.

whether the Western farmer could sow it in his corn fiefds at
the last plowing or on the stubble after harvestand turn the
crop under in time for a crop of corn the next year, If some
variety could be’ procured that would endure the northern
winters this might be done, and it would then prove of great
value in sections of the West where corn is the leading crop
and where it is necessary to supply nitrogen at a very cheap
rate. The amount of seed necessary is from fifteen to twenty-
five pounds per acre, which should be sown broadcast and
covered the same depth at which red or mammoth clover suc-
ceeds best in the latitude where it is sown. e

Japan Clover, (Lespedeza striata.) In some unknown
way there was introduced a variety of clover into the South
Atlantic States from Japan about forty-five years ago that has
proved of no little economic value, known as Japan clover,
(Lespedeza striata,) an illustration of which will be found on
next page. It was little noticed before the late civil war, but
during the war it extended south and west and has spread
rapidly over a large district of country, especially along road-
sides, in abandoned fields andin open woods.@ Like nearly
all clovers in climates of great and long continued summer
heat, whether the rainfall be deficient or not, it is an annual,
growing up every spring, and is killed by frost in the fall.
The seeds begin to ripen about the rst of August and con-
tinue tomature until the close of the season. It reproduces
itself from seed on the same ground year after year, and
hence by mistake has frequently been regarded as a peren-
nial. It will grow on poor soils, but prefers clay, and only
on rich bottom lands does it obtain size sufficient to justify
cutting it forhay. It may be found*t the situations above
mentioned in many of the Southern states, driving out broom
sedge and even Bermuda or Johnson grass in some localities,
but it does not withstand drouth so well-as the Bermuda. It
is likewise easily killed by fro3t. It has proven agreat bless-
ing to the Southern farmers, a good Samaritan, providing its
own charges, sowing itself wherevee there is an abandoned
field and thus binding upthe broken-hearted land. It ranges
from the Atlantic Coast to Tennessee, Misss_-ippi, Alabama,
‘Georgia and as far West as north-eastern Texas.

It is searcely possible to over-estimate the economic
value of this plant to the Southern farmer, and it is only
since the recent discoveries of the power which all clovers
and all legumes possess of fixing nitrogen in the soil by ap-
propriating it from the atmosphere and storing it in the soil

CLOVER CULTURE.

JAPAN CLOVER.

(Lespideza striata.)

60 CLOVaR CULTURE. ;
that its value has become fully understood, even by the most
intelligent farmers. Any plant that will of its own accord
restore the wastes of the soil, robber must grow in popular es-
timation. year after year.. It should be sown at the rate of
half a bushel to the acre and covered to a depth sufficient to
give it the same degree of light, heat and moisture which it
secures when self-sown on uncultivated fields or commons.
It must ever be borne in mind that all seeds on.loose, well-
cultivated soils require a deeper covering than when self-
sown on unplowed land.

Bur Clover. (Medicago denticulata.) This clover is
next in economic importance, and grows largely in California.
This, too, is a foreigner, which was early introduced in that
state, and has given itselt a wide distribution, having spread
over the lower lands in the southern andcentral counties and
on some of the high lands as well. It has also been tried
with success in some parts of Texas and Mississippi. We
have seen thousands of sheep feeding in mid-summer on lands
in California apparently almost as bare as the highway.’ The
sheep seemed io be in good condition, and by inquiry we
found they were feeding on the seedsof the bur clover. The
seed remaining begins to grow with the winter rains and
hence this clover furnishes a winter pasture in the leaves and
a summer pasture in the seeds. The only objection that can
be made to itas a forage plant for sheep is that the seeds be-
ing in the form of burs, (hence the popular name, ) injures the
market value of the wooltoa greateror less extent. Bur clo-
ver, like the white, of the northern states, has a growing
mate in the adfdaria (erodium cicutaritum), pronounced al-fi-la-
res, the local name beingstork’s bill, pin clover, pin grass and
filaria. The alfilaria is neither a grass nor a clover, but be-
longs to the geranium family and the two grow together for
the same reason that white clover and blue grass are a wedded
pair, bound together by a tie which no court can dissolve, the
bur clover evidently supplying the alfilaria with nitrogen.

A closely related variety of bur clover (medtcago maculata)
is found in Western Nebraska, and no doubt over other _por-
tions of the plain region. Nature is careful in her distribu-
tion of the legumes, and especially of the clovers, and provides
some variety of this invaluable plant for almost every soil and
climate, .

Besides the foreign species above enumerated, there are
in the United States some forty species of native clovers, most
of them belonging to the Pacific Slope and the mountain

CLOVER CULTURE. 61
region, ‘and a few belonging to the southern states and the
plains. These clovers aremostly annuals. We give the fol-
lowing description of the most prominent of them taken from
the report of Dr. Geo. Vasey, botanist of the Department of
Agriculture for the year 1886, with illustrations showing the

_varieties described, which will be found at the conclusion of
this chapter:
TRIFOLIUM FUCATUM.

This is one of the largest and strongest growing of our
native kinds, and is found on the Pacific coast. Under favor-
able circumstances it attains a height of two or three feet.
The stem is decumbent, smooth, thick, and juicy. The stip-
ules at the, base of the leat are half an inch to an inch long,
ovate, broad,and clasping thestem. ‘The leaves are trifoliate,
with stems or petioles three to six inches long; the leaflets
vary from roundish or oblong to obovate, thickish, strongly
veined, three-fourths ofan inch to an inch and a half long,
and with numerous small, sharp teeth on the margins. The
flower heads are large (one to two inches in diameter), larger
than those of the common red clover on naked peduncles
(stems), which are longer than the leaf-stalks (sometimes five
to.six inches long). There is a conspicuous green involucre
surrounding the base of the flower head deeply divided into
seven to mine ovate, entire, and pointed lobes, which are
about half as longas the flowers. The heads contain com-
paratively few flowers (about eight to ten), but these are about
an inch long, thick and inflated, the calyx about one-fourth
as long as the carolla, which varies from pink to purple in
color. Mr. S. Watson, in the ‘‘Botany of California,’’ says
of this: ‘‘A common species in the Coast Ranges and in the
foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, through the length of the
State—in some.places very abundant and affording good
pasturage.’’? It would seem very desirable that this species
should be given a fair trial in cultivation.

TRIFOLIUM MEGACEPHALUM (Large-headed clover).

A low species, seldom reaching a foot in height, but
robust and with strong, deeply penetratiig roots. A number
of stalks usually proceed from one root, but these stems are
unbranching, somewhat hairy, and terminate with a single
large head. ‘The leaves mostly proceed from the base of the
stein, there usually being but one pair ou the stalk near the
middie. ‘The lowest leaves are long-stalked, and with five or
seven leaflets instead of three, as in most clovers, but the
upper ones are sometimes reduced to three leaflets. The

62 CLOVER CULTURE.

leaflets are an inch long or less, somewhat wedge-shaped or
obovate and blunt at the apex, and with very fine, sharp teeth
onthe edge. The stipules at the base of the leaves are large,
mostly ovate in form,and sharply toothed or deeply cut. ‘The
heads are mostly terminal, about one and one-half inches
long, on a naked peduncle, and without aninvolucre. The
flowers are large, purplish, about an inch long,and very com-
pact and spicate in the head. The calyx with its long,
plumose teeth, is half as long as the corolla. This species
grows in the mountain region of California, Oregon, Wash-
ington Territory, Nevada, and Montana. It is not as large
as the common red clover, but experiments are needed to
determine its possibilities for pasturage. Its large, showy
heads and its peculiar leaves would ‘make it an interesting
ornamental species.
TRIFOLIUM INVOLUCRATUM.

This is an annual species, presenting a great variety of
form, but under favorable circumstances reaching one and
one-half or two feet in height and of vigorous growth. The
stems are usually decumbent and branching below, very
leafy, and terminating with one to three heads on rather long
peduncles. ‘The leaves are on stalks longer than the leaflets,
which are in threes, one-half to one inch long, ofan oblong or
obovate form, smooth, and with very fine, sharp teeth on the
margins. ‘The stipules are large, ovate, or lanceolate, and
usually much gashed or deeply toothed. The heads are long-
stalked, about an inch long, the purplish flowers closely
crowded, and surrounded with an involucre, which is divided
into numerous long-toothed lobes. The flowers are half to
three-fourths of an inch long, slender, with a short, striate
@alyx, the teeth of which are very slender,entire,and pointed,
and little shorter than the corolla. This species has a wide
range of growth in the western part of the continent, pre-
vailing from Mexico to British America through the. moun-
tain districts. Under cultivation it would probably produce
a good yield of fodder, but has never been subjected to experi-
ment so far as known. e

TRIFOLIUM STOLONIFERUM (Running buffalo clover).

This is a perennial species, growing about a foot high;
long runners are sent out from the base, which are procum-
bent at first, becoming erect. The leaves are all at the base,
except one pair at the upper part of the stem. The root
leaves are long-stalked, and have three thinnish obovate
leaflets, which are minutely toothed. The pair of leaves on

CLOVER CULTURE. 63

the stem have the stalk about as long as the leaflets, which
are about one inch long. ‘The stipules are ovate or lanceo-
late, pointed, and entire on the margins, the lower ones nearly
an inch long, the upper ones about halfas long. There are
but one or two heads on each stem at the summit, each on a
peduncle longer than the leaves. The heads are about an
inch in diameter, rather loosely flowered, each flower being
on a short, slender pedicei, or stem, which bends backward at
maturity. Each flowez has a long-toothed calyx about half as
long as the corolla, which is white tinged with purple. This
species is found in rich, open wood-lands and in prairies in
Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, and westward. It is smaller iu
size and less vigorous in growth than the common red clover.
TRIFOLIUM CAROLINANUM (Southern clover). ’

A small perennial clover, having much resemblance to the
common white clover. It usually grows froin six to ten inches
high, somewhat pubescent, the stems slender, procumbent,
and branching. The leaves are trifoliate, on petioles of
variable length. The leaflets are about half an inch long,
obovate, wedge-shaped at base, and somewhat notched at the
summit. The stipules are nearly as long as the leaflets, ovate
or lanceolate, and slightly toothed above. Each stalk has
usually two long-stalked heads, proceeding from the upper
joints. The roundish heads are from one-half to three-fourths
ofan inch in diameter, without an involucre,and with numer-
ous crowded, small flowers on slender pedicels, which become
reflexed in age. The long lanceolate teeth of the calyx are
slightly shorter than the small, purplish, pointed corolla.
The pods are ususlly four-seeded. This species occurs in all
the Southern States and in Texas. It is too small to be valu-
able for fodder, but is worthy of trial as a constituent of pas-
tures in the South.

64 CLOVER CULTURE.

Wy

(Trifolium fucatu m.)

CLOVER CULTURE. 65

LARGE HEADED CLOVER. (77r:folinm megacephalum. )

66 CLOVER CULTURE.

CLOVER CULTURE. 67

RUNNING*BUFFALO CLOVER. ( Trifolintu stoloniferum.

CLOVER CULTURE.

EL) Ae yy LO
. Ni, z NEF ag Gy
< 2 = "94 x. €¢ 6°
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OR
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Romig - } creme”

SOUTHERN CLOVER. (7; rifolium Carolinanum.)

PRACTICAL CLOVER GROWING.

CHAPTER VII.

In previous chapters we have described the general range:
of the clovers, and discussed somewhat in detail the varieties:
usually grown in different sections of the country. In this-
we take up the best methods of practical management. These
methods will vary in different localities, often in the same-
neighborhood, and on the same farm. The first question:
for the farmer to decide is the variety or varieties he can use
with profit in his latitude and longitude, and in connection
with the system of farming which he has adopted. While it
is well for the enterprising farmer to experiment with new
varieties, but always on a small scale, it is folly to devote any
considerable part of his farm to a variety that has not been found!
entirely reliable and reasonably well adapted to his section of
the country and to his system of farming. By ‘‘entirely reli-
able’? we do not mean a variety that will grow well enough:
in an occasional wet year, or that will survive an unusually
mild winter, but one that can be depended upon fromyear to:
year as a part of a regular rotation. While latitude and lon-
gitude must always be taken into account, the rainfall, the:
rotation and the nature of the soil must be considered as-well..

The next thing to be determined is the object in view im
growing clovers. If the object is to secure hay and fall pas-
ture, and store up fertility for future crops of corn and other
grain, his reliance in all sections where it is a sure crop, must
be on the common red clover. Ifhis object be mainly fertil-
ity in connection with a cash crop of clover seed, then the:
mammoth should have the preference. If the object be pas-
ture as an ultimate end, to be grown year after: year, om the:
same land, and always ready to be plowed under for a corm

70 CLOVER CULTURE.

crop, should circumstances seem to justify it, then he can use
to advantage in the North, both the red and the mammoth;
and, if his lands are unusually moist, the alsike. If he wishes
to lay down his lands in permanent pasture, not to be broken
up for an indefinite number of years, he can use all these and
the white clover in addition. If he is located in sections
where the above varieties are not reliable, and he wishes a
permanent clover meadow, or a crop for summer soiling, his
main reliance must be alfalfa, provided always that he has a
soil that is not immediately underlaid with impervious clay,
gumbo, hardpan or rock. If he has land under irrigation
there is no forage plant that will take the place of alfalfa as a
permanent meadow. If he resides in the mountain or Pacific
coast states and cannot irrigate his land, he must use the
annuals native to that region; if in the extreme Southern
states, his main reliance must be on the Japan, and if in the

order states, where the winters are sufficiently mild, he can
use to great advantage the crimson. Bearing in mind the
uses and fitness of each variety, every farmer must make a
selection for himself.

The object in view in growing clovers having been clear-
ly determined and a judicious selection made after a thorough
study of the resources of the country and of the particular
farm, the next practical question is the determination of the
mixture to be used, either of the clovers by themselves, or in
connection with other grasses. Much harm has been done
by the recommendation’ by seedsmen and some agricultural
papers, of grass mixtures selected on purely theoretical
grounds, and without reference to the wants, of either the sec-
tion of the country or the individual farmer. Many of the
mixtures seem to have been taken from English works, and
are frequently made up of grasses which have generally failed
wherever tried in the Western states, and where they have
succeeded, have proved inferior to the grasses and clovers in
common use that have been demonstrated, after years of ex-
perience, to be extremely valuable. All mixtures that contain
English rye grass, Italian rye grass, sheep’s fescue, crested
dog’s tail and such like grasses, should be rejected, as there
are few sections in the West in which these grasses will stand
either the extreme cold of winter or the extreme heat of sum-
mer. ‘The recommendation to sow orchard grass, red top or
meadow fescue should be well considered before purchasing
theseed. These three latter grasses are valuable in their
place, but only in certain locations and under certain condi-

CLOVER CULTURE. 71

tions, which will be hereafter described. Always keeping in
mind the fact that no mixture can be prescribed that will
fit every modification of circumstances, and that all proposed
mixtures must be taken only as general suggestions to be
modified by local conditions, and sometimes by the price ot
the various seeds, we venture to recommend some mixtures
that will be found to be valuable to farmers, especially in the
corn and grass belts of the West. There are many farmers
whose great ain in growing clover is to increase the waning
fertility of their soil. They have not reached the point where
they are prepared to engage in what is called ina vague way,
“diversified farming.’’ They have neither the capital nor
the experience that would justify them in engaging in stock
growing to any very great extent, and are depending upon
the sale of grain for shipment to the great markets, to lift the
mortgage on their land, usually given for purchase money.
This accomplished, they are ready to build barns, fences,
sheds, plant groves and sow a diversity of grasses and invest
in improved stock. ‘To these we suggest the sowing of mam-
moth clover alone on every crop ofspring grain. If this is
sown at the rate of twelve pounds per acre, and covered as
directed in Chapter III, it will, in all ordinary seasons, in a
clover country, make a stand that will furnish pasturage for
the limited stock on the farm during the fall months, or if
fenced in common with the corn fields, will make the corn
stalks (which are seldom used by this class of farmers except
for pasture), doubly valuable as a-winter feed. The crop can
then be plowed under the next spring in time forcorn. The
cost will not ordinarily be more than $1.00 or $1.25 per acre,
part of which will be covered by the fall pasturage, and the
rest by an increase of two bushels per acre in the corn crop.
Without definite experiments to guide us, and judging from
the returns of corn from clover roots that have been allowed
to mature a seed crop and then turned under, we should not
expect a smaller increase than from eight to ten bushels per
acre the next year. Itis much better, however, after a stand
has once been secured, to allow the crop, after a reasonable
amount of fall pasturing, to stand another year, and then to
take a crop of seed the next season after pasturing it, where
it is practicable, into June and then fall-plow for corn the
next year. Our experience justifies us in estimating the
increase in the next corn crop at from fifteen to twenty-five
bushels per acre the first year, and not quite so much the sec-
ond. The soil will then be left in better condition as regards

72 CLOVER CULTURE.

fertility than before the first clover was sown. The crop of
mammoth clover seed, under these conditions, is much more
certain than that from the common red, and an average yield
would be somewhere in the neighborhood of three bushels.
per acre, provided always that it is all secured.

Another class of farmers, who have given more attention
to stock growing and have their farms fenced in separate
fields, desire more or less tame hay as well as fall pasture.
For these we recommend the mixture described below. If the
rotation they have adopted be such that they can allow the
land to rest two years in grass, we would sow a mixture of
ten pounds of common red clover and eight pounds of timo-
thy, sown with spring grain and covered to the depth that is
found best in the soils of the neighborhood, as explained more
fully in Chapter III. The first year the stand will be mostly
clover, and it it is desired to secure the seed crop, this should
be mown, in the latitude ot central Iowa, before July 1st. If
for any reason there should be a failure in the seed crop, the
second growth or aftermath will yield a large amount of fall
pasturage, except in seasons and localities of very extreme
drouth. The next year timothy will take the lead, most of
the clover having died the previous winter, and that which
survives being, for the most part, plants from seed that, for
some reason, did not germinate the first year.- Under these
circumstances, an ordinary season seldom fails to produce a
large crop of timothy, due to the fact that it finds an abund-
ant supply of all the elements of fertility in the decaying
roots of the clover that perished the previous winter.

Under ordinary circumstances the land should then be
plowed for corn, although if it has been pastured off after the
second crop has had a chance to reseed the ground, the pre-
vious year, clover is likely to assert its supremacy the follow-
ing year. If it does the field can be kept as a permanent
meadow, in many sections at least, for an indefinite number
of years, each second crop contributing its quota of seed. We
have this year taken the eleventh crop from part.of a field
managed in this way, and the yield has been larger, both in
clover and timothy, than from the first year’ssowing. Where
the intention from the first is to establish a permanent mead-
ow of this kind, we advise in all sections where orchard grass
(dactylis glomerata) does well, to sow it with the previous
mixture at the rate of half a bushel per acre, mixing the seed
with sand or road dust to secure an even cast, sowing after
the clover and timothy have been covered, and covering the

CLOVER CULTURE. 73

orchard grass with a brush harrow. Orchard grass does well,
as a rule, south of the latitude of central Iowa and Nebraska,
and has a westward range much further than clover. How
far north this mixture can be used depends very much on the
nature of the exposure and the peotection furnished by groves,
windbreaks and other grasses. The reasons for adding or-
chard grass to this mixture are two: First, It is about the
only. grass that will be fit to cut for hay at the time the com-
mon red clover is at its best estate. Second, We know of no
grass, except clover, that will yield such an abundant after-
math. If, therefore, the amount of timothy above suggested
be lessened and orchard grass added, the result will be, wher-
ever this grass does well, an amount of fall pasture that is
surprising to farmers who do not know the capabilities of a
soil well set in the best grasses. | However, where orchard
grass forms any considerable portion of the sward, it should
not be plowed up except after a term of years, for the reason
that the seed is expensive, and the grass being a perennial or
growing from year to year from thesame root, should be used
as long as its usefulness continues.

By using clover in any ot the ways above suggested, it is
possible to keep up the fertility of the soil for a great length
of time, depending upon the amount of phosphoric acid and
potash that are availiable, or that may become available by the
disintegration of the primary rock of which all soils are largely
composed. As to how long it might require to exhaust the pot-
ash and phosphoric acid on the drift soils of the West no oneis
yet competent to express an opinion. This, however, should
be distinctly understood, that if the crops grown with the aid
of clover as well as the clover itself are removed from the soil
and no manure returned, the land will become permanently
exhausted and cannot be restored to its wonted fertility with-
out the costly, hazardous and uncertain experiment of the use
of commercial fertilizers.

As clover itselfisa large consumer of phosphoricacid and
potash the first symptom would likely be that the soil would
refuse to grow clover and become, in popular language,
‘clover sick.’? This, however, is not a proper use of the
term, the true clover sickness being a disease that affects the
clover in the fall of the year and after it has made a vigorous
growth during the spring and summer months. We wish,
therefore, to impress with the utmost clearness and distinct-
ness. on the mind of the reader this fact, that he cannot goon
forever obtaining large crops by the use of clover unless he

74 CLOVER CULTURE.

restores to the land, in the shape of barnyard manure, or ip
some other way, the mineral elements which it, as well as the
other crops, have removed from it.

As proof of the value of the clovers, sown and managed:
as above described, we have only to point to the cornfields
grown on clover sod in any year, and especially in wet years,
in any part of the country, but particularly in the West, as
compared with corn grown on like land after other crops and
treated inall respects similarly. The natural drainage formed.
by the partially rotted soil renders earlier planting possible,
the decaying roots furnishing an abundant supply of nitrogen.
in the best condition for the use of the plant; and the result,
in the worst corn seasons, is a crop that cannot fail to be largely
profitable. There is, however, nosurer way toexhaust perma-
nently the fertility of the soil than to continue the process we:
have outlined above without restoring in some way the potash
and phosphoric acid that have been removed by this stimulat-
ing process.

Where it is desired to use the clovers in connection with
the other grasses as a permanent pasture, a different mixture
should be adopted. If the land has been in cultivation, andi
itis desired to sow the grass seed with spring grains, we sug-
gest the following mixture:

REC CLOVE vie po olga wipe eleyors ep pra wie’ « 6: boeiets tain eriRInnOn tetete amen 5 pounds.
Mainmoth’Clover ?. i. 080 204 CUR OG Gs BU Sas te
Pitas KS ch). LL pack 2 ibe abide b Lb els Oe. VAG a 6 pounds.
Blite Ger gsSa,c} § ley colores sit ce pe sped mes here eee eras .+s+e- 6 pounds.
WW Hite LOVER. i's pran sines s4 este eo 6) 0. 0)0\eie wccg/aTaid faints cheieta ames is) een an

The principles laid down in Chapter III should be ob-
served with regard to the depth of covering, the moist soils.
requiring shallower, and the light and dry soils a deeper cov-
ering. As the object in the permanent pasture is to secure
as far as possible a constant succession of fresh grass and of
bloom, it would be well to add to, or substitute in part for the
above mixture any other grasses that are known to do well in
the particular locality. Forexample, we would add, in the
latitude of southern Iowa, 3 or 4 pounds of orchard grass. On
wet lands we would leave out half the red and mammoth
clovers and substitute five pounds of alsike. Where red-top
does better than timothy, as it does in some of the southern
states, or better than blue grass, as in some of the extreme
northern, we would reduce the timothy and blue grass and
substitute red-top in part. In a pasture seeded as above, the
orchard orass will furnish the first bite. so desirable in the

CLOVER CULTURE. 75

early spring, the blue grass coming next, followed by
timothy and clovers. After maturing seed the blue grass will
rest while the clovers are making their most vigorous growth,
but will revive and take full possession of the field when the
clovers are taking time to ripen their seed crop. The dispo-
sition of blue grass and white clover to usurp full possession
of permanent pastures renders it somewhat difficult to retain
the red and mammoth. The difficulty may be overcome by
searifying the surface with a disc harrow and then sowing the
seeds of the red and mammoth clovers, or by scattering ma-
nure containing these seeds on such pastures during the win-
ter season. On some soils especially adapted to clovers, these
retain their place in the permanent pasture much longer than
on others, and in all pastures there is a constant contest amotig
the grasses themselves for the supremacy.

Where it is desirable to seed rough lands in prairie grass-
es to permanent pasture, the following mixture, per acre,
may be used with advantage:

PRECUSIOVEE As otha ac a ttle ER he PERO ey Pas 5 ae 8 pounds
RTP CeO LS ete See cia er nial =. wave eee (sie ane Wlelais Hye svakets Bacar cadavers 7 pounds
[WHERE IONE RHOT ete OFLA MALO AC AM A PAE 1 pound

This should be sown before the frost leaves the ground
in the spring, the wild grass having been burned off the pre-
vious autumn. It should then be pastured heavily, prefera-
bly with sheep, calves or hogs, in order to check the growth
of the wild grasses and allow the cultivated varieties air and
sunlight. The tramping of the soil will insure covering,
and, unless the ground be excessively wet, will not materi-
ally injure the young plants of the cultivated grasses. The
pasturing should be as close as possible the first year, but in
the second year the red clover should be allowed to produce
seed and thus re-seed the ground. For some reason we have
never succeeded.so well on these pastures with mammoth
clover as with the common red. Where a large acreage is to
be seeded it is not practicable usually to pasture with either
sheep, hogs or calves. In that case yearling or two-year-old
steers should be used, and enough should be turned in to
keep the wild grass very short during the entire summer.
The only difficulty in this method of seeding: is that the best
results in securing a speedy transformation of the wild into
the tame pasture require more cattle to the acre than is
profitable for their owner.

We are nof prepared to say how far West of the Missouri

76 CLOVER CULTURE.

the method of seeding with a nurse crop' will prove successfu
on account of lack of summer moisture. It has proved a fail-
ure under drier conditions than prevail east of the Missouri,
and Nebraska and Kansas farmers have resorted to the meth-
od of cutting the prairie sod with heavily loaded disc harrows,
and then sowing grass seeds as above described. We are in-
clined to think ‘that the rule will hold good that wherever
the tame grasses‘require to be sowed alone without a nurse
crop the wild pastures will require to be disced in order that
the grass seeds may secure an early and rapid growth to ena-
ble them to withstand the coming drouth.

In practical clover management the amount of moisture
that can be confidently expected must always be borne in
mind, While in the entire country east of the Missouri and
for some distance west, it is entirely practicable to sow the
grass seeds with spring grains, it is unsafe, as a rule west of
that river. If they are sown with oats especially the growth
is necessarily limited, the plants are delicate and *‘spindling,”’
and when the nurse crop is removed the hot sun is almost
certain to greatly weaken, if not entirely destroy, the stand.
This is true to some extent with the oats crop in Iowa and
Missouri, and especially during the excessively hot seasons.
The rule, therefore, west of the Missouri, except in unusually
moist soils, should be to sow grass seeds as acrop by them-
selves. The ground should be carefully prepared, clover and
timothy seed covered to the depth usually given to oats or
spring wheat, and the tame grasses allowed the full use of
the ground. The weeds will spring up with the young
grasses and these should be mowed off once’or twice during
the summer, if necessary, setting the mower somewhat high
thus allowing the young plants to have the full measure of
sunshine and air. By this method it is possible to grow the
tame grasses far beyond the limit set by publicopinion, based
on previous experience, and by the methods usualjin localities
where the moisture is more abundant. This necessarily in-
volves a change in the rotation which will be discussed more
fully in the next chapter.

It will be found, however, that wherever the clovers can
be relied upon as a permanent crop, they can be grown quite
successfully without a nurse crop.

There is a point west of the Missouri where the growth
of red, mammoth, white and alsike clover is so uncertain that
alfalfa should be used as a substitute, Just where this line is
has not yet been detesnined by actual experience. It is not ¢

CLOVER CULTURE. wis

line marked out by degrees of latitude or longitude, —the de-
termining factors are the geological formation of the soil and
its capacity to hold moisture and rainfall. We are inclined
to the belief that the ordinary clovers can be used with suc-
cess east of a line running from Norfolk, Nebraska, to Kear-
ney, and south to the Republisan, east along that river and
south to some distance west of Topeka. It will be found by
practical experienoe that they can be grown in many places
west of the line indicated. Where these can not be grown,
alfalfa is the best substitute among the grasses yet discovered.
It is grown without irrigation quite successfully on all soils
west of this line that do not rest on hardpan or rock, and
while it cannot take the place of clovers in rotation, it is the
best substitute among the grasses yet discovered. It is proba-
ble that on many of these soils west of the line indicated, and
possibly in some places east of it, the soy bean will prove a
better crop, especially in view of its adaptation to rotations,
than either the clovers usually grown or alfalfa.

Under the present conditions from ten to twenty per
cent. of the lands east of the Great Divide in lowacomprising
sloughs, swales and bottoms are too wet for cultivation, and
the time for tile drainage has not yet fullycome. Inthe course
of a few years farmers will realize the importance of tile drain-
ing all these sloughs...In the meantime mnch can be done
to render them profitable by the use of alsike clover. The
method of sowing is similar to that recommended in the case
of prairie lands which it is desirable toseed without plowing.
Whatever grass may be upon the land of the previous year’s
growth shonld be burned off in the tall, and these lands,
whether sloughs, swales, or bottoms, annually wet or subject
to overflow, should be sown to alsike before the frost leaves
the ground in the spring, at the rate of about four pounds of
seed per acre. As it is not ordinarily practicable to pasture
these lands, especially sloughs which meander through culti-
vated fields, the mower should be run over them after, first
leveling the ant hils with a spade, and thus the rank growth
of slough grass kept under control. This will give the alsike
air and sunlight and ordinarily secure a fair stand the first
year.@ The second year the entire crop of alsike and slough
grass may be cut for hay; or, if desirable, threshed for seed.
The effect of this method will be, in a year or two, to greatly
decrease the size of the slough and dry out bottom lands, the
decay of the roots of the wild grasses allowing the water to
sink away, and where it is practical to pasture them, especial-

78 CLOVER CULTURE

ly with heavy cattle, the compression of the soil by their weight
will narrow the slough, and when this process has been begun
it is practicable to sow the red, mammoth and white clovers.
Iu this way the unsightly sloughs which disfigure a great part
of the Western country, may be converted into meadows, to
the profit of the farmer and a great improvement in the ap-
pearance of the farm.

CURING CLOVER HAY.
CHAPTER VIIL

The problem of curing clover hay at its best estate, where
the acreage is large and the weather uncertain, is one of the «
most difficult and perplexing that awaits the solution of the
practical farmer. The problem is to evaporate at the least.
expense of labor the large water content in clover, when cut.

_when it should be, with the least possible damage to the hay,
either from excessive drying, from rainfall or from dew. An-
alyses made at different times and places and collected and
published by the Department of Agriculture show that clover
before bloom has from 61.2 to 82.7 percent. of water, with an.
average of 72; in bloom, from 47.1 to 91.8 with an average of.
72.7; after bloom from 61.1 to 74.2 with an average of 68.2,
theaverage of all analyses givinga minimum of 47.1 and amax-
imum of 91.8 and an average of 70.8. Analyses of cloverhay
cured before bloom give a minimum of 6 per cent., anda
maximum of 31.3, with an average of 20.6; in bloom a mini-
mum of 9.4, a maximum of 26.7, an average of 20.9, while the
average of all analyses, numbering some thirty-eight of clover
hay, give a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 31.3, with aver-
age of 15. 3.

Mr. W. H. Heileman, under the directicu of Prof. Wil-
son, of the Iowa Agricultural College and Experiment Station,
located at Ames, Iowa, has taken samples of clover as nearly as
possible in the best condition for cutting for hay, has analyzed
samples of it when cut, has cured the rest into hay in the
proper condition for storage, and analyzed the different samples,
and also like samples of hay thoroughly cured in the mow,
with the following results:

Total moisture in a sample of clover in its best condition

(79)

30 CLOVER CULTURE.

for cutting, 75.90. The total moisture iu sample of well

-cured hay, 16.62. Moisture in clover hay after being in the
barn twenty days, 12.22. From this it will be seen that the
-amount evaporated in the process of curing was 58.28 pet
-cent.,and{that an additional amount of 4.40 was lost in the barn
iu twenty days. In other words, after losing in the procéss
of curing 58.28 per cent. of the original moisture, 26.48 per
-cent. of what remains is lost after storage in the mow for
twenty days. On the basis which these figures furnish, 100
pounds of green clover cut at the proper season and cured in
its best estate, will make 41.72 pounds of hay ready for the
mow. ‘Twenty days after storing it will weigh 37.32 pouuds.
The shrinkage probably continues in a variable, but gradually
decreasing degree for a considerable time longer, the variation
depending on the season and the average humidity of the at-
mosphere which surrounds it. :

It will thus be seen that the problem betore the farmer
in making hay is to get rid of about 60 per cent. of the weight
of the clover by evaporation in the sunshine and wind, and to
do this with the least possible expense, and least danger of
damage from scorching by the sun, from rainfall or dew.
The problem in the Eastern states, where the crop is small,
labor plenty and barn room abundant, and where there is
little necessity for the use of special machinery, is a compar-
atively easy one. Under these circumstances, the clover can
be taken in its ideal condition, that is, when about one-third
of the heads are turned brown and nearly every stalk in
‘bloom, and can be converted into ideal hay, with but little
risk of exposure to sun, rain or dew. By the use of the
mower an hour or two in the afternoon or evening, a sufficient
amount of the crop for the next day’s operations can be cut
down. By stirring it once or twice with the tedder in the
morning it will part with sufficient of its water to enable it to
be placed in cocks. ‘These can then be covered with hay caps
made either from ducking, muslin or wood pulp, and allowed
to remain until they go through the sweating process, whether
that be two days ora week. A hay day can then be taken,
the caps removed and the crop stowed away in the barn. The
first crop treated in this way, a crop of seed in the fall from
the common red clover is reasonably certain.

The conditions are widely different, however, in the
West. There the crop is usually large, running as a rule
from forty acres to several hundred on a farm, and machinery
specially adapted to the work becomes a necessity on account

CLOVER CULTURE. 81

of the magnitude of the crop and the high price of labor. It
is by no means difficult to secure a crop of clover hay under
these conditions, provided it be allowed to stand until the
heads are nearly all turned brown and the stalks have parted
with a large amount of their water content; but the hay is by
this delay very seriously damaged in quality. With the or-
dinary farmer hay is hay, and, hay nade in its best estate, is
regarded as but little superior to hay made from clover which
has become largely woody fiber and therefore to a great extent
indigestible. The farmer has no means of determining the
food value of this hay, nor of comparing it with clover hay
made in its best estate. He notices that some seasons his
cattle eat a very large amount of it, and at other seasons a.
comparatively small amount, with about the same final ap—
parent result in thrift, but he attributes this difference in the -
spending quality to the temperature, or to the previous con-
dition of the cattle and other stock, whereas it may lie almost:
wholly in the difference in the nutritive value of the hay fed,
due to the time of cutting and manner of curing.. We know
of no experiments covering this ground, and hence are obliged
to fall back on certain well-known principles, namely, that
all grasses after they have passed their bloom, with the possi- -
ble exception of timothy, develop woody fiber very rapidly,.
and that this woody fiber is to a very great extent indigestible -
and hence useless. Corn fodder cut when the ears are glazed
as compared with corn fodder cut when the blades are brown :
furnishes an example of the change that goes on in clover...
It is, therefore, an easy matter to make clover hay in the West, .
provided it is allowed tostand until half its nutritive value is:
lost; it is often a very difficult matter when cut with the
maximum of nutriment in the plant. It is as near that point
as possible when in full bloom. On account of the difference
in the blooming period in any one field, the central heads of
the stalk or branch blooming first, and the later and earlier
varieties being grouped under the one term, -red clover, the-
farmer is obliged to allow about one-third of the heads.to turn:
in order to get the maximum of bloom.

In dealing with clover, it must always be borne in mind?
that it is a wonderful evaporator of moisture. ‘That is the-
habit of its entire life. All close observers are familiar with
this fact, that no matter how thoroughly saturated the soil of
the clover field may be by recent rains which the magnitude
of the crop will not allow to run off, it soon becomes dry, and
that solely through the enormous evaporation from the leaves.

32 CLOVER CULTURE.

‘This habit of its life clings to it in death. When mown, it
evaporates its water so rapidly that in a short time under a
hot sun and in a dry wind the leaves, the most valuable part
of it, are dried to the point where they crumble to pieces in
handling. The problem before the farmer is to avoid this
crumbling, and at the same time secure such an amount of
evaporation from the stalk that it is in condition to go into
the barn. The destruction of the structure of the leat by too
rapid drying destroys its power to evaporate water from the
stalk, and hence it is possible to have the leaves dry, almost
charred, in fact, and their evaporating power destroyed, while
the stalk may yet remain full of sap. When clover is very
heavy, say three tons of cured hay to the acre, it is not an un-
common thing to see the leaf structure on the surface of the
swath destroyed, while the underlying grass is almost as green
as when it first felt the edge of the sickle. To avoid this we
regard as the essential point, the very key to the situation in
the curing of clover hay. The leaves must be preserved, not
merely for their own sake, but for their use in evaporating
the juices or sap of the stalk. It is this consideration that
makes the use of the tedder so imperative when clover hay is
cut when it should be to secure the best quality of hay, and
at the same time a reasonable chance for a seed crop.

It must be remembered that the only practical agencies
which the farmer can use for the ev poration of the sutplus
moisture are the sunshine and the wind, and the whole prob-
lem lies in exposing to the fullest extent the fresh-cut grass
to the sun and wind so as to secure the requisite amount of
evaporation in the shortest possible time, and inthe best part
of the day. It must never be forgotten that while clover parts
with its moisture readily, the evaporating power of its leaves
being usually great, it absorbs moisture with almost equal
readiness. A heavy swath of clover lying on damp ground
will keep green for days, especially if the atmosphere is heav-
ily laden with moisture, which it sometimes is even in the
hottest weather. We have had it after two days of hot sun
so dry on the top of the swath as to be seriously damaged,
while the bottom was almost as green, to all appearance, as
when first cut. It absorbs dew like a sponge and in fact be-
gins to take up water from the air in a day when the atmos-
phere is full of moisture, long before the dew begins to form.
Much of the damage to clover hay arises from the failure on
the part of the farmer to comprehend this wonderful power
of the clovers to absorb as well as evaporate moisture. On

CLOVER CULTURE. 83

the other hand, it must be remembered that the damage to
clover whether in the stack or barn comes nearly always from
the outside moisture, whether in the form of rain or dew or ab-
sorbed from an atmosphere loaded with moisture. We do not
undertake to explain why it is that the juices of the plant are
comparatively harmless even when somewhat in excess, but
such we take to be the fact.

With these preliminary statements we are prepared to
describe what we regard as the best practical method of man-
aging clover, cut in its best condition and under circumstances
prevalent on the average western farm. The mowing should
be done as far as possible in the evening, say after four o’clock.
A wide-cut mower, say six or seven feet, will enable the op-
erator to cut downacomparatively large acreage, and especially
if he runs the machine quite late in the evening. The time
of the man, team and mower is worth a great deal more an
hour after sundown than in the heat of the day. Clover is
not damaged in the least by being cut with the dew on or
slightly wet and the heat of the sun from four until sixis sel-
dom sufficient to render clover cut during these hours liable
to damage even if wet with dew or rain in the night. The
first work in the early morning should be to start the tedder,
one wide enough to take two swaths, and drawn by a span of
fast-walking horses. The more directly upwards the tedder
tosses the hay, the better. This shakes off dew or rain, and
leaves the mass in the best possible shape for the circulation
of the air and most exposed to the action of thesun. A good
tedder with a team of this kind can cover a large amount of
ground in a few hours, and by repeating the operation, in
good weather, clover can be fit to go into the barn in the
afternoon.

We cannot describe in words the amount of dryness neces-
sary for safety in storing hay. This can be learned only. by
experience. When a stem of hay is taken in the hand and
tightly twisted and no moisture is observed on the outside of
the stalk, it is generally safe to store it. | This, however, is
conditioned somewhat upon the amount of moisture in the
atmosphere, and only experience can tell the exact ideal con-
dition. This condition being attained, in the best judgment
of the manager, the work of storing away should be done as
quickly as possible. It is here that the hay loader becomes
valuable, inasmuch as with a good loader a ton can be placed
on the wagon in from fifteen to twenty minutes and removed
in much less time with a horse fork and hay sling. By this

84 CLOVER CULTURE.

method of handling the hay, the labor of ‘cocking it, or raking
it into windrows, the expense of hay caps, ete., are avoided:
Where the crop is light, say one and one-half tons tothe acre,
it is necessary to use the hay rake for speedy loading, and
under these circumstances the second tedding may be omitted
and the hay loaded out of a small windrow.

It requires nice judgment to know what to do with hay
partially cured that has been caught in a heavy rain. In the ©
West storms are frequently accompanied with such high
winds, and the down-pour is so heavy that hay anywhere near
cured, if put in a cock, will be soaked to the bottom. If
caught in a windrow or bunched it is in a worse condition,
when thoroughly wet, than if it were scattered on the ground.
It will need to be shaken out before storing away, and every
time hay is handled after partially cured and then soaked, it
is seriously damaged.. We have seen it in hot weather with
the atmosphete laden with moisture, utterly ruined in twen-
ty-four hours in the windrow. The best way is to keep the
work well in hand and the loader well up with the work, so
that but a small amount of hay fit to go into the barnor shed
can be exposed to threatened rain. It is. almost as easy with
mproved machinery and an adequate force to put hay in the
barn or shed as it is to put it in cock, and when once in the
cock and completely soaked, it is about as well to let it stand
until it dries out of itself. Half its value will be lost in the
handling and if allowed to stand till winter it is likely to be
no worse. Ina matter requiring as sound judgment and
prompt action as curing clover hay, no minute directions can
be given. Experience will best suggest details. It should
be borne in mind that the damage which hay in the process
of curing receives from rain, is proportionate to the stage to
which the curing process has been carried. The more thor-
oughly it has been cured, the more damage it receives from
the same amount of rain. The less it is handled after being
once wet, when partially cured, the less ultimate damage will
result. It is almost impossible in ordinary seasons to secure
a crop of clover hay in the best condition without the use of
barns or hay sheds. If the farmer-is to wait until settled
weather before commencing to stack and hasten the rounding
out and covering of the stack when a cloud appears on the
horizon, his work must necessarily be greatly« hindered.
All farmers cannot have expensive barns, but it is possible for
every farmer who has twenty acres of clover hay to builda hay
shed. that will hold his crop, and by facilitating the process of

CLOVER CULTURE. 85

harvestingit, payagcood interest on the investment and a much
larger interest in the way of protecting the crop after it is
harvested. The damage toclover hay in the stack under the
most favorable conditions is not less than twelve per cent. in
the first three weeks, even if:in that time thereshould not have
been a drop of rain. ‘This arises from the heating of the hay,
(which is unavoidable) the deposit of the ascending moisture
on the outside of the stack during the night and the consequent
bleaching of the entire outer surface. The loss from this
cause has been quite fully investigated by some of our Experi-
ment Stations, and we think that in stating it at twelve per
cent. we are making a very conservative estimate. It is pos-
sible to erect a hay shed that will hold fifty tons of hay, with-
out cattle shedding around it, for $100. With this the farm-
er does not need to wait for settled weather and can stow
away a load whenever it is cured. The advantages are none
the less in feeding it out in the winter. . There is no waste in
stacks partially used, nostack bottoms wet with rain or snow,
no loss in hauling from the stack to the feed yard, and we
therefore urge every farmer who wishes to make or feed hay
economically to provide himself with one of these useful
buildings.

We have emphasized the importance of the use of the
tedder. There are years when it will not be needed, as, for
example, when by reason of the lateness of the season the
corn cannot be laid by in time to securea hay crop in the best
condition, or when by reason of the lack of hay weather the
crop is cut late, or when the crop is light or too large tosecure
itatits best, but westrongly urge every farmer who wishes tose-
cure a cropof clover hay that will feed out satisfactorily, to pro-
vide himself with one of these useful implements. Aftersever-
al years’ experience we would not undertake to secure alarge
crop of heavy clover at the proper season without one. We
know of no implement that will so well secure thorough and
even curing of the hay and guard against both the over-cur-
ing that leads to the loss of the leaves and the wet, uncured
bunches that doso much to set up destructive fermentation in
the mow and induce, under certain conditions, spontaneous
combustion in the barn.

The destruction of many barns from mysterious and un-
known causes since the introduction of clover culture in the
West renders a discussion of the subject a fitting conclusion
to a chapter on curing clover. Too many of these barns have
been destroyed by fire to allow the farmer to regard the prob-

86 CLOVER CULTURE.

lem of spontaneous combustion as of interest merely to the
scientist or perhaps to the manufacturer. While it has
long been known that spontaneous combustion is liable to
occur in heaps of rubbish containing oil and other carbon-
aceous matters in a state of minute distribution, it has been
steadily held by the majority of scientists that under no cir-
cumstances is the spontaneous combustion of clover hay pos.
sible. ‘The mysterious fires that have occurred in barns, sheds
and stacks have been regarded as the results of accident, or
the farmer’s pipe, or the nibbling by mice of matches dropped
out of the boy’s pocket as he was tramping the hay in the mow.
As late as the summer of 1889, Professor Sanborn, one of the
highest authorities on such questions, in answer toaninquiry
in the Breeders’ Gazette, of Chicago, said:

In fact, 1 never knew before this case, of a barn burning where
either lightning, coal oil lanterns or satisfactory evidence of incendiarism
—generally for insurance—was not the easily inciting cause. Hay or
fodder that is green enough to ferment will pack closely in a mow by its.
very weight, and as it heats it settles closer and closer, of course exclud-
ing the circulation of the air, except it be by a very slow movement. As
the hotter part is the center of the mow, it will be seen to be very doubt-
ful whether air, always essential to flame, will be present in amount
sufficient to produce flame. Idoubt whether spontaneous combustion of
hay or corn fodder is possible.

We had, ever since our attention had been called to the
matter, held to the same view. There are frequently myste-
rious things connected with fires, and the occasional loss ot
barns from no apparent cause seems to us no more mysterious
than dozens ot cases of fires in cities. ;

During the month of September, 1889, we received a
letter from Mr. H. R. Leaming, of Wyoming, Iowa, of which
we quote the important part:

Enclosed find a sample of clover hay put up in June, on the third day
after cutting, ina barn that would hold a hundred tons. It becameso hot
that it could not be held in the naked hand, and tons of it are completely
spoiled. Farmers are ina panic here about their hay. Stacks and barns
are taking fire and they do not know what todo. Fifty tons.of hay burned
within one-half mile of my own farm last night, from its own heat. This
hay was watched as it was expected to burn, and there was no question as to
its canse. One barn, two miles east of here, was emptied of its hay day be-
fore yesterday, that was already on fire in the inside of the mow and kept
down by water tili it was hauled out tothe field. After being hauled out
it took fire and burned completely up.

The letter in full may be found in the Homestead of Oc-
tober 1st, of the year named, and furnishes clear and convinc-
ing proof of at least more than one case of spontaneous com-
bustion. About the same time two cases were reported, one

CLOVER CULTURE. 87

from Gilman, Hancock County, Iowa, and one from Man-
chester, Delaware County, Iowa. In the Manchestercase the
barn was the property of Mr. I. G. Clute, and was insured in
the Farmers’ Insurance Co., of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The
adjuster of the company makes the following statementin the
Cedar Rapids, (lowa) Gazeéte:

The barn was 60x100 feet, the mow beiug 40x90, and about 30 feet deep,
containing nearly 500 tons of hay. Early in haying season green clover had
been put in one bent, and ever since it had been heating until at last it took
fire by spoutaneous combustion. When discovered, there was in three
chimney holes, as the neighbors called them, a blue blaze springing out over
each, some two or three feet under the roof. The fire was located far be-
neath at the depth of thirty feet. . . . This blue blaze was gas, and the
depths beneath were a gas well ona small scale. One hundred and three
neighbors collected to fight the fire and worked two days and nights to save
the hay. Thirteen out of the one hundred and three succumbed to the effects
of the gas and had to stop work, one being so violently ill as a result that
he is not likely to recover.

We have from time to time received accounts of the spon-
taneous combustion of clover hay, but the above embraces.
nearly every distinct feature. The first phenomenon is ex-
cessive heating in the center of the mow or stack; then the
formation of funnels through which gas escapes at a tempera-
ture high enough to cook eggs in a few minutes, corroding at
the same time the shell and the lining or membrane which
encloses the egg, sometimes followed by flame and sometimes.
not. Instances often occur in which the combustion has been
arrested, and in the heart of the stack may be found a mass.
of charcoal.

We sent a sample of this charcoal taken from the mow of
Mr. C. H. Seager, of Gilman, Iowa, whose barn was burned
in the fall of 1889, to Prof. Sanborn, asking his opinion of
this new evidence of spontaneous combustion, and we quote a
part of his reply, as follows:

)““All preconceived views of the matter are puerile before facts. The
charred material looks much like matter burned in an air insufficient for
full combustion. Charring does not imply flame, but rather the con-
trary. The heating of green food in the mow is due to a ferment and
not to direct oxidation in the old sense of the word, or in the sense that
wood is burned. Will the ferments (low plant life) thus. produce self-de-
struction or carry fermentation forward until it becomes oxidation? Fer-
mentation ceases with loss of moisture, and flame will not occur where
itis abundant. I confess I never saw such charred material as you have
forwarded to me. While it does not follow that combustion need be the
result, I confess,to the belief that the circumstances do not warrant the
denial of the possibility of it, at least by me, with the evidence before
me. I hope that you will obtain the views of the highest biological
authority in the country, for the question is an interesting and impor-
tant one.’’

88 CLOVER CULTURE.

In the state of Iowa in 1889, there were not less than one
hundred cases of spontaneous combustion, all having the same
general features, and for some reason the large majority of
them, in fact, all with a few exceptions, occurring in the
north part of the state. Was it because the farmers in that
part of the state had less experience in curing clover hay, and
hence cured it too green, or was it because the low plant life
which is the cause of the heating in clover hay and other for-
age was more abundant in that section than in other parts
of the West?

Mr. J. W. Bopp, of Hawkeye, Iowa, who investigated
nearly fifty cases of spontaneous combustion, reported that in
all cases they occurred when the hay was in bays over twenty
feet deep. In all, or at least nearly all the instances, tne hay
was put in damp, either from rain or dew, or with wet bunches
interspersed, the result of attempting to cure a heavy crop
without the use of the tedder. In most cases into which we
have enquired, the hay was placed on timbers that furnished
an opportunity for the moderately free access of air underneath.
In one notable case at Marshalltown, Iowa, a stack put up
when the hay was in bad condition, took fire and burned.
Horses running in the field had eaten well into the sides, for
some reason preferring this stack to other stacks in the same
enclosure, that were put up in the best condition. In the
Homestead, of February 5, 1889, Mr. Luman Edwards, of
Henry county, Illinois, reported two cases occurring in 1886,
one at Cambridge, and the other at Kewanee, of that state.
Since the public agitation of this subject, we’ have received
numerous letters from farmers, notably from Englishinen,
giving their experience both in America and in Europe, all
corroborating the facts already stated. The only wonder is,
that the theory of the scientists, that spontaneous combus-
tion of clover hay was impossible, had not been utterly ex-
ploded long ago. In the light of the facts above given it is
utterly untenable. Since the numerous cases of spontaneous
combustion in Iowa and elsewhere have occurred, the subject
has been investigated by Prof. Burrell, of the University of
Illinois. His conclusions are as follows:

‘*In the first place, it may be said that spontaneous combustion is
certainly and definitely known to occur in some substances. One of the
requisites in most cases for this is that substance shall be in a state of
minute subdivision, in order that a very great surface may be presented
for oxygenation, and that the slowly accumulated heat shall not be car-
ried away by conduction. Thus oils containing a large portion of hydro-

gen, like common lubricating oil, have no tendency to ignite at ordinary
temperatures when kept in bulk, but when cotton waste is smeared with

CLOVER CULTURE. 89

‘the oi! and thrown into a heap of some considerable size, fire is very
liable to occur from the heat generated within the pile. In thiscondition
siow oxygenation of the oil takes place, favored by the comparatively
enormous oil surfaces presented to the air included within the mass,
while at the same time escape of heat is prevented by the non-conducting
quality of the substance. As the heat accumulates, chemical combina-
tion takes place with still greater energy, the stored heat favoring the
process, and the process constantly contributing to increase the degree
of temperature. If now, the supply of air continues sufficient, as it wilt
be when the mass is sufficiently porous, and the physical conditions are
such as to continuously retain the generated heat, the time will come
when the temperature will be raised high enough to enkindle the mass.
Should an abundant supply of fresh air suddenly reach this over-heated
and inflammable material an outburst of flame may result.

“‘Just the same result has been known to occur in many other sub-
stances, as charcoal still having condensed within its pores the inflamma-
ble gases separated in the process of manufacture, and reduced to a pul-
verized state; bituminous coal containing sulphur, and stored in very
large quantity.

-““Now what of moist vegetable substances? Commonly we should
infer that moisture would prevent combustion. In order to burn, such
things must be dry. Hay in a barn is no exception to this rule. In fact,
if spontaneous combustion does occurin a haymow, you may be assured
that the igniting portion is dry at the time. What takes place before
combustion is possible? At best it is hard to make all conditions such
that spontaneous combustion can occur. Hence one requisite is very in-
flammable material. Green grass or partially dried grass cannot possibly
ignite in this way. In truth such material has not the slightest tendency
0 become warm on its own account. Familiar as the phenon.enon is,.
green vegetation thrown into a heap does not spontaneously heat. If
there were any way of keeping living organisms out of such a mass there
would be no generation of heat whatever. Green stuff would keep cool
just as certainly as the most thoroughly dried material. But under al)
ordinary conditions, minute living things are abundant on grass when
ever cut and collected. They must have moisture to live. When, how-
ever, moist nutrient material is present, they do possess the peculiar
power of forming what we call fermentation. In this process heat is one
of the results, the chemical changes being fairly equivalent to, though not
identical with those of combustion. Under favorable conditions the degree
of temperature due to these organisms may rise until it becomes injurious.
to their physiological functions, when it can rise no higher. If the mass
still continues moist, no other means are known whereby this tempera-
ture can be increased through any internal combinations or changes
whatever. Spontaneous combustion is an impossibility. Hence, no silo
filled with material containing water enough to keep moist through the
fermenting process can possibly burn., The upper limit of temperature
for these micro-organisms is pretty definitely ascertained, viz. about 145
degrees Fahr. is about the upper extreme if the bodies are immersed in
water. The micro-organisms referred to, are minute plants, and though
not killed by temperature fatal to grass and beans, are just as effectually
prevented from development at a given degree of heat. Now 145 degrees
Fahr. is scalding hot, but it lacks a long way of being sufficient to ignite
such fairly combustible matter as dry hay. In other words, heat due to
fermentation by living organisms is never sufficient to cause the ignition
of vegetable matter, whether moist or thoroughly dry.

‘Let us see, however, what else occurs. As true fermentation pro-
gresses, water is consumed as well as the nutrient material in which the

90 CLOVER CULTURE.

destructive process occurs. Along with the carbonic acid formed, there
is separated a considerable amount of free hydrogen,the inflammable sub-
stance of common illuminating gas. If now, the water supply becomes
exhausted, the micro-organisms die, or at least their activity ceases and
fermentation stops. If there is any further rise in temperature it is not
due to fermentation, but to the spontaneous oxygenation similar to that
which occurs in cotton waste. Such oxygenation can only occur, as was
before said, when the body is porous enough to admit the air, and rise of
temperature can only take place when the generated heat is prevented .
from escaping. The greater the mass, the more favorable the condition
for this last. The dryer this mass, the more inflammable it is, and the
more pronounced becomes its non-conducting quality in regard to heat.
It may be said by some that little moisture, as in the case of coal, favors
spontaneous combustion; but this is only true when by some chemical
action the hydrogen of the water is liberated, a process not likely to
occur in heated herbage.

From this it may be inferred:

1st. ‘That spontanecus combustion of stored vegetable matter may
occur.

2nd. That this can take place only when a considerable number of
conditions are favorable at one and the same time. \

3rd ‘That just enough moisture to allow very active fermentation
to proceed for a time and then become exhausted, is one of these con-
ditions.

4th. That great bulk and exposure to heating effects of the sun (as
under an unventilated roof) with the above (3rd.) may be considered
seriously dangerous.

Sth. That contrary to this no such danger threatens silos as usually
filled, however hot the material seems to become.’’

CLOVERS IN THE ROTATION,
CHAPTER IX. ;

No permanent system of advanced .farming is possible
without the adoption of some kind of rotation of crops. In
the very nature of things the operations of the farm can not
be conducted profitably by the growthof but onecrop.. There
are, it is true, temporary conditions, as for example, when the
country isnew, land cheap and farm machinery at hand adapt-
ed tolarge operations, under which, for the time being, farming
can be conducted on the ranch or bonanza system, as for exam-
ple, the growth of wheat at the present time in the Dakotas.
These conditions last but for a brief period, as is evidenced
by the constant removal of farming operations of this class to
newer and cheaper lands of the farther west: Profitable
farming, under ordinary conditions, requires the employment
of iabor, whether of the farmer himself or hired help, for the
entire year, and hence sooner or later must come diversity
of crops, and, later still, systematic rotation. € No instance
has yet occurred in the history of agriculture where the land
has been of such natural fertility that it could endure contin-
uous cropping in any one variety of grain. The constant de-
uiand made on the soil by one crop for potash, phosphoric
acid or nitrogen, speedily exhausts it of one or all of these
essential elements of fertility. No matter which isexhausted,
the land, for the time being, becomes barren. Nature,€ it is
true, does not allow of complete exhaustion, but when the
exhaustion of any one of these elements has gone so far as to
prohibit the growth of Jayzug crops, the land, so far as com-
mercial purposes are concerned, is exhausted. ‘The exhaus-

(91)

92 CLOVER CULTURE.

tion of the nitrogen is usually first, for the reason that this
most costly element is more easily washed out of the soil by
rains during that part of the summer season when it is not
covered with some kind of growing crop. There are other
reasons, in addition to the failure in the supply of nitrogen,

that prevents continuous cropping by the same plant. A nota-
ble instance of this is the refusal of even the best corn lands in
the West to grow profitable corn crops in succession for very
many years. The corn-root worm ( Dzabrotica Longz-
cornis) 41 many portions ot the West begins its operations in
a small way the first year... The damage is more noticeable
the second and third years, and wherever this pest has made
its appearance it usually reduces the crop below what should
be regarded as a paying basis.

Long continued growth of successive crops of winter
wheat on the same land gives every opportunity for the in-
crease of the Hessian fly, which lays its eggs in the volunteer
crop that springs up after harvest. The smuts, rusts and
other fungus diseases multiply rapidly when a large acreage
of spring and winter wheat is sown in the same vicinity, and
especially when sown repeatedly upon the same lands. It is
only a question of time when Nature comes in with her im-
perative command, ‘‘Rotate or cease to grow profitable
ccrops.”?

A rotation, to be profitable, must embody several distinct
features. It must comprise crops that mature in ‘different
seasons of the year in order that the labor of the farm may
find profitable employment. ‘This is imperative. It should
consist of crops for which the ground can be prepared and the
planting done at different periods of the year. Itshould con-
sist of crops that draw as far as possible on different elements
of fertility in the soil, and if possible, of some crop which re-
stores the elements of fertility which have been exhausted by
other crops. It should embrace both grain crops and forage
crops. And finaky, it should consist of one or more cleaning
cops; that is, crops that either smother out weeds or furnish
ample opportunity for destroying them in the cultivation de-
manded, for other reasons, by the crop. For the above reas-
ons, rotations wherever adopted should contain as far as pos-
sibie grain crops, grass crops and hoed crops, by the latter
being meant such crops as require tillage in some form during
their period of growth, as for instance, corn and potatoes in
America, and potatoes, turnips, mangels, beets, ete., in Eu-
rope. As all ordinary rotations must necessarily contain

*

CLOVER CULTURE. 93

shallow rooting crops, such as wheat, oats and corn, they
should also contain deep rooting crops, such as the clovers
and what are known ordinarily as root crops.

Having thus described the general features of desirable
rotations, it remains to inquire how far the clovers meet the’
wants of the farmer who is selecting a profitable rotation for
his own land, his own tastes and his own market.

As a cleaning crop the clovers surpass all of the so-called
hoed crops in America. While hoed or cultivated crops, such
for example as corn, potatoes, mangels, beets, etc., afford
abundant facilities for the destruction of weeds that germinate
prior to July rst (cultivation being then for the most part sus-
pended by the conditions of the crop as wellas the necessities
of the farmer) clover smothers out these as well as the weeds
that germinate later, which are usually as destructiveas those
which germinate in the spring. A weed once sprouted and
then smothered is as completely destroyed as whenit iskilled
by the use of the plow or the cultivator. Farmers often find
that corn lands that have been kept scrupulously clean until
July 1st, are foul with smart weed, hog weed, cocklebur and
other no less noxious weeds, and that there is no method
of destroying them after cultivation has ceased except by the
generally impracticable method of hand weeding. The longer
land is continuously in corn, the more foul under ordinary
circumstances does it become. especially in the Western
states. No matter how foul land has become, it is compara-
tively clean after it has been in clover even for two years. As
a deep-rooting crop the clovers have no equal, especially the
red, mammoth and alfalfa.

In supplying the nitrogen upon which all the grain crops
draw to such an extent, the clovers are invaluable and the
more so, because, as- we have before stated, they alone of
all the crops in general cultivationin America havethe power
of obtaining their supply of nitrogen from the atmosphere.
It is true that beans, peas and other legumes have the same
power, but their cultivation is too limited to enter largely
into rotation crops. For the reasons above given, the clovers
form an essential part of the rotation in every part of the
. world where advanced systems of agriculture have been es-
tablished.

The only objection to the clovers, where it is practicable:
to grow them in America, is that the care of the first crop to
some extent interferes with the cultivation of corn and the
harvesting of the grains. It is one of the standing regrets of

94 CLOVER CULTURE.

foreign writers on agr culture that clover can not be grown
either in Great Britain or on the Continent except as a part
of a long rotation, and hence short rotations have to be aban-
doned. Fortunately as yet, it can be grown in any desired
rotation in most parts of the United States.

It is possible to form an indefinite number of rotations by
the use of the red, mammoth and alsike clovers. The ten-
dency in all countries is to begin with a short rotation and to
extend rotations as agriculture becomes more diversified.
Farmers usually begin in the new countries with the crop for
which the land is best adapted and which brings the best cash
price, and continue with that until compelled to alternate
with some other crop. ‘The bulk of new lands in the corn
regions are planted in corn year after year, and when corn be-
gins to fail alternated with oats, spring wheat or barley. The
‘difficulty with any of these rotations is that they draw excess-
ively on the stored fertility of the soil, and especially of the
nitrogen, and the first move toward the adoption of a better
rotation is the introduction of clover. The rotation then
stands:

1. Corn; 2. Oats, barley or spring wheat seeded in con-
nection with clover. Where a good stand of clover is secured
the crop can be turned under and again planted to corn with
manifest advantage. This is the shortest rotation possible.
A manifest improvement on this rotation is:

1. Corn; 2. Oats, barley or spring wheat sown with
clover; 3. Clover meadow and seed crop.

This makes a 3-years’ rotation and the meadow can be
turned under and again planted in corn. This is perhaps the
best rotation possible where the aim is to get the largest pos-
sible amount of immediate cash crops trom the land, and at
the same time secure a large amount of hay for consumption
onthe farm. It involves plowing the ground but once in
three years, oats and other spring grains being cultivated in
without plowing. The seed crop, if the mammoth variety is
used, is ordinarily a paying crop, and if the manure is return-
ed to the meadow after the seed is taken off, there is no reason
why fertility should not be kept up for an almost indefinite
period.

Where the farmer is engaged more largely in livestock
production, and especially where he has no permanent pasture
in connection with his corn lands, the following is an improve-
ment on the above rotation:

1. Corn; 2. Oats, spring wheat or barley, sown to clover

CLOVER CULTURE. 95

and timothy; 3. Clover and timothy meadow; 4. Pasture.

If the manure is carefully saved and returned to the pas-
ture before plowing under for the next crop of corn, lands
under this rotation should increase in fertility from year to
year.

In latitudes where spring wheat is a failure and barley
unprofitable on account of climatic conditions, the following
rotation may be used to great advantage:

1. Corn; 2. Oats; 3. Winter wheat sown to timothy in
the fa!l and clover the following spring; 4. Clover and timo-
thy for meadow; 5. Pasture.

This can readily be changed on strong lands toa six-crop
rotation by taking two successive crops of corn. In this rota-
tion the land is plowed but twice, once for corn and once for
winter wheat, if the six-year course is not adopted.

Some Missouri farmers have adopted the following ro-
tation:

1. Corn; 2. Oats sown with clover; 3. Clover meadow; 4.
Wheat sown with timothy; 5. Timothy meadow: 6. Pasture,
upon which manure is applied.

This rotation would be improved by sowing the wheat to
clover as well as timothy. Here again we have but two plow-
ings in the rotation, or one in three years. The clover mead-
ow, it the conditions of the ground admit of early plowing,
furnishes one of the best possible preparations for wheat,
while the wheat furnishes the best opportunity for securinga
stand of timothy, and the pasture following the timothy gives
an excellent opportunity for the application of manure to be
plowed under in the fall as a preparation for corn the first
course in the succeeding period of the rotation.

In sections west of the Missouri where the tame grasses
can not be grown successfully with a nurse crop, we venture
to suggest the following rotation:

1. Corn; 2. Mammoth clover; 3. Wheat; 4. Mixed clo-
vers and orchard grass; 5. Meadow; 6. Pasture; 7. Pasture.

The objections to this rotation are that two years out of
seven there is uo money crop. The objection has much force,
and yet we believe that the increased returns from the other
five years will much more than make up for the apparent loss
of the crops of the two years in which the grasses: are being
established. We suggest that the mammoth clover be sown
on corn stalks as early in the spring as practicable. Whena
stand is obtained, the crop could be turned under in August
in time to prepare the ground thoroughly for a wheat crop;

96 CLOVER CULTURE.

or, it could be pastured with advantage during the mouths of
July and August. ‘The land being in excellent heart the
fourth year should furnish a fine crop of mixed clovers, and or-
chard grass, which would during the fall months afford a large
amount of pasture. We make the above suggestion merely
as a matter worthy of trial, not oniy at the experiment stations,
but in asmall way by the farmers themselves. Should the soy
bean meet the expectations of those who are best acquainted
with its value, itcould be substituted for the mammoth clover.
The soy beans could be removed in time for a wheat crop,
leaving the land in excellent condition for seeding without
plowing, and thus one year’s loss of the use of the land be
avoided. The reason for using orchard grass is that it suc-
ceeds admirably, even on quite dry soils far west of the Mis-
sourl. It furnishes in connection with clovera very superior
aftermath, but the cost of the seed is so great that it should
not be plowed up for at least two or three years after sowing.

Some Minnesota farmers have adopted with great advan-
tage the following rotation:

1. Corn; 2. Barley; 3. Spring wheat; 4. Oats sown with
clover and timothy; 5. Clover and timothy meadow; 6. Pas-
ture.

This rotation has resulted in a very great increase of the
fertility of the land for the time being, but lands must be
very fertile indeed to endure four grain crops in succession
without the use of clover.

We have given these exainples of rotation in use in dif-
ferent parts of the West, not for the purpose of discussing the
subject of rotations, but to show how essential clover is‘to
any rotation that will secure large crops and at the same time
conserve the fertility of the land.

A rotation specially adapted for locations where winter
wheat is a reliable crop, and where potatoes by reason of
market facilities are profitable, is,

1. Clover; 2. Potatoes; 3. Winter wheat.

This in many respects is an admirable rotation, In fact
it fulfills all the requirements of an ideal rotation. Clover
turned under early in the fall, say in August or September,
forms the very best preparation for a large and profitable crop
of potatoes. The clover being in itself an admirable cleaning
crop, the culture of potatoes is an easy matter. ‘There are
comparatively few weed seeds to germinate and give trouble,
and these can be easily kept down in the cultivation of the
potatoes. It besides furnishes in available form and in great

CLOVER CULTURE. — 97

abundance the elements of fertility which the potato needs.

The potatoes in turn can be removed from the ground in time
for a crop of winter wheat, with or without plowing, prefera-
bly without, as the potato ground furnishes the solid bottom

for the seed bed, with loose, mellow soil on top. Wheat can

be planted on this with a press drill as early as desirable, and

speedy and vigorous germination wi!l follow. Winter wheat,

again, is one of the best nurse crops for clover. We do not
see why the fertility under this rotation should not remain’
almost constant, and, if top dressing of manure is applied with
the clover, why it should not increase from year to year, the
clover increasing the supply of nitrogenous compounds and
the slow disintegration of the minute particles of rock, of
which the soil so largely consists, keeping up the supply of
potash and phosphoric acid. We advise farmers situated in
the winter wheat regions where potatoes are a profitable crop
to adopt it.

CLOVER IN FEEDING RATIONS.

CHAPTER X.° :

No practical work on clover culture would be complete
without a clear and definite statement of the use and value of
the different varieties, both as pasture and forage, in the feed-
ing ration needed for different kinds of stock under different
conditions and circumstances. American farmers are but be-
ginning to discuss this important matter, and the more expen-
sive the various articles ofstock feed become on account of the
higher price of land and labor, the more important and indeed
essential it will be to learn how tofeed them to advantage, and
with the least waste, whether of the clovers or other parts. of
the ration. The problem is usually regarded as too abstruse
and difficult for the practical, every-day farmer. While there
are many difficulties connected with this problem, and even
those best informed on the subject have much to learn, the
elementary principles are simple enough. It is obvious from
a moment’s reflection, that every part of the animal frame
must be derived directly or indirectly trom the plant. No
animal can live on air alone, or upon the soil on which it
treads. In the story of the creation we are told that the herb
yielding seed and the tree yielding fruit were created before
either man or animal was formed to consume them. This is
simple enough. While the frame of the animal is mostly
carbon and nitrogen, both elements of the air it breathes,
there is no possible way in which they can become part of it
except through the medium of plant food. The flesh and food-
forming elements of the animal must first appear in the plant.
The plant is the medium through which the materials exist-
ing in earth and air become adapted to the life of the animal.
The most costly element in all food, either of the animal or .
the plant, is in the form of nitrogenous compounds of different
kinds, which we group under the one term, nitrogen. Some
writers call it protein, some albuminoids, but all three mean
practically the same thing, the flesh-forming elements of the
food. ‘The atmosphere which the animal breathes is fout-

CLOVER CULTURE. 99

fifths nitrogen, which is the base of all these compounds, and
yet the animal inevitably starves to death unless it has a sup-
ply of these compounds of nitrogen through the plant, or in
case of carnivorous animals, through the flesh of other animals,
or insects which has in turn been derived from the plant.
The same remarks apply to the carbonaceous, that is, the
elements that are consumed to maintain the animal heat, and
that are stored away in the system as fat, and also to the min-
eral elements which make up bone. Of whatever the animal
frame may cofisist, whether bone, flesh or fat, it must have
been fed into it either in the plant or the milk of its dam or
the flesh of other animals, and therefore must come through
its food. While carbonaceous substances compose by far the
largest part of animal food and animal forms, it has been very
clear.y demonstrated that the animal fed on purely carbon-
aceous food, such as sugar or starch, will speedily starve, no
matter how abundant the food; and it has been as clearly
proved that foods having an excess of nitrogen when fed to
herbivorous animals will sooner or later produce disease and
death. It seems that when carbonaceous elements are lacking
the system can use nitrogenous compounds for keeping up the
animal heat, just as for lack of coal we may burn wood in the
stove. But the carbonaceous elements can not be used for the
purpose of building up either the muscular system, or the
skeleton, commonly called by scientists, the osseous or bony
system. It is therefore evident that much of the success in
stock feeding denends upon supplying these elements as nearly
as possible in their proper proportion, feeding nitrogenous
food in the proportion in which it is required for growth and
repair of waste, carbonaceous foods in the proportion in which
they are needed for keeping up the animal heat and finishing
the animal for the shambles, and furnishing mineral elements
in the proportion needed for the growth of the osseous system.

In compounding feeding rations, as in every thing else,
Nature is the best teacher. She emphasizes in the most em-
phatic way the necessity of a balanced ration. She provides
in the milk for the young of each race, a ration composed of
the materials in the due proportion that each needs, and man
soon finds out that if he interferes and takes away the carbo-
hydrates or the albuminoids, as for example the fat, from the
milk in the shape of cream, or the albuminoids in the shape
of cheese, the young fail to reach their proper development,
pine away or perhaps die. The skim-milk calf, for example,
unless the balance is kept uy» by means of cheaper fats, is

100 CLOVER CULTURE.

always a sorry looking object. The whey calf fares still worse,
because the subject ofa greater robbery, but neither of them
fares very much worse than the calf, the milk of whose dam
is too rich in tats. Nature insists on a balanced ration, and
can not be prevented from taking her revenge on those who
violate her laws. When either albuminoids or carbo-hydrates,
or in other words, nitrogenous or carbonaceous compounds are
fed in excess of the wants of the animal, the surplus is wasted.
It is worse than wasted, for digestion has meanwhile gone on,
and the system having no use for the digested matter beyond
its capacity to assimilate, can do nothing else than void it.
‘This is a waste, not merely of the animal food, but of the
animal forces. For example, the animal at a certain stage of
its existence demands a ration composed of1 of albuminoids to
6 of carbo-hydrates, which we express as follows: 1:6, and if
fed corn exclusively, having, let us suppose, a ratio of 1:9, or
1 of albuminoids to 9 of carbo-hydrates; then one-third of the
carbo-hydrates is clearly wasted. If, however, to this corn
ration be added bran or oil meal in quantities sufficient to
make a ratio of 1:6, then is the corn fully utilized as is also
the added food.

The western states have a great excess of carbo-hydrates,
aan excess rendered all the greater by the continuous shipment
abroad of wheat and oil meal and livestock, and rendered all
the greater locally by the shipment of livestock to the great
‘cities and wheat to the great milling centers. It therefore
stands in need of a fodder rich in albuminoids to balance up
the too carbonaceous corn stalks and straw that are left for
feed on the farm. Italso needs a ration havig albuminoids
in excess for finishing stock for the feed lot in order to avoid
the expense of providing albuminoids in the form of bran and
oil meal. ‘To meet the first want the clovers furnish an am-
ple supply if properly handled: The second want which is
supplied in other countries by peas, beans and turnips, will
doubtless be met in time, by some legume adapted to the cli-
mate and soil, possibly the soy bean. Great as is the value
of the clovers in supplying nitrogen to the soil, they are
scarcely less valuable as a source of albuminoids with which
to balance up our excessively carbonaceous foods. In order
that the reader may see the value of the clovers for this pur-
pose, we give the following tables, showing the amount of
dry organic matter and also of digestible albuminoids, carbo-
hydrates and fat that are required by different animals and o
the same animal in different stages of its growth, and when
fed for different purposes:

CLOVER CULTURE. 102

TABLE I.—Pounps Per Day REQUIRED FOR 1000 Pounps LivE WEIGHT.

x = Digestible constituents % re &
= has : as

ee he ai Aes | Pos:

SA |lgua |ag ag oF SS

= 5 = on ‘ 3 =

ees o.|/28. 2801 off | &

SeEegpl&sasaqal peal 4a ->n)| +

Oge|—~ "o/s 02| 82 | Osa] 5

Bedid ALO Al BH [era Ga
Oxen atrestin stall..........} 17.5 0.7 8.0 0.15 8.85} 1:12.0
Oxen at medium work....... 24.5 1.6 is 0.30). 13.20) 1:7.5
Oxen at hard work.......... 26.0 2.4 13.2 0.50} 16.10} 1:6.0
Horses at light work.. -| 20.0 1.5 95 0.40} 11.40] 1:7.0
Horses at medium work. SOC 21.0 1% 10.77} 0.60! 13.00] 1:7.0
Horses at hard work.. he.) |. 84.0 2.4 12.5 0.80) 15.70} 1:6.0
WELEEIE COWS 25 efaticre vs cee cleleret 24.0 2.5 12.5 0.40) 15.40) 1:5.4
Fattening steers, 1st period.. 27.0 2.5 15.0 0.50) 18.00) 1:6.5
Fattening steers, 2d period..| 26.0 3.0 14.8 070} 18.50) 1:5.5
Fattening steers, 3d period..| 25.0 28 14.8 0.60} 18.10} 1:6.0
Sheep, wool producing,coarse| 20.0 n 10.3 0 20} 11.70} 1:9.0
Sheep, wool producing, fine..| 22.5 1.5 11.4 0.25} 13.15) 1:8.0
Fattening sheep, 1st period..| 26.0 3.0 15.2 0.50) 18.70) 1:5.5
Fattening sheep, 2d period..| 25.0 3.5 14.4 0.60) 18.50) 1:4.5
Fattening swine, 1st period..| 36.0 5.0 27.5 32.50} 175.5
Fattening swine, 2d period..| 31.0 4.0 24.0 28.00] 1:6.0
Fattening swine, 3d period..! 28.5 2.7 17.5 20.20! 1:6.5

TABLE II.—Pounps Per Day PER HEAD.

% + |Digessible constituents| -+ . 2
Piet ey £5 a
pa |. a ae jog! /
soH# laa [ag abo as
ces igs = 2 / So =m
Saag/2saleaa| se [otal s
esal< alo 4] Ga |H*Aal|e
GROWING CATTLE.
Age—mos. Average weight.
2to 3 150 ibs. 3.3 0.6 2.1 0 30 3.00 1:4.7
3°* 6 300; ‘§ 7.0 1.0 4.1 0.30 5.40 1:5.0
6 SS 1z 500 ‘* 12.0 1.3 6.8 0.30 8.40 1:6.0
12 ** 18 740 Ue 16.8 1.4 9.1 0.28 | 10.78 1:7.0
18 ‘* 24 850 ‘ 20.4 1.4 10.3 0.26 | 11.96 1:8.0
GROWING SHEEP.
5to 6 56 Tbs. 1.6 0.18 0.87; 0.045) 1.095) 1:5.5
6" US GB i 1 Vy 0.17 0.85} 0.040) 1.060] 1:5.5
8-** 11 16 -¥ 1.7 0.16 0.85} 0.037] 1.047] 1:6.0
114 Aledo 82 ‘ 1.8 0.14 0.89} 0.032} 106) 1:7.0
t3° "20 86 ‘ 1.9 0.12 0.88] 0.025) 1.025) 1:8.0
GROWING AND FATTENING SWINE. | re RR ED
2to 3 50 tbs. 2.1 0.38 1.50 1.88 1:4.0
ST ae 100, .s° 3.4 0.50 2.50 3.00 1:5.0
bes 6 pets 3.9 0.54 2.96 3.50 1:5.5
Gest “Ss EG NES 4.6 0.58 3.47 4.05 1:6.0
8 ** 12 250 °° 5.2 0.62 4.05 4.67 1:6:5

These are German tables and the weights do not in all cases corre-

102 CLOVER CULTURE.

spond with those custom ry for stuck of like ages in this country, but
this does not affect the principle the tables are here adduced to illustrate.

To show how inefficient our non-leguminous grains and
grasses are to meet the requirements of the above tables, we
give the digestible nutrients shown by the analyses of the
non-leguminous grains and fodders that are grown in the
West, and that form the staple of the food of our livestock:

Albumi- | Cai bohy-

Nutritive

Fat. *
noids. drates. :
Per cent. | Per cent. Per cent.| Ratio.
QOrn . Wis acs. Bera hc bes ab 8.36 64.81 4.74 1: 9.3
OI: WEE SE i MOD. Os vie BE oS 1 8.46 46.11 | 3.94 1: 6.5
Warvlovursd-- sbeisll>.- H)-6s - -- tis 9 64 60.77 1.86 1: 67
FG 0B hs TG: «6 ERs - - 8 8 37 63.16 | 1.09 1: 7.8
Timothy hay ocd... bb. 2233 3 67 41.25 1.03 1314.7
Red topess .. seis... Heise. ats 4.13 44.76 | 0.94 1:11.3
Orchard grass: 7... 3.03 -.- 4% | 4.66 43.07 1.08 1:10.4
Hime SUSIE: . . wth th. «1 ee es a 6.42 41.96 1.17 DeKta
Hungarian grass.....j.::.--.. 3.87 49.68 1,22 1213.5
Barley hay (seed in milk)..... 5.24 44 82 1.18 1: 9.0
Oat hay (seed in milk)........ 5 07 43.89 1.31 1: 9.2
COINS YALL). | 6's cin -B yas os sss Ve 2.41 34.48 0.47 1:14.7
Sowed corn fodder, very good,
field curediicn coer. ment eer 3.00 40.00 0.93 1:14.0
Oat, SUP AW oo. ichpe apd bh icarere's i «I 1 44 42.62 0.66 1:30.0
RVGQRULAW.. tact cress cb se ee es a 1.14 sep) 0.59 1:34.0
WGA SUBDW. sic... seis t siem ae ts 1.29 37.70 0.40 1:29.0
Corn fodder, green............ 1.19 10.87 0.31 1: 9.9
Sorghum; @reen.......'... m5. J. 0.80 12.26 0.28 1:16.0
Rye fodder, green............ 177 13.38 }, ° 0.39 1: 8.0

In order that the reader may be able to compare the
nutritive elements in the non-leguminous gfains and forage
with the elements contained in the legumes, and thus form
an adequate idea of the difference in the proportion or ratio
that exists between the albuminoids and carbo-hydrates of the
two classes, respectively, the following table showing the
digestible contents of clovers and other leguminous plants, is
appended:

—

Albumi- | Carbohy- Fat. Nutritive
noids. drates. Pet t Rati

Per cent. | Per cent. |* © ©&?* >
Red clover, full bloom........ 11.72 40.17 2.75 1:3.9
White clover, in blossom...... 11.27 40.56 2.56 1:4.2
Alfaifastnibloom.’:.A0 2. 3.0 11.65 41.05 1.02 1:3.7
Bbahiss LIPO vies irs ce B dogesce vae 22.58 57.76 1.87 1:2.7
Peas, green, dried substance.. 14.13 65.98 1.51 1:4.9
SOV DORUS) meee ceh Ges neat ae 31.14 27.48 5.59 1:2.0

CLOVER CULTURE. 103

It will be readily seen that with certain ends to accom-
plish, as for example, the growth of the pig from fifty pounds
weight to a hundred, where a ratio of from 1:4 to 1:5 is re-
quired, and with no feed on hand except corn with a ratio of
1:9.3 (see tabte 3.) and a deficiency in bone material, besides,
there can be but one result: the frame becomes deficient in
bone material and the pig fine in bone, chuffy and small; and
no amount of corn fed, even with its attendant waste, can
properly develop its form. It becomes, under excessive corn
feeding a globe of fat, fit subject for every disease and a source
of coutinual disappointment to its unwise owner.

If a horse is to be kept for hard work, involving great
waste of muscular tissue, and it is fed solely on corn, which is
deficient in material adapted to supply the waste, it is clear
that it must be fed much more corn than under other circum-
stances would be necessary. Hence, the preference for oats
as feed for work horses, and of corn as a food for fattening
mature cattle or hogs. In the last case, the waste of muscular
tissue is slight, while the end in view is the storing away of
surplus fat in thesystem. For this nothing is better than corn.

Theterm ‘‘pigs in the clover’’ has become a synonym for
abundance, while feeding an exclusive corn diet without clo-
ver to growing pigs is everywhere condemned by good farm-
ers as unprofitable, and hence in their experience is a waste
of corn. How to avoid this and like, wastes by the use of
clover is the problem now under consideration.

In the early stages of their growth, all grasses have a
large amount of nitrogenous compounds. The dry matter,
forexample, of clover cut when from three to four inches
high, approximates the nutritive value of oil meal, hence a pas-
ture of mixed grasses in May and the early part of June forms
an almost ideal ration. Asthese grasses mature, the propor-
tion of carbonaceous compounds or carbohydrates increases rel-
atively. Clover alone contains a sufficiently large proportion
of nitrogen to make it valuable in balancing up rations. We
now inquire how this clover can be used to balance up the car-
bonaceous foods, and that, too, by any farmer who has even
a general idea of the different elements in the supply of food
at his command. “

Nearly every farmer in the West has a field of cornstalks
which he wishes to use tothe bestadvantage. Many farmers
are not prepared to' build silos and many others have not the
labor at their command at a price which they believe justifies
them in cutting up the corn and using it as fodder. It re-

104 CLUVER CULTURE.

quires labor to handle the grain and fodder after husking and
to return the stalks to the field in the shape of manure. In the
greater part of the United States this. will pay. There are
sortions, however, where the cornfields are very largeand the
supply of stock limited where as yet this method of saving
fodder is not believed to be profitable, and the question before
us now is, how these stalks can be used tothe best advantage.
Corn stalks in their best estate, before bleached by rain, and
the leaves in which, with the husks, most of the nitrogenous
compounds are found, have a ratio of 1:14.7, a very wide ratio
it will be seen, which becomes wider, that is, the proportion
of carbohydrates to albuminoids becomes greater, every day
after it is exposed to the weather. It is entirely practicable
for most farmers to have in the same field a clover meadow, and
to allow the second crop or aftermath to remain untouched
until after the corn is husked and the cattle are turned into the
corn field. This clover aftermath or second crop has, before
being damaged by winter’s rain or frost,a ratio of 1:2.3. This
ratio becomes wider during the winter season, but it does not
widen as rapidly as that of the corn stalks.

It is now plain to be seen that by using this second crop
for pasturage in connection with corn stalks, a very great
saving may be made for stock cattle or milk cows or horses,
by allowing them to consume both together, the excess of
albuminoids in the glover balancing the excess of carbohy-
drates in the corn stalks, and together making a fairly good
winter pasture. No argument is needed by any farmer who
has once tried this method. Nor is it alone in the balancing
up of the ration that the benefit consists. There is very little
danger of compaction of the stomach where cattle have free
access to this clover aftermath, nor is there any danger from
bloating from the clover.

Every farmer who is extensively engaged in growing
wheat, oats or barley has, at his command, a large amount of
straw which is either burnt (a wasteful habit which can not
be too strongly condemned) or stacked and allowed to rot on
the fields, or perhaps used for bedding. This has a ratio of
1:29 in case of wheat straw; 1:30 in case of oats; 1:34 in case
of rye, with a probable average ratio of 1:32. The stock re-
quire a ratio of say 1:8. _It will be seen that if the animal is
to increase in size and weight or even repair the waste of
muscular tissue, it must consume a very large amount of the
straw to get sufficient for the purpose. This straw has to be
wet with a large amount of water, the water has to be brought

CLOVER CULTURE. 10:

up to blood heat and then the greater portion of the carbohy-
drates is wasted. Thisexplains why cattle fed on foodsof this
kind exclusively wear themselves out in the winter by trying
to digest a great deal more than the system can assimilate.
This waste may to a great extent be avoided by stacking the
straw in a clover field where the aftermath has been allowed to
stand, and allowing cattle free access to both. Where this is
not practicable, the waste can be avoided by feeding clover
and straw alternately, or by cutting and mixing both and
making a complete ration by the use of bran or oil meal.

For example, clover hay has a ratio of 1:5.6. (We are
speaking now of clover hay in its best condition cut when the
heads are not more than one-thérd brown and properly cured.
The feeder usually knows how far his hay varies from this
standard. whether by late cutting or defective curing. It
should be noticed in either case that the departure from the
standard will be in the loss of the albuminoid or protein ele-
ments and therefore the less efficiently will it balance up a
corn ration.) ‘The farmer has steers on feed, and wishes to
get the best results from his corn. This has a ratio of 1:9.3,
and should be brought down to a ratio of 1:5.5 or 1:6.5. He
can do this by feeding oil meal, shorts or bran, but he can
narrow this broad ration of corn to some extent by feeding
clover hay for roughness. How far he can narrow the ration
will depend on how much clover hay he can induce his cattle
to eat in the uncut state, and this noone can determine but
himself.

When labor becomes cheaper in the West and land andits
products dearer, there will be a much greater opportunity than
now to use clover in the feeding ration. Clover hay will then
be largely cut and mixed with ground food and there is
scarcely any limit to the methods in which it can be used in
this way. It will enter largely into the ration for dairy cows
in connection with other forage and the various cereals, Al-
though it is impossible to make an ideal milk ration by add-
ing clover hay to the corn and corn fodder upon which so
many cows are now fed, yet every pound of clover that is add-
ed to these foods improves the ration. ‘The ideal balance for
milk should be one pound of albuminoids to each five and
four-tenths pounds of carbohydrates. Good clover hay as
usually cut has a ratio of 1:5.6,and is of itself substantially in
the right proportion, but the corn is 1:9.3 and the corn stalks
1:14.7. If the last two were fed in equal weights the ratio
would be 1:13; if the three feed stuffs were fed in equal

106 CLOVER CULTURE.

weights the ratio would be 1:9.8, which, although still far from
the ideal requirements, is much more nearly right than the
corn and fodder without the clover. Substitute bran for half
the corn and the ratio would be still further narrowed to 1:8.5,
or substitute oil meal for half the corn and the ratio of the
mass would be narrowed to 1:7.5.

Timothy hay has a wide ratio of 1:12.7,and every farmer
knows how the addition of clover improves it. The reason is
that the ratio, that is, the proportion between the albumi-
noids and the carbohydrates, is narrowed. Equal weights ot
timothy and clover hay cut as described will have a ratio of
£:9.15. If to such mixed hay corn is added the ratio will uot
be much disturbed. If an equal weight of corn and bran in
equal parts be added the ratio of the whole ration will be 1:8,
and if the grains fed be half corn and half oil meal the ratio
of the whole will be1:7.1. If the mixed hay be added to an
equal weight of oats the ratio of the mass will be 1:7.8, where-
as timothy and oats alone in equal parts would have a ratio
1:9.6. These examples are given merely to illustrate the man-
ner in which clover hay may advantageously narrow the ratio
of other feed stuffs. Corn ensilage may in like manner be
narrowed with clover. Alone it has a ratio of abcut 1:11, but
ifan equal weight of clover hay be added the ratio of the
whole will be narrowed to1:8.3. A carefulstudy of the tables.
on pages 1orand 102 will suggest other combinations of clover
hay suitable to the live stock of the farm.

Where alfalfa hay is grown the hay can be used even to
better purpose than clover, for it is customary to cut it at an
earlier stage of growth, when if well cured its-ratio is about
1:2.8. It is the more valuable because in the district in which
alfalfa is grown there is a very great supply of carbona¢eous.
foods which require, for use for the highest profit, to be bal-
anced up with a morealbuminous food. Some horse breeders.
in the Eastern states have becomeso impressed with the value
of alfalfa as a producer of muscle that they send yearling colts.
to the altalfa districts of Kansas in order that they may be
grown largely on alfalfa pasture and alfalfa hay. This may
seem a mere conceit, but it is not impossible that they may
have more facts to sustain them than is apparent at first sight.
It is in entire harmony with feeding principles. While many
farmers see at a glance the value of the various clovers in the
ration the number will greatly increase as land and its pro-
ducts increase in value and the science and practice of com-
pounding balanced rations which is yet in its infancy becomes.
more completely exuderstood.

INSECT AND OTHER ENEMIES.

CHAPTER XI.

It is a peculiarity of all cultivated crops that when grown
abundantly over a wide district of ‘country, they become
infested with many diseases and are attacked by a large num-
ber of insect and other enemies. ‘The more useful the plant,
the greater the variety and number of its foes. It may there-
fore be reasonably expected that whenever the culture of
clover becomes established in any state or section and is in
such high favor with farmers that a large acreage is in culti-
vation, insect enemies will appear, increase and multiply.

Prof. J. A. belt saad in the Report of the New York Agri-
cultural Society 1881-2, page 190, gives a list of no less than
seventy-one species of insects in Europe which infest the
clover plant. In the same volume, pages 192 and 206, he
gives the names of some sixty species that have been known to
attack clover in America, and some eight or ten other species
have since been discovered by other entomologists. A recent
bulletin of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station gives
the names of eighty-two that have been discovered up to 1885.
It will thus be seen that the clovers have as many enemies as
asaint. Many of these species are not peculiar enemies of
clover, as, for instance, the grasshoppers and various butter-
flies, and, hence, will not be discussed here, while others do
comparatively little damage. We confine our attention main-
ly to those peculiar to the clover, which have infested the
clover fields in some parts of the country, and may in all.

One of the minor pests is the clover leaf midge, (an illus-
tration of which is presented on the following page)
which deposits its eggs in the folded leaf of the white clover,

(107)

108 CLOVER CULTURE.

and has, in some instances, been found on the red, though not
et, we believe, on the alsike. It is described by Prof. Riley
in the Report of the Department of Agriculture, 1879, page
197. Where it has begun its operations, the eggs will be
found on the leaves, on the dividing line in each leaf, and their
presence may be suspected when the leaves are folded up.
On unfolding these leaves, from one to twenty whitish, pale
orange maggots may be found, similar to, but smaller, than
those of the clover-
seed midge, which will
be described in Chapter
XII.. It was first de-
scribed by the German
entomologist, Dr. Leow.
The length of this
midge is about .059 of
an inch, When ma-
tured it forms a white,
delicate cocoon, in the
te eee folded leaflet, inside of
which may be found the pupa, pale orange in color. The
perfect fly is very similarto that of the clover seed midge, the
main difference being that the antennae, or feelers, of the leaf
midge have fourteen instead of sixteen joints. It is not
likely that this will ever become a serious pest, inasmuch as
the exposed condition of the eggs leaves them open to many
enemies, and renders them especially liable to be infested by
parasites. When working on the red clover it will be found
in the form of a gall on the undermost leaves.

A much more serious pest is the clover root borer, (Ay/es7-
nus trtfolit), Mueller. ‘This was first noticed in New York in
1878, and described by Prof. Riley at some length in the report
of the Commissioner of Agriculture for that year. As
the name implies, it belongs to an entirely different family, and
is closely related to the common bark beetle, which is often
found under the bark of both evergreen and deciduous trees,
deciduous trees being those that shed their leaves in the fall.
The illustration on the following page will enable our
readers to identify the beetle in three of its stages. In the
illustration @ represents the affected plant with the maggot
feeding in the root, 6 the maggot highly magnified, c the
pupa, and @ the full-grown beetle. ‘The eggs are whitish
and oval, the larve white with oval head and the beetle black
and about .08 of an inch in length. ‘The female’appears in
the spring, bores a hole in the crown of the'root, eating out a
pretty large cavity, in which she deposits the eggs. These ©

r

CLOVER CULTURE. 109

are hatched in about a week, and the maggots first feed in the
cavity made by the parent for their accommodation. When
somewhat grown, they begin to burrow downward, following
out the different branches of the root. The pupa is formed
in a smooth cavity, generally at the end of one of these burrows,
and may be found there in the fall. This, of course, greatly
weakens the plant, and it is not able to produce a seed crop;
hence, where farmers find clover after the first cutting in the
fall not producing seed heads, they may suspect the presence
of the clover root borer. A very
slight investigation will discover the
presence of the pest. The stalks
pull up easily and sometimes push
before the mower. Thus, the borer,
as will be seen from the above de-
scription of its habits, affects only
the second year’s crop, as the first
year’s crop is not sufficiently ad-
vanced to allow the female to deposit
her eggs, there being no crown or
sufficient root development for the
support of the young. The only
known method of avoiding the rav-
ages of this pest is to plow up the
field and plant it to corn, a remedy
‘not applicable, however, in fields
where clover is growing as part of
the permanent pasture. From its
habits the clover root borer cannot be
distributed as rapidly as the clover
seed midge. It prevails, however,over
THE CLOVER ROOT BOREE. a large part of the country, having
been abundant as far west as some counties in northern Iowa,
for some years. Fortunately, thefarmer does not suffer any
serious loss by being compelled to plow up his clover field at
the end of the second year, the main loss being the deficient
yield of the affected plant and the failure of aseed crop. In
many places where it has appeared, this singular fact has been
noted, that while they may ruin whole fields one season, the
borers may be quite rare the next. This would indicate
either that it has some parasite enemies, or that they are
_ destroyed in great numbers while hibernating in the ground
in the winter, or that the old plants have been destroyed
and sufficient young ones have come forward from self-
seeding to maintain the stand.
Another insect that affects clover injuriously is the flaves-

110 CLOVER CULTURE.

cent clover weevil, (Sz/ones flavescens) Allard. In the month
of October, 1885, Mr. F. M. Webster, then of Lafayette,
Indiana, special agent of the Department of Agriculture, dis-
covered that the foliage of white clover, and also of the alsike
on the grounds of the Purdue University, at Lafayette, Indi-
ana, were seriously injured by an insect enemy, and he de-
scribed and reported the insect to the Department, the de-
scription being published in the annual report of 1886, pp.
580-2. The injury was done mainly to the leaves of the clo-
ver, and consisted in cutting a circular disc in the center of the
leaf, and also circular spaces from the margins, in some cases
leaving only the leaf stalk and the backbone of the leaf, or
the bases of the mid-veins. This he identified as the flaves-
cent clover weevil, (S7/ones flavescens.) The insect had been
previously described by Dr. Lintner, of New York, and also
by Dr. Riley, of the Department of Agriculture. It is one of
the beetles, and has a wide distribution, being quite frequent
in the Atlantic states, and in Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota.
The beetles are described as rather timid, and drop to the
ground on the slightest disturbance, hiding among the leaves
and rubbish, and, therefore, it is difficult to discover them in
the act of feeding on the leaves. The peculiar circular marks
which they make are due to the habit of the insect when feed-
ing, of moving simply the head and neck, the body remaining
stationary, mutch after the fashion of a cow with her head be-
tween a barb wire fence and reaching as far as her tongue
will enable her to take in the herbage.

These beetles appear in the spring of the year, about the
time the first tender leaves make their appearance, and carry
on their depredations throughout the summer. “The eggs are
deposited in July and August, and the deposit continues until
cold weather begins. The larve hatch out about two days
after the eggs are laid, and pass the winter in the larval
stage, pupating or undergoing their final transformation in
the spring, and after remaining about twenty days in this
stage, emerge as adults, thus completing the cycle. This
pest was discovered in 1891, as being quite abundant at Ames,
Iowa, and a full account of it may be found in Bulletin 14,
for August of that year. While as noticed in Indiana and
further east, they infest mainly the alsike and white clovers,
they seem to be partial to red clover in Iowa. It is not prob-
able that this insect will do very serious damage, and it is
likely common, its ravages being mistaken for those of grass-
hoppers. Prof. Osborn describes it as little less than one-
fourth of an inch in length, about one-tenth of an inch wide,
and with a faint light brown stripe running the length of the

CLOVER CULTURE. ri

head between the eyes, and dimly discernable on the wing
covers. .

Clover Stem Borer, (Languria Mozardi,) Fabr. In his re-
port to the Department of Agriculture for 1879, Prof. J. Henry
Comstock, entomologist of the Department, describes a new
clover pest then recently discovered, called the Clover Stem
Borer. The accompanying illustration will enable the reader
to identify the eggs, larvae, pupa, the adult borer and also the
manner in which the eggs
are laid in the stalk. It
seems to be identical with
an insect affecting the
fall wheat in Kansas and
perhaps other sections,
and hence is not peculiar
to clover. The female
lays her eggs in June, ac-
cording to Prof. Cook,
piercing the stem with
her jaws and pushing her
eggs clear into the pith.
The larve feed on the pith downward, forming a
burrow about six inches long. The pupa is formed
at the bottom of this burrow and shortly after-
wards the fully developed beetles begin to appear,
emerging from the hollow stems from August to
October. There is but one brood each year. ‘The beetle
hibernates and waits until the plants are in their full vigor in
June before depositing hereggs. It will readily be seen that
the Western method of cutting clover the last of June or the
first of July, and then either pasturing or cutting the second
crop for seed will give small chance for this pest to increase.
Recent discoveries, however, have shown that a stock of the
borers may be kept up indefinitely, from the fact that it lives
on quite a number of plants besides clover. It has been
found in the sweet clover,.in wild thistles, wild lettuce, yarrow
andintimothy. It has, however, several parasites, and there
is but little danger of it ever becoming a destructive pest.

Clover Leaf Beetle, (Phytonomus pun tatus). 'This, like
many of our destructive insects, is stated by Prof. Cook to
be an imported species, common in Germany, prevailing in
Canada since 1853, appearing in New Yorkin 1881, and later,
in 1884, at Buffalo, N. Y. It appeared in northeastern
Ohio in 1891, and recently near Cincinnati, Ohio. The
following illustration will give our readers an idea of
the beetle at its work, in which @ represents the egg en-

THE CLOVER STEM BORER.

112 CLOVER CULTURE.

larged; 4, 6, 6, 6, represent the different stages of their
growth feeding; e, the young larve; d, the head from
beneath ; ¢, the jaw enlarged; 7, the cocoon reduced in size
and meshes of the same; g and 4, the pupe; 2, the beetle,
also reduced; 7, side view of the beetle, and &, a dorsal
view of the same, slightly reduced from the natural size ;
/ and m, foot and antenne enlarged. For the illustra-
tion the public is indebted to Dr. Riley. From a descrip-

THE CLOVER LEAF BEETLE.

tion by Dr. Lintner, State Entomologist of New York, we
condense as follows: It measures four-tenths of an inch
in length, is oval in form, brown in color; the beak is
short, broad and blunt. The wing covers are clothed with
short, yellowish brown hairs, the egg is a long oval and
about twice as long as wide, pale yellow, smooth when first
laid, but becoming greenish yellow before hatching. The
larve hatch out in about a week from the time the egg is
laid. They are pale in color, with a dark head. which .
subsequently becomes greenish. The body is deeply
wrinkled, and when it rests clings sidewise to the leaf ina
curved position. The eggs are deposited in the latter part
of the summer by beetles which appear in July and August.

CLOVER CULTURE. 113

The larve appear in September, change to pupz in October,
and emerge as beetles in November. Some of them lay
their eggs from which the larve hatch and hibernate while
quite small within the old clover stems. Others hibernate
as beetles and lay their eggs the following spring. The
young larve are seen as early as April, feeding on the
clover, but their ravages do not become marked until May
or June. They feed first on the folded young leaves, and
attach themselves to the under side of the leaf, while later
they fasten themselves to its edge, which they eat in irregu-
lar patches. It is difficult to observe the older larve, as
they are quite timid and drop to the ground when approached,
feeding mainly at night and passing the day among the roots
and old stalks, or any other shelter found upon the ground.
About the first week in July the beetle emerges. The sev-
eral periods of the insect are given by Dr. Lintner as follows :
‘‘'The egg stage, ten and a half days; first larval stage, nine
days; fourth larval stage from the third molting to the spin-
ning of the cocoon, twenty-five days; larve unchanged in the
cocoon, nine days; pupa state, thirty days. The entire time
from the egg to the perfect insect is one hundred and one
days, or about three and one-third months.” This beetle is
very prolific. The female lays from two hundred to three-
hundred eggs in the clover stem, which it usually punctures.
for that purpose. The larvz, or worms, are constitutionally
hungry and consume every part of the plant above the surface:
of the earth. The beetles are described by Prof. Cook as.
doing very serious damage in June or July, thus completing
the work of destruction begun by the larve. Inasmuch as.
these beetles are waterproof, they may be expected to spread.
very rapidly along streams, and once introduced are, liable to»
become a very serious pest unless they fall a prey to their
parasitic and other enemies. Paris green would no doubt
destroy them as it does other insects, but it is nota practical
remedy under western conditions, nor with field crops. It is
probable that no better thing can be done than to plow up the
infested clover fields in May and plant them to corn. It is
to be sincerely hoped that the insect will not appear in the
West.
The clover leaf hopper (Aga/lia sanguinolenta). Of the
numerous minute leaf-hoppers that affect different crops, this.
is. one of the very abundant and widespread species. It
appears to be quite distinctively a clover feeder, for, while it.
‘ occurs on other plants and doubtless at times feeds upon them,
it shows decided preference for this as its staple food. The
life history has been worked out by Prof. Osborn and is in

can

114 CLOVER CULTURE.

brief as follows: The adult insect hibernates and may be
found in sunny places in early s ring, or, for that matter, at
any warm spell during the winicr. It is about one-eighth of
an inch long, and is shown in the figure at c much enlarged,
the line at the left being a little longer than the actual
length of the average specimens. It is broad in proportion
to length, and is marked with numerous dark blotches and
stripes. The adults pair during April and the females
deposit eggs in the leaves of clover and probably also in

THE CLOVER LEAF-HOPPER.

(Agallia sanguinolenta), alarve, 46 pupa, c adult, d head in front; all enlarged, size
lines a little too long.—(After Osborn).

the petiole and perhaps also near the ground in the crown.
The first larve appear during the month of May, though egg
deposition lasts for some time and larve of this first brood
may be appearing for some weeks. Some-of them mature,
producing the adults by early in July, and these deposit eggs
which produce a second brood of larve, and it is possible that
the earliest maturing of these might produce a third brood,
but the bulk of the insects are doubtless included within
two broods. Remedial measures for this pest are not readily
applied and the only reccommendation that seems feasible at
present is to use the flat ‘‘hopper-dozer,” or ‘“Tar Pan,” which
has been proven at the Iowa Experiment Station to be so effec-
tive in killing the leaf-hoppers in pastures and meadows. It
will also serve to diminish their numbers greatly to burn over
the old grass, along fences and other places where the insects
hibernate, during late fall or early spring. The ‘Tar Pan”
could be best used in summer, directly after the cutting of the
first crop of clover.

Clover hay worm (Asopia costalis). Heretofore we have
treated of insects that feed on clover roots and the clover stalk,

CLOVER CULTURE. 115

and it now only remains to treat of the clover hay worm, leav-
ing those that infest the seed to be considered in ‘Chapter XII.
The clover hay worm, (Asopia costalis), Fabr., belongs to
the same family as the moth that infests bee hives and the moth
common in meal. The illustration herewith given will
enable our readers to identify the worm. — In it, as described
by Prof. Cook, 1 and 2 represent the larve suspended by
threads of their own spinning, 3 represents the cocoon, 4 the
chrysalis, 5 the moth
with wings spread, 6 the
moth at rest, and 7 the
larve concealed in a case
of silk which it has
spun. The eggs are
laid on the clover. The
larve work ina silken
case and thus often mat
the hay into a great
mass. They may be
seen in summer working
on hay, but more usually
in February or March,
when stacks and mows

THR MMIVER AOS WSE, may be fairly alive with
larve. They often crawl into the stack to protect them-
selves from the cold. The color of the larve is dark brown,
the cocoon is white and the chrysalis yellow, the moth purple
with a silken luster and it has two bright spots on the wings.
Prof. Riley described the insect at an earlier date in the 6th
Missouri Report. Prof. F.M. Webster, of Wooster, Ohio,
special agent of the Department of Agriculture, in ‘‘ Insect
Life,” (volume 4, numbers 3 and 4, November 1891, ) paid a visit
to the farm of Prof. W. I. Chamberlain on April 27th, 1891,
for the purpose of investigating this worm at work. The hay
was in an open stack and was damaged twenty per cent. It
was found that the majority of the larve could be killed by
re-stacking the hay and dusting it with two pounds of pow-
dered pyrethrum, mixed with ten pounds of flour, to each ton of
hay. A number of larve were taken from this hay and
placed in breeding cages. They continued to feed on the
dry hay for a considerable time, the pupa being first
observed on May 25th, and moths beginning to issue on
June 12th. he eggs appeared to be laid on the heads
of growing clover and-about July 1st the young larve
appeared. It would seem from this that the eggs may be
deposited on the plants in the field and thus the larve

116 CLOVER CULTURE.

be drawn to the stack or mow, and also that the eggs
may be deposited in the stacks early in August. The only
remedy we can suggest for the destruction of this pest, should
it appear, is to burn up all the old stacks of hay left over
from the preceding year, to remove all old hay from
barns, and to thoroughly cleanse all sheds and barns where
the pest has become established.

The clovers, however, suffer seriously from other than
insect enemies. They are subject to a peculiar kind of rust,
(Uromyces trifolit.) 'This rust is a fungus or low form of
plant life, without chlorophyll, or the coloring matter of
plants, and without roots, stems, or leaves, which derives its
nourishment from the clover plant. It is, therefore, a para-
site and is reproduced by spores which float in the air, and
when placed under proper conditions, germinate and develop
on the leaves of the plant. This clover rust has appeared
but recently in the West. It was first reported on white
clover in Iowa by Prof. Arthiir in 1884 and seems to be more
widely distributed than is generally supposed. Prof. Under-
wood reported it in the vicinity of Syracuse, N. Y., in 1888.
Dr. Roland Thaxter reported it near New Haven, Conn.,
in the annual report of the Connecticut Agricultural
Experiment Station in 1889, page 175. In Bulletin No. 15,
Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station, Prof. Dudley re-
ports it as common about Ithaca, N. Y., and in August,
1890, it was reported in the Monthly Review of the Iowa
Weather and Crop Service as common at Ames, Iowa, where
Prof. Pammel reports that it has been unusually severe during
the past summer. This rust usually appears on the rowen
or second crop, and it would be an interesting investigation
to ascertain whether it affects clover when under hard con-
ditions, such, for example, as an exceedingly wet and hot
year, or when plants are weakened by previous drouth or by
insect enemies. It is difficult to suggest any remedy short
of plowing up the field, but it is not likely that it will do any
serious damage where clover is grown in short rotation.
Where there is much affected clover in a permanent pasture,
burning over the field late in the fall would, no doubt, prove
advantageous.

In this connection attention should also be called to the
violet root fungus, (/?hizoctonia medicaginis), which, in parts
of Europe, is aserious pest. [The fungus covers the roots
with a violet mould. Plants affected with this disease wilt
suddenly and then die. The disease spreads in circular
areas. It also affects alfalfa, in fact, has been reported.on
that host by Mr. Webber, in Nebraska. (Flora of

CLOVER CULTURE. 1li

Nebraska, page 76). Carrots and mangolds are also affected
Some of the clover sickness referred to by European writer:
is undoubtedly due to the abundance of this parasite in the
soil. Everyone should be on the lookout for this fungus
If found, it should be exterminated at once. Rotation witl
corn and oats for a number of years has been very effective

The clovers, however, are subject to a very much more
dangerous, though, fortunately, as yet an uncommon para-
site, the clover dodder, (Cuscuta epithymum). The dodders
belong to the morning glory family, and are near relations
to the common bind-weed, the morning glory, moon flower
and sweet potato. The genus Cwuscuta, or dodder, contains
upward of a hundred different species, forty-four of which
have been found in America, and thirty-nine of these are
found in no other part of the world. They occur on various
native plants such as smart weed, goldenrod and sunflowers.
The read>r, passing through a slough in the fall of the year
that has been allowed to grow up to weeds, common to such
locations, may have noticed a vine of reddish or yellow color,
closely entwined around some weeds and which, on examina-
tion, has no connection with the ground. This is one of
the dodders. Dodder grows from seed and if it finds no
suitable plant upon which to take hold, dies:, If, however,
it reaches a stalk of clover or alfalfa, the clover dodder
pierces the bark with small and short rootlets which are
called suckers or haustoria, and then lets go of the ground
and lives from the plant, like a worthless son-in-law, who finds
it easier to live off his wife’s parents tham to make a living
for himself.

The dodders contain little, if any, green coloring matter
in the minute scales on the stems, which are their substitute
for leaves, or in the stems themselves, and, hence, cannot
assimilate, that is, make starch out of raw material as the
ordinary green leaves do, but must derive their nourishment
entirely from the plant upon which they livef They are,
therefore, essentially parasitic. The stems of the dodder
are small and fleshy, orange or reddish in color, and are
twisted around the stalk of the host, or plant on which they
feed. At the base of the flower and at the joints of the
stems may be found minute scales which are rudimentary
leaves; but the plant in its present stage of development has
no need of green leaves, as it finds food already prepared in
the host plant. The reader will find, on the following page,
an illustration of this detestable parasite, by referring to
which he can follow the description herewith given the more
readily. The flowers appear in clusters around the stem,

118 CLOVER CULTURE.

THE CLOVER DODDER. (Cuscuta Epithymum.)

CLOVER CULTURE. 115

soon forming a capsule, which contains four seeds. The
capsule does not split into lobes, but opens by a trans-
verse circular line. Each seed contains a thread-shaped
embryo, which is spirally coiled in the albumen. The
albumen is the nourishing material stored up in the seed out-
side of the embryo or germ. | This embryo is dependent for
its development upon the albumen stored up in the seed.
The number of flowers in the cluster range from ten to
twenty, and the seeds are of a pale gray color, difficult to.
detect with the naked eye, and, hence, the rapid spread of
the parasite. Asan example of the difficulty in detecting
these seeds, we notice the report of the Delaware Experiment
Station on a sample of alfalfa sent for examination, as fol-
lows: FY

The purchaser remarked that it was one of the purest samples of
seed he had ever seen, and an examination proved this fact, the propor-
tion of impurities being only four-tenths of one percent. mainly dirty;
but a close examination revealed the presence of Cuscuta, or dodder seed,
at the rate of seven hundred and twenty to the pound. This seed, when
sown at the rate of fifteen pounds to the acre, which is about one-half
that generally sown in Germany, would furnish neariy eleven thousand
Cuscuta seed to the acre, or enough to give one seed every two feet, in
drills two feet apart. The sowing of this much Cuscuta seed upon
an acre of land, would, at the least, be a dangerous procedure, and
might result in a total destruction of a crop in the course of two or three
years. Every precaution should be taken against the introduction of
this parasite into the state. In Germany its presence has proved a
national calamity, and well nigh forced German farmers to abandon the
growth of clover. The flax dodder, according to Ledoux, broke up the
eulture of flax in North Carolina and paved the way to cotton culture.
In Germany the fight against the Cuscuta has been vigorous, but the
enforcement of stringent laws and the sharp eye of the German govern-
ment over the quality of clover and alfalfa seed has done much to reduce
this evil.

It will be seen from the above what untold damage
might be done to the clover interests of the West by the
introduction of this seed. When the seed falls to the
ground it usually remains dormant until the following
spring, when the embryo begins growth by sending one end
into the soil, and with the other sends up a stem, turning
from right to left, or contrary to the sun’s apparent motion.
If it is in reach of a clover plant it seizes it by means of its
sucker-like points, which it at once throws out and then goes
on fastening itself to the foster plant and others in the
vicinity. It then lets go its hold on the ground. Dodder
is an annual and therefore can be destroyed before it has
ripened seed, and should be in every case where it is observed.
The best method we know of to get rid of it is to cut the
infected portion close to the ground and then burn it. The

120 CLOVER CULTURE.

mowing, however, should be as close as possible, inasmuch as
the dodder flowers quite low. Where seed is suspected it
should be sifted carefully through a seive, the seed being but
half the size of clover.

Our attention was first called to this parasite by the
receipt of a sample from Mr. J. N. Downing, of Hall Town,
Missouri, with the statement that it prevailed largely in his
district and was introduced in seed shipped in during the
previous spring. It has been reported elsewhere in Missouri
and Canada. ‘The sample was submitted to Prof. Pammel,
of Ames, Iowa, and also to Prof. McBride, of the Iowa State
University, from whose replies, published in the Home-
stead of October 18, 1889, and from Bulletin No. 8, of the
Colorado Experiment Station, the above description has been
taken. Subsequently we received a package of dodder on
clover from the southern part of Iowa, which, however, on
examination by Prof. Bessey, of the Nebraska Experiment
Station, was pronounced to be a native dodder, different from
the Cuscuta epithymum, and which had adopted the bad
habit of living on clover instead of its natural host. Bul-
letin No. 8, of the Colorado Experiment Station, above
mentioned, reports three species of parasite on alfalfa in
that vicinity. ‘These are the Cuscuta epilinum, or the flax
dodder, Cuscuta Gronovii, a species abundant in wet, shady
places from Canada to the Rocky Mountains, through Min-
nesota, Iowa and Texas, and also parasitic on the great
rag weed (Ambrosia trifida,) and other members of the sun-
flower family. This is the most common of all the species
and is frequently found in Iowa, especially about Ames and
Des Moines. Fortunately for the West, although the
various dodders are generally distributed, they do not usually
attack cultivated plants. We have mentioned most of, the
spots certainly known to be infested with clover dodder.
We have dealt with the subject thus fully, in order to warn
our readers of the danger of trifling with it wherever it
appears, as nothing but the most prompt and vigorous
measures will be efficient in dealing with this parasite.

wae

a

CLOVER SEED AND ITS INSECT ENEMIES.

CHAPTER XII.

While some clovers are grown for pasture and fertility,
others for pasture, seed and fertility, others for seed and. fer-
tility, and still others for hay, seed and fertility, it is impor-
tant in every case that the plant should seed abundantly.
Even if the farmer never takes a seed crop, it is important
to him that the plants should bear more or less seed every
year. Many clovers being annuals, others biennials and still
others short perennials, it is important that the stand should
be mantained by self seeding; everything, therefore, that
bears upon the seed crop is of interest to every clover grower.

A full crop of clover seed of any of the varieties is the
result of the harmonious*co-operation of man, nature and
insects. Nature must provide the soil and a fitting season,
man must do his part in preparing the soil, sowing the seed,
and, so to speak, superintending the work, while the insects
must perform the indispensable work of cross fertilizing the
seed, a work which they can depute to neither man nor
nature. In order, therefore, that the farmer may act intelli-
gently and co-operate with nature and his insect friends, it is
important that he should know something of the process of
insect fertilization of the clover plant.

To give the reader full and accurate information on this
point, we have requested Prof. L. H. Pammel, of the Iowa
Agricultural College, at Ames, Iowa, to explain in detail the
method by which red and mammoth clover are pollinated, and
the part which various insects play in this important work.
This he has kindly done in the following:

In order to understand the method of pollination, we must have a

(121)

122 CLOVER CULTURE.

clear understanding of the parts of the flower. The clover flower con.
sists of two kinds of organs, known as the essential and non-essential.
The essential are absolutely necessary in the production of seed. The
non-essential, which surround the former. consist of two sets of modifiec
leaves, theouter known as the calyx. This is green and made up of ar
enlarged lower portion which bears five bristle-shaped lobes. Next tc
the calyx is the colored part of the flower, known as the corolla, or, in
common language, the blossom. It is made up of five parts known as
petals. Flowers, like clover, in which the petals are unlike in size, are
known as irregular, and many irregular finwers need insects to carry
the pollen. In some flowers both calyx and corolla are absent, but in no
case can seed be produced where the stamens and pistil, the essential
parts of the flower, are absent The stamens occur next to the corolla,
while the pistil is found in the center. The corolla of the clover floret*
consists of the following parts: An upper, larger petal known as the
bearer, two lateral petals known asthe wings, and two lower petals
resembling the keel of a boat, which are united and are commonly
known as the ‘‘keel.”” The keel contains the ten stamens, each stamen
consisting of an anther, at the end of which is attached a thread-like
affair known as the filament. But in the case of clover the filaments
are united to form a tube, the anthers containing the pollen. The pistil
is also found in the keel. The expanded portion contains the unde-
veloped seeds. The narrow neckis known as a style, the tip is the
stigma. The color of the clover flower is especially attractive to insects.
The honey which the insect seeks is contained in the tube formed by the
union of the fine, thread-like bodies or filaments.

When an insect like the bumbie-bee lights on the flower, it uses the
keel and wings (the latter being attached to the tube containing the
nectar) as a resting place, its weight pressing the keel down and causing
the pistil and stamens, the latter being somewhat shorter than the pistil,
to come in contact with the underside of the bee’s head. The insect is
certain to leave some of the pollen from another flower on the stigma.
The honey is obtained by the insect thrusting its proboscis into the
united filaments of the stamens, which has a slit on the upper side to
give place for a free tenth stamen. Se!f-pollination, or pollination of
the flower from its own stamens, is not excluded, as the insect leaves the
flowers. Does self-fertilization occur? Charles Darwin (Cross and
Self-Fertilization, page 361) says: *‘One hundfed flower heads on
plants protected by a net did not produce a single seed, whilst one hun-
dred heads on plants growing outside, which were visited by bees,
yielded sixty-eight grains weight in seed,’’ making a total of 2720 seeds
for the one hundred heads. Mr. Sirrine (Bulletin 13, lowa Agricultura!
Experiment Station, page 90) found that when pollen of the same flower
was used, no seed set. Prof. Cook (Bulletin 26, Division of Entomology
United States Department of Agriculture, page 87) found that in ten
heads of white clover from which insects were excluded, no seed set.
{n a similar pot of ten heads not protected from insects by gauze, seeds
set. In ten heads of red clover covered, no seeds set; in a similar pot
not covered, seed were produced. Prof. Beal, in’ Grasses of North
America, pages 325-328, inclusive, also shows the inability of clover to
self-fertilize. It is well known that before the introduction of the
bumble-bee into Australia and New Zealand, clover did not set seed, but
since the British Government introduced the bumble-bee in 18:4, clover
seeds are produced. They have since multiplied with remarkable

* The heads of red and mammoth clover are made up of from twenty to sixty flowers
xT florets, each separate in their structure and together forming what is ordinarily
snown as the clover blossom.

CLOVER CULTURE. 123

rapidity. According to Thompson (Insect Life, volume 4, page 157)
they have so greatly increased that he asks whether they may not
become a serious pest to the apiarist, as they work on al) sorts of cu'ti-
vated flowers.

In order to reach the honey an insect must have a tongue from .3543
to .3937 inches (9 to 10 millimeters) long. The honey lies from .2755 to
-3937 inches (7 to 9 millimeters) deep. Any insect sufficiently heavy to
press down the kee] can pollinate the flower. Bumble-bees are, of
course, the common pollinators. Prof. Osborn informs me that he has
observed two common species (Bombus Pennsylwanicus and B. fervidus).
My friend, Mr. Robertsor, records several m-re. The honey bee can,
no doubt, pollinate red clover, as they often collect pollen. I have
taken an interest in bees for many years. and have given some attentiow
to red clover and honey bees. The following paragraph from a paper
published in 1888 may be of interest:

‘‘In the summer of 1883, in the vicinity of La Crosse, Wisconsin. I
noticed large numbers of honey bees on the flowers of red clover. In
many cases they were actively collecting pollen, but in some cases honey,
through perforations in the corolla made by some other insects. Her-
man Mueller says the honey bee ‘ usually visits the red clover only for its
honey, which its proboscis is not able to reach in the legitimate manner
—yet I have now and then seen hundreds of honey bees on a patch of
red clover, all busy collecting pollen.’ Here at Ames I have seen red
clover visited by several butterflies, especially the large red butterfly
(Danais archippus), cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae), the yellow butterfly
(Coleus philodice), also C. eurytheme, and a fly (Bombylius). Red clover is
adapted especially to bees, but Dr. Hermann Mueller of Germany, and
Mr. Robertson, of Carlinville, Illinois, record a large number of butterfly
visitors. Thirteen out of twenty visitors belonging to the butterfly
family were observed in Illinois. There is no question that they do occa-
sionally pollinate red clover and effect cross fertilization. Mr. Robert-
son writes: ‘Bumble-bees depress the kee] so that their heads and
proboscides are well dusted with pollen, but butterflies can insert their
thin tongue: without depressing the keel, and even if they get a little
pollen on their thin proboscides, it is apt to be wiped off by the closely
approximated tiv of the petals, which close the mouth of the flower.”

Th. Pergande expresses the belief that different species of thrips,
which are found in many kinds of flowers, may effect cr-ss pollination
(Psyche, volume 3, number 100, page 381). Prof. Osborn informs me
that two kinds of thrips are common in clover blossoms, Thrips tritici and
Phloethrips-nigra, but these certainly cannot generally effect cross fer-
tilization.

Can the honey tee effect cross fertilization in mammoth clover
(Trifolium medium)? It probably can do so as it does in the common
red. Ihave not studied the flowers of mammoth clover carefully, but so
far as I can see, the flowers of the forms in the College coliection are
about the same size as red clover. One form has much smaller heads avd
the flowers are also somewhat smaller, but I am inclined to think that
mammoth clover is pollinated principally by bumble-bees.

The work of honey bees in fertilizing white and alsike clover is well
known ; in fact, they can easily accomplish this. One other thought
suggests itself to me in this connection. I believe it is generally sup-
posed that the second crop of clover produces more seeds than the first.
This 1 t .»k is due to insects, there being a much larger crop of bumble-
bees at the time of the second bloom than at, the first.

Our readers, even those who have the least familiarity
with scientific terms, will, with the foregoing explanation, be

124 CLOVER CULTURE.

able to understand fully the structure of the blossom of red
clover, and the method of pollination with the further aid of
the illustration herewith presented. Figure 1 in the illus-
tration represents the floret, or one of the minute flowers of
which the clover head is made up, separated from the head,
and viewed from below. Figure 2 represents the same flower
with the larger petal stripped off and viewed from above.
The calyx of which
Prof. Pammel speaks
is marked a@ in fig-
ures No. 1 and 2 in
the illustration. Im-
mediately above it is
the corolla, or what
is usually called the
blossom, marked 43,
made up of five parts
known as petals.
The bearer or vexil-
lum is the upper,
larger petal, marked
cin figure 1, while ¢
represents the lower
border of a wing or
THE RED CLOVER BLOSSOM. small petal bent out-
wards, / its outer surface and g a pouch swelling at its base.
The lower petals form what is described by Prof. Pammel as
the keel or carina, and in figures 1, 2 and 3 are marked %.
Figure 5 represents the right half of the carina or keel, from
without, while figure 4 represents the right wing or side petal
from within, the claws in both being broken off short. Fig-
ure 6 represents the pistil, 7, and stamens, », without which
no flower can exist, and, hence, called the essential organs.
They are found emerged from the depressed keel. It will
thus be seen that gravitation of itself would cause the pollen
from the stamens to fall away from instead of towards the
pistil, or part to be fertilized. This explains why insect
fertilization is necesssary. Let us now see how a bee
fertilizes clover. It clings with its fore. legs to the
wings, or lateral petals, resting its middle and hind legs
on the lower part of the flower, the keel and wings are
drawn down to the stamens and the anthers are thrust uf
against the underside of the bee’s head as described by Prof.
Pammel above. In goiug to another flower it carries the
pollen with it and places it on the vital parts of the second
plant, thus producing cross-fertilization.

a

CLOVER CULTURE. 125

_ It follows, therefore, that everything which favors the
increase of bumble-bees is of advantage to the clover grower,
and it need not be said that their nests should be protected
instead of ruthlessly destroyed. It will also be seen, in view
of what has been said as to the ability of the honey bee te
fertilize red and mammoth clovers while gathering pollen if
not honey, that it will inure to the advantage of every farmer
to keep a few hives of bees, always selecting the Italians, as
larger and the more industrious. In fact, while we have
seen the Italians and their crosses working on mammoth
clover year after year, we have very rarely seen the native or
black bee engaged in this useful work. It would be well
worth all the cost involved, if the Department of Agriculture
were to import some of the giant Asiatic bees for the purpose
of securing, by means of a cross on our native bees, a variety
with sufficient weight of body and length of tongue to enable
it to perform the office of the bumble-bee in fertilizing the
red and mammoth clovers. If the produce of these could be
again crossed with the stingless bee of South America, the
result would be what might well be called the ‘‘granger’s.
bee,” or the ‘‘clover grower’s delight.”

*As stated in Chapter III, the mammoth clover is tvo late
in maturing to furnish both a hay and a seed crop. The
seed, must, therefore, be taken from the first crop, as it is
usually termed. It is desirable, however, to use some method
of getting rid of the lower twelve inches of the stalk on
account of the great bulk of the crop. Where it is possible,
this should be pastured off. The stock may be allowed free
range of the field up to June 10th, in the latitude of central
Iowa, in ordinary seasons. It is better to let the crop be well
started and then put on enough stock to eat it down closely.
This will not only reduce the amount of haulm to be handled,
but also thicken up the stand by favoring branching. Some
farmers practice mowing about the 10th of June. This,
however, requires to be done with a good deal of sound judg-
ment, as sometimes the growth is so rank by this time that
there is danger, if rain should follow immediately, of the cut
clover smothering out the plant, or at least allowing the
weeds to get the advantage of the clover.

Clover should be cut for seed with a reaper of some kind,
when ripe, that is, when all the heads are turned brown or
black. , The most convenient implement is the old-fashioned
self-raker. | When this is not available some farmers use the
ordinary binder, removing the apparatus for binding the
sheaf and substituting the flax attachment. The cost for the
flax attachment is about five dollars. This is said to throw

126 CLOVER CULTURE.

the gavels with the clover heads up and therefore in the best
0 for drying. Others remove the bwiding apparatus,
leaving the deck board and dropper, and bolting on the latter
a three-inch board of the same thickness, extending eighteen
inches to the rear. They then bolt a piece of iron half an
inch wide, a quarter of an inch thick and eighteen inches
long, on the rear end of this dropper and at right angles to it,
bending in a semi-circle upward to the driver’s seat and to
the end of which they attach a small rope or cord bringing it
up through a small pulley fastened on the top of the machine
and above elevating rollers and extending to a treadle on the
foot board in front of the driver’s seat. | Wood pieces are put
in in lieu of the iron parts that have been removed with the
oinding apparatus. In this way the clover can be cut and
jumped in such gavels as seems best. Where the stand is
thin it can be cut with the ordinary mower and raked in small
windrows, taking care to rake it only when slightly damp,
especially after it has had two or three days of hot sun.

The threshing should in all cases be done with a huller
where one can be obtained. The hulling attachments, while
often the only practicable means of getting the seed, leave
much of it in the straw and chaff, and when these are used it
will pay to thresh the chaff the second time. Whenever the
zrowing of clover seed has been established, threshers will
find it profitable to procure hullers, and in good seasons will
lo a very profitable business.

The seed crop of the common red clover comes from the
second growth. It is not true that the first crop does not
seed. The only reason that the seed does not materialize is
ithe lack, in most seasons, of insect fertilization, due to the
time of cutting. To insure a good crop of seed the first crop
should be removed not later than the first week of July,
although when the autumn is peculiarly favorable a crop of
seed can be grown on cuttings as late as the middle of that
month. ‘The method of handling is the same as that men-
tioned above in the case of mammoth clover. With both it
is a mistake to allow the clover, after being cut, to lie in the
gavel longer than is necessary for easy threshing. Ifa
huller cannot be secured it should be stacked and well covered
and allowed to remain until the cold winter weather.

The seed crop of the alfalfa is taken from one of the last
cuttings and the white and the alsike from the first. No
special directions need be given as to the threshing of either
of these, as they all thresh readily. Great care, however,
should be exercised in handling them after cutting, as the
seed in all shells out quite readily.

CLOVER CULTURE. 127

If insects are essential to the pollination and fertilization

of clover seed, they also play an important part in its destruc-
tion, and one of the most

difficult problems in grow-

p a ing clover seed is to escape
iy y, the ravages of insects that

. P “f prey upon the seed. We,

\ : f , therefore, conclude this
AQ a ew ” ) chapter with a description

xine
SNe
)

| t Ss ] of the habits and life his-
a : rad \ tory of two of the most
SNF Soh heal dangerous clover seed

Tor pests, having described in

ron V4 A the previous chapters the
H insects that prey upon the

c 1 leaf, the root and the hay
ba after it has been cured.

S The most dangerous,

\\ perhaps, of these is the
Ez. clover-seed midge, illustra-

i n tions of which will be
| found on this page. In

explanation of these illus-
trations, after Riley, and
for the purpose of more

ty
Z

@HE CLOVER-SEED MIDGE (MALE).

readily indentifying
the midge, should it
appear in any field, we
call the attention of our
readers more particu-
larly to figures 1 and 2
herewith given. Fig-
ure 1 represents an
enlarged back view of
the male, with scales
stripped off in order to
show the structure
more clearly; 4 repre-
sents the eye, the palpi and the basal joints of the antenne
highly magnified ; c represents the male organ highly magnt-
fied; @d represents the highly magnified antennal joints ;

THE CLOVER-SEED MSOGE (FEMALF4.

128 CLOVER CULTURE.

e represents a tarsal claw, and f forms of scales. Figure 2
shows an enlarged view of the female, with ovipositor by
which it deposits its eggs, extended; 6 represents the
head more enlarged ; c, the tip of the ovipositor highly. mag-
fied, and da great enlargement of the antennal joints. In
figure 3 a represents the maggot or larva en-
larged and from the under side, while J repre-
sents the head drawn out and more highly magni- ~
ffed. With this explanation the reader will be
able to determine for himself the presence of this
pest.
There are two distinct insects that pass under
_ the common name of clover midge. The one,
the clover-seed midge, (Cec:domyia Leguminicola,
Lint.), the other the clover-leaf midge, C Cecidomyia
trifoliz, Leow), which lives in the folded leaves of
white clover and sometimes of the red. The
first, which is now under discussion, affects only
the seed, and seems first to have been observed in
America by Prof. J. A. Lintner, in 1877. The
larva was described briefly in 1878 in a report on
some of the injurious insects of the year, to the
New York State Agricultural Society. Prof. Riley, of the ©
Department of Agriculture, observed it in 1878 and described it
in the annual report for the Department of Agriculture for
that year. It was observed by Prof. Forbes in Illinois in
1879, and since that time has extended over almost the entire
clover growing region of the United States, with the excep-
tion, perhaps, of southern and western Iowa and the region
beyond the Missouri. The eggs of the midge are so small
that it is almost impossible to see them without very good
eyes, their average length being .01 of aninch. They are
described by Prof. Riley as being ‘‘long, oval in shape, their
length three times their breadth and one end slightly larger
than the other. Their general color is pale yellow and an
orange streak is more or less apparent according to the age
of the embryo.” The female simply pushes the eggs down
between che hairs which surround the seed capsule of the
floret or minute flowers of whlch the clover head is composed,
which stage of development occurs in central Iowa in the lat-
ter partof May. Inother words, the egg is deposited before
the bloom appears, but after the head is formed. By the
time the larvz are hatched, the mouth of the floret is open,
and the maggots or latva work their way throgh the mouth
of the flower down to the seed.
The larve or maggots hatched from the egg seem to

THE LARVA,

CLOVER CULTURE. ‘ 1

vary much in color, some being bright orange red, others
white and occasionally with a tinge of pink. Some are
smaller than others, the greatest ‘variation being in the
males. It is these maggots that do the damage, feeding
upon the clover seed, while yet in the dough state, and issu-
ing, when they have completed their erowth, in the last part
of June, from the head, to undergo their second transforma-
tion in the soil. The sight of these larve or maggots leav-
ing the clover is said to be an interesting one. The head,
which one moment seems destitute of animal life, becomes
the next fairly swarming with the maggots. From nearly
every closed floret one emerges, wriggles violently and works
its way out and falls to the ground.

It should be stated in advance that insects of this kind
exist in four’ stages, the egg, the maggot or larva, the pupa,
in which-stage the insect passes through its transformation,
and to outward appearance to the superficial observer is
dead, prior to assuming the fourth stage, that of the perfect
fly. It will, therefore, be understood when we speak of
larve that we refer to the maggot stage, and of pupz to the
stage in which the insect passes through its final period of
transformation. This insect is, in the latitude of central
Iowa, two-brooded, while in the more southern latitudes it is
supposed to be three. After the insect has taken on its
pupal stage, which is said to last about ten days, but no
doubt varies, it emerges as a fly, and after mating, is ready
to lay a second crop of eggs in the second crop of clover,
hence, it will be readily seen how vast are the means of
multiplication.

There are but two methods known of combating the clo-
ver-seed midge. The first is that of cutting the first crop,
whether in the meadow or in the pastures, before the first crop
of the midge leaves the head. ‘To make this method effective,
it would have to be done, not merely on one farm, and all
parts of it, pastures as well as-meadows, but on all the
farms of the neighborhood. It is very difficult, if not impos-
sible, to induce farmers to co-operate in this way, however
much their interests might require it. The second method,
which is almost equally as difficult, is to abandon for the time
being the use of the common red clover, afd sow mammoth in
its stead. This variety, as stated in preceding chapters, comes
in bloom some two or three weeks later than the common red,
and matures its seed crop about the time the second crop of
the common red is in bloom. The midge so far has not been
able to time its visits so as to make the mammoth the medium
for producing the second crop. This method, suggested by

130° CLOVER’ CULTURE.

the well known periods of the appearance of the midge, seems
to have been found entirely practicable in Ohio and eastern
states where the midge has fully established itself. It is im-
portant to use very great care in procuring seed, as the midge
is likely to be carried in the seed and planted where it will
develop and form a new starting point for this pest. Clover
seed-should never be purchased except after being examined
with a strong magnifying glass. With or without a glass
the best way of detecting it is by running a handful on white
paper, and if the maggots are in the seed they will be easily
recognized. Where they are found the seed should be re-
jected, although they would probably be destroyed by the hot
water treatment known as that of Jensen for smut; viz.,
steeping the seed just before sowing, first in water at a tem-
perature of 120 degrees, and then afterward in water of the
temperature of 135 degrees. Although we have never tried
this on clover seed, oats has been found to endure this tem-
perature for fifteen minutes. Miss Eleanor Ormerod, of St.
Albans, Eng., formerly consulting entomologist of the Royal
Agricultural Society, states that the midge has been found in
American seed exported to England, and emphasizes the ne-
cessity for the greatest watchfulness in, purchasing clover
seed from any locality known to be infected. ;

Like most other insects when they multiply in great num-
bers, the clover-seed midge seems to have its parasites. Prof.
Riley, in his report to the Commissioner of Agriculture, to be
found in the Report of the Department of Agriculture for
1879, page 196, describes two parasites which work on the
midge and greatly reduce their numbers. The first is a chal-
cid, called Lurytoma funebris, belonging to the same family
- as the joint worm fly. This parasite, which is very minute,
undergoes its transformations within the seed, and gnaws an
irregular hole through the seed large enough to let it out
shortly after the time when the maggots have left the seed to
go into the ground. An examination of an infected field by
Prof. Riley on the 20th of June showed that five-sixths of the
seed had been destroyed by the midges, and that four-fifths of
the midges had been destroyed by this parasite.

Another Ten ie. belonging to a different family, called
Platygaster error, (Fitch,) has been found working on the
midge in New York. Instead of undergoing its transforma-
tions entirely within the seed, the parasite stays with the
midge, goes with it into the ground and emerges as a full-
grown parasite from the cocoon of the midge. Prof. Beal in
his work on grasses, p. 391, states that the larva (of the fall
brood, of course) has been found in seed on the market, and

CLOVER CULTURE. 13B

that this explains the rapid distribution of this insect. This-
emphasizes the importance of farmers procuring their seed,
wherever it is possible, from the growers and from men of:
well known reputation whose fields have not been infected by
the insect.

Another clover pest, well known in the East, and which»
has become somewhat common as far west as Iowa, is the-
clover-seed caterpillar, (gevapholipha inter stinctana, Clemens. ),
These caterpillars now seem to be quite widely distributed,
having first appeared in New York, Pennsylvania, Washing—
ton and Michigan prior to 1885. They were first noticed im
very great numbers at Ames, Iowa, the last of May, 1891.
The following description is ta- )
ken mainly from Bulletin No. 14,
Iowa Experiment Station, Au-
gust, 1891. ‘The moths increased
from the time they were first ob-
served until the 3d of June, and
on the 25th of June an examina-
tion of one hundred and seventy-
seven heads showed ninety-one #4
heads infested by the caterpil- °
lars of the moth and eighty-six
not infested. At this time many
larve were full grown and some
were spinning their cocoons.
The hay was cut at this date and
an examination of forty-eight
clover heads taken from scattered bunches showed two-third&
of them infested, while of forty-two heads from a different:
field, cut two days earlier, only three were found infested. The-
accompanying illustration, original with the Iowa Experi--
mental Station, will enable our readers to identify this pest;:
a represents the larva, or caterpillar; 6, the pupa, or larva:
undergoing its transformation to a moth; c, the moth, all)
these greatly magnified, while d represents the moth ir its
natural state. ’’The larve are dirty white and the pupe a light:
brown, while the moths are small, brown and often nearly-
black, with white lines and dots marking the wings. The-
larve are about one-fourth of an inch long, while the moths.
are from one-third to two-fifths of an inch, with wings ex—
panded. The damage done by this insect is by eating into the-
florets or small flowers, of which the clover head is composed,
and later into the seed vessels of the florets, causing the flow—
ers to dry up and the seeds to shell from their receptacles like -
chaff. Inasmuch as the track of the larve is uniformly from:

THE CLOVER-SEED CATERPILLAR.

132 CLOVER CULTURE.

the base of the blossom or floret upward, and the young larvae
are found almost invariably near the base, and beginning their
work on the florets there, it would seem that the eggs are de-
posited at the base of the floret. In working upward they
usually form a spiral track around it. ust

The second brood were observed at Ames, pairing during
the last week of July, and by August 5th the larve were
found in great numbers. This rate of growth would seem to
indicate that there are three broods per year in the latitude of
Iowa, and possibly, though not probably, four.

Since the foregoing was written, Bulletin 19 of the Iowa
Experiment Station has been issued, containing the resuits of
careful investigations during the season of 1892, by Mr. H. A.
Gossard, assistant entomologist, who has given special atten-
tion to this species. This investigation shows that the insect
is three brooded in Iowa; that moths appear in late May or
early June, deposit eggs in June in the involucre of the clover
head or in the florets, and larvz occur in heads of clover in
latter part of June. When the clover is not in bloom, eggs
may be deposited in the crown and the larve work on other
parts of the plant. Pupation occurs in late June or early
July and moths appearing during July deposit eggs for second
brood. These mature and produce moths for third brood in
early September, and caterpillars of this generation, the third
brood, become partly grown and hibernate, pupating in spring
and producing the first brood of moths of the following season.

The remedies recommended are: Ist, rotation of crops,
not keeping clover on same ground over three years, and only
two if the field becomes badly infested; 2d, that seed for new
crop be planted on land as remote as possible from old clover
fields; 3d, that infested fields from which seed is desired
the following year be pastured in fall to clean, up all late
growth and leave the field free from vegetation in the fall, and
that no manure be applied at the time to furnish places for
larve to hibernate ; 4th, that clover infested during the spring
be cut as early as practicable, while larve are in heads, han-
dled as carefully as possible to prevent shaking larve from the
heads, and stored in stacks or barns, where the larve are found
to perish; 5th, when ready to change from clover to another
crop, plow under some time in October, November or early iz
spring, burying the larvae as deeply as possible, and roll or
harrow to pack the surface.

Several parasites have been reared at Ames, and these
will assist in reducing numbers under ordinary conditions.

THE CLOVER ROOT TUBERCLE.

CHAPTER XIII.

In previous chapters we have assumed certain facts,
namely, that the clovers of all kinds fertilize the soil while at
the same time furnishing, in the crop, a very large amount of
nutritive material of the richest quality; second, that the fer-
tilizing material furnished by the clovers is in the form of
nitrogenous compounds which we have grouped under the
general name, nitrogen, and third, that this surplus of nitro-
gen is obtained from the atmosphere through the medium of
the tubercles or nodules on the roots of the clovers, eighty
per cent. of the atmosphere being nitrogen, and therefore fur-
nishing an inexhaustible supply.

Having assumed these facts so frequently and stated them
so confidently, it is but due to the reader that we should give,
in as brief and concise a manner as possible, the reasons for
this frequent assumption and confident statemerrt. The fact
that clover adds materially to the fertility of the land on
which it is grown, notwithstanding the heavy drains it makes
upon its resources, is too well known to need argument. The
fact that this fertility is mainly in the form of nitrogenous
compounds might well be suspected from the fact that all
kinds of grain which make heavy drafts on the nitrogen in
the soil do better after clover than following any other crop,
and has been very clearly proved by analyses of soils in pots on
which clover has been grown, the analyses having been made
both before and after growing the clover, and in a way which
precludes any material errors.

The fact having been ascertained that clover does in some
way obtain a supply of nitrogen, under certain circumstances,

(133)

™34 CLOVER CULTURE.

“quite independent of the supply in the soil, the interesting and
important question arises, how does it obtain it? It was at
‘first supposed, and quite naturally, that it obtained it by
smeans of its long tap-root, but, while it does no doubt in this
“way restore a certain portion of the nitrates that have been
washed down by rains into the subsoil, the amount has been
found to be very inconsiderable compared with the entire
amount obtained. It was next supposed that the supply was
obtained from the nitrogen in the form of ammonia in the
atmosphere. ‘This ammonia, washed out, as it is, by rains,
~ would be equally available for any other plant, and hence, so
' far as root action is concerned, in no way aids in the solution
- of the problem. ‘The same remark applies to the small amount
of nitric acid that is known to be formed in the atmosphere by
- electrical action.

The question has arisen, whether the clovers do not obtain
their supply of nitrogen from these two last sources through
itheir leaves. ‘To test this matter clovers have been grown in
pots with access to air alone that had been washed by being
passed through water, thus removing the nitric acid or ammo-
“nia, and the result was precisely the same as in the case of
similar pots grown in the open air. Every other means of
determining the source of nitrogen in the clovers having
- failed, attention was directed to the tubercles in the roots.

If the reader will pull up a stalk of any of the clovers,
| during the growing season, he will notice on the roots, some-
‘times on the smaller and sometimes on the larger, certain
‘knots, warts or protuberances. These are the tubercles, a
“somewhat unfortunate name because associated with disease,

but so definitely associated with them that it is useless to
-attempt to change it now. He will notice that the healthier
‘the plant and the more vigorous its growth, the more of these
tubercles will be found, and he will fail to find anywhere a
healthy stalk of clover, during the period of vigorous growth,
without these tubercles. It was this apparent connection be-
tween the number and size of the tubercles and the vigor of
the plant that led Prof. Helriegel, of Bernberg, Germany, to
investigate, in 1883 and the years following, the cause of the
tubercles on the legumes and also the relation they sustain
‘ito the plant. As early as 1862 he had been conducting certain
~elaborate experiments for the purpose of determining whether,
other things being equal, the magnitude of crops was propor-
tionate to the supply of certain essential elements of fertility
in the soil. He had no difficulty in determining that in the
case of the cereals, such as wheat, oats and barley, the mag-
mmitude of the yield was proportionate to the nitrogen in the

CLOVER CULTURE. 135

soil; no nitrogen, no crop; a certain amount yielding practi-
cally the same crop, and the crop increasing with the increase
of nitrogen; but he soon discovered that certain other plants
were, under certain circumstances, almost entirely independent
of any nitrogen iv the soil. He saw to his surprise, as far
back as 1862-3, clover and peas growing in a crop of pure
sand and producing a full crop of seed, while in other years,
and apparently under the same conditions, they starved to
death. He discovered that when clover and peas, growing in
the most barren soil, had abundance of tubercles they pros-
pered, and when the tubercles were wanting, death ensued.
He then began a series of most elaborate experiments, con-
ducted with the greatest care, to discover under what condi-
tions the clovers and other legumes were thus independent of
soil nitrogen, and from what source other than the soil they
obtained it. It is due to the thoughtful reader that we should
detail at some length the nature of these investigations.

For a soil material to be used in his investigations, Prof.
Helriegel selected fine quartz sand, such as is used in the
manufacture of glass. This was washed twice and boiled in
coricentrated muriatic acid three times for the purpose of
removing completely every vestige of fertility. As culture
vessels, he used cylinders of white glass of different sizes,
each having a hole in the bottom for drainage. Pieces of
quartz that had been washed carefully and then heated red
hot were put in the bottom to afford air drainage. Upon this
was placed a thin layer of unsized wadding and on this the
sand, which after fertilization in a porcelain vessel was crum-
bled into the culture vessels under slight pressure in order to
secure the proper degree of porosity and density. The seeds
to be used for this purpose were selected with extreme care.
From a large number of samples the very heavy and very light
were excluded. The remainder were then sprouted between
folds of blotting paper, and if there was developed any defect-
ive root or abnormal growth it was rejected, the object being
to secure even results. Fourteen vessels thus prepared were
sown to barley and fertilized with commercial fertilizers, con-
taining potash and phosphoric acid, but no nitrogen. Nitro-
gen in the form of nitrate of lime was then given in the
following proportions: No. 1, .0336 grains; Nos. 2, 3 and 4,
two-thirds of the amount; No. 5, one-half the amount; Nos. 6,
7 and 8, one-third of the amount; Nos. 9, 10 and 11, one-sixth
of the amount; No. 12, one-twelfth, and Nos. 13 and 14, none.
At the end of the first week after sprouting the plants were
exactly alike; no difference whatever could be noted. A few
days afterward, or as soon as the reserved nutriment in the

136 CLOVER CULTURE.

seed was about exhausted, Nos. 13 and 14 began to fail. For
a few days after this no perceptible difference could be noted
in the growth of the other plants. No. 12 then dropped behind:
ans a few days later Nos. 9, 10 and 11, and, after a short inter-.
val, all the others up to No. 1 could be identified by their ap-
pearance, so that in a month from the time the first plants
appeared the row of pots showed clearly which had received.
the larger amounts of nitrogen. This was manifest not merely
in the height and general vigor of the stalk, but in the num-
ber of shoots or stools put forth. No.1 put out five shoots
or stools; Nos. 2, 3 and 4 put out four, one only of them bear-
ing a head; No. 5, from three to four, one bearing a head ;
the remainder from one to two, but all failed to head. Later
on, however, the main stalk consumed the side shoots to build
itself up. ‘The next lower also consumed their earlier-formed.
parts in their effort to develop heads. The results of this
experiment with a non-leguminous plant are only what might
have been expected, inasmuch as it has been repeated over
and over again and always with the same result, namely, that
within certain limits the yield of the cereals or non-leguminous.
plants is dependent upon the amount of nitrogen in the soil
available for the plant.

. Having thus demonstrated that the cereals were abso-
lutely dependent upon the amount of available nitrogen in
the soil, Prof. Helriegel conducted a series of elaborate
experiments with the legumes, of which we give one typical
case. Fourteen pots were selected, identical with the others,
the soil material, the manner of filling and the fertilizers.
being precisely the same. No. 66 having the same amount
of nitrogen as No. 1 in the barley experiments, and Nos. 77,
78 and 79 corresponding in amount to Nos. 13 and 14 of the
barley table, or, in other words, with no nitrogen. The
plants all came up well and evenly, and there was no differ-.
ence in the pots up to the end of the second week. The third.
week there was a difference not only in growth, but in color.
Those that had no nitrogen were somewhat higher and of a
somewhat greener color, while those that had been fertilized
with nitrogen were darker, and the more nitrogen, the darker.
The fourth week a difference in the development began to
appear. -Pots 77, 78 and 79 fell back, showing signs of
nitrogen hunger. The new leaves were smaller and they
seemed to be formed by pumping out and drying up of the
lower leaves. ‘The numbers grew normally and by the end of
the sixth week the whole row of experimental pots very
accurately reflected in their condition and appearance the
amount of nitrogen each had received. During the seventh

CLOVER CULTURE. 137

week the picture very suddenly and decidedly changed with-
out any apparent cause. No. 77 continued to be in a
starving condition, but two plants in 79 took courage and a
little later, two in 78 followed the example. Their sickly
green color gave place to a healthier, new leaves grew
stronger and broader and without consuming atiy of the
earlier developed leaves. From this time on they made
rapid growth and by the eleventh week they had overtaken
those abundantly supplied with nitrogen and passed many of
them. From this time on there was no relation or correspoti-
dence whatever between development and the quantity of
nitrogen supplied, while the harvest bore the same general
result, and subsequent analyses showing, in some cases,
plants containing less nitrogen than had been given the
vessel in which they grew, in others more, and in some large
quantities of nitrogen where none at all had been given.
On this Prof. Helriegel says:

Three years of this kind of experiment demonstrated two facts
clearly, first, that the legumes had found a source of nitrogen somewhere
else than in the soil, and that, second, they might or might not thrive
even though the soil was amply supplied with nitrogen in a form render-
ing it available for other plants—in short, while the harvested plant con-
tained abundant nitrogen, whether the soil had or had not contained any,
seemed to have no convection with or influence upon the amount con-
tained in the plant. Chance seemed torule. The thriving pea vine two
months old might. fail utterly, although supplied with abundant nutri-
ment in the shape of complete fertilizers, or it might do well with one
from which nitrogen had been wholly omitted The first inference was
that the pea had some source from which to provide nitrogen other than
the soil, or, rather, some peas had and others, apparently under precisely

the same conditions, had not. What was the source? And why could
some plants draw on that source and others not?

It is impossible for us to give details of all the experi-
ments undertaken to answer these two questions, for they
cover upwards of 200 pages of Prof. Helriegel’s work, of
which we aim to give our readers only the substance. One
cannot read them without admiring the patience and intelli-
gent discriminations of the investigator, without admiring
also the methods of true science which seeks to narrow
downward gradually by experimental proof until one by one
the facts are set aside as demonstrated, all bearing one way
and leading up to one inevitable conclusion. As stated
above, it was first discovered that plants that did well without
nitrogenous fertilizers had tubercles on their roots; those
that did not do so well, had fewer, those that did not do well
at all, had none, or nearly none. The connection between
the presence of tubercles on the roots of the legumes and the
capacity to obtain nitrogen, where there was none in the soil,

138 CLOVER CULTURE.

could not long remain unsuspected, and numerous, long and
carefully conducted examinations only served to confirm the
investigator in the certainty that tubercles and power were
closely correlated. Tubercles and power was the law, while
also no tubercles and no power was alsoalaw. There was
no visible cause for the tubercles. | What was more natural
for the scientist than to suspect an invisible cause. Recent
discoveries in other fields suggested that probably the tuber-
cles were of bacterial origin. To determine this, wadding,
which lets in air, but strains out bacteria, was placed over
the pots. The result was that no bacteria could get in,
hence, no tubercles were formed, hence, no nitrogen ‘was
taken up, hence, no thriftin the plant. Nitrogen hunger,
nitrogen. starvation, was nature’s answer to the question of
the experimenter. ;

Pursuing his investigations further, Prof. Helriegel
found that some pots left uncovered thrived, others did not,
and none covered with wadding did. The scientific infer-
ence, therefore, was that whether they throve or not depended
on whether bacteria found an entrance by chance. Another
equally clear inference was that the ground where clover,
beans, peas and other legumes had grown must be full of it.
This was readily tested by placing soils in which these plants
had grown in the vessel with water, and after the sediment
had all settled to the bottom, and the water had become clear,
decanting carefully so as to take nothing but the clear water ¥
He then watered the plants that were drooping from nitrogen
hunger, and straightway every plant thus treated developed
tubercles and acquired the power of securing nitrogen, when
there was none in the soil in which it grew. He then took
of the same water and sterilized it by boiling to kill all the
bacterial life, watered the plants with this, protecting them
by wadding from accidental bacterial inoculation, and the
result was that no tubercles were formed, no power to take up
1itrogen was developed and there was no thrifty growth.

The illustration on the following page will aid the reader
mM securing a clearer comprehension of what occurs as root
-ubercles are developed in the legum:2s. It is taken from the
Lehrouch der Phanzenphysiologie, by Dr. A.’ B. Frauk,
drofessor in the Agricultural High scshool at Berlin. ¢

@¥igure A in the illustration is a root of the lupine on

which are several root tubercles, Figure Bis a section of a
‘oot tubercle; at f is seen the central woody-fibrous cord
ind around it, within the root bark, the fleshy parts of the
oacterial tissue. Figure C shows the first stage of infection,
which precedes the formation of the tubercles; e, e is the

<<

139

CLOVER CULTURE.

ROOT OF THE SUPINE.

RCLES ON THE

5

al
“

TUBE

140 CLOVER CULTURE.

epidermis beneath which are the root-bark cells; in the cell +
the infecting spore has entered; in the bark cells lying next
beneath, infection has also taken place, and they have thereby
become filled with a thick, shining protoplasm, with enlarged
cell germs. This figure is magnified one hundred and
seventy-five times. Figure J is a more advanced stage of
the development; 7 was the point of infection; beneath, the
cells of first infection have by a process of cell- -division, intro-
duced greater complexity and formed other infecting cells,
which are themselves upon the point of further sub-division ;
r, ris the root bark; 4, 4, # rootlets; ez is the endodermis,
or inner skin within which lies the fibrous or woody part of
the root, not shown in the cut. This figure is magnified
seventy times. Figure Z is a cross-section of a root with a
oung tubercle. By means of a further increase of the
infected cells the bacterial tissue 4 has been formed, which at
m, mis in process of further development through division ;
f is the fibrous or woody cord of the root from which run
branches through the bacterial tissue; 7 is the root bark.
The figure is only slightly magnified. Figure / is from
cells of the bacterial tissue, whose contents are clouded and
thickened by being filled with masses of bacteria. The cell
germs are visible and a few starch granules. The figure is
magnified 230 times. Figure G is a number of bacteria
from the cells of / magnified 1090 times. Figure Hisa
cluster of the /thizobinum leguminosarum, produced by a
gelatine culture of the bacteria ; in the center is seen a few of
the latter within which clusters are visible. At sis seen
the cluster separated; at z the zoogloa state COMPOST ofa
cluster that has united,

At the same time that Prof. Helreigel and others were
prosecuting these investigations, Prof. W. O. Atwater, then
of Middletown, Connecticut, was performing the same
important service for America. In 1881 he instituted a
series of experiments which were repeated in 1882, and
brought positive evidence of the acquisition by peas of large
quantities of nitrogen from the air during their period of
growth. The investigation was unavoidably interrupted
until 1885, when.four other series of investigations revealed
large losses of nitrogen during germination and early growth
in all cases where root tubercles were not formed. The
results of the experiments of the first series were reported to
the American Association for the Advancement of Science
for 1881, and those of the first and second series together
were reported at the meeting of the British and
American Association for the Advancement of Science

CLOVER CULTURE. 14.

in 1884, and in detail in the American Chemical Journal,
volume 6, page 365 (February, 1885). The question for
study.in the first series was: Will peas grown under norma!
conditions acquire any considerable amount of nitrogen free
or combined from the air? When the subsect was resumed
in 1885, it was to obtain an answer to the two following ques-
tions: What effect has the addition of soil infusions on the
formation of root tubercles, and is there any definite relation
between the quantity and the number of root tubercles and
the quantity of atmospheric nitrogen obtained by the plant?
We cannot follow the experiments in detail. Suffice it to say
that they were conducted with sea sand, thoroughly washed
and boiled and the methods adopted were almost identical
with those adopted by the German experimenters. They
covered, as in the German experiments, the cereals as
well as the legumes, and the conclusions to which Prof.
Atwater arrived were, that the cereals could not obtain nitro-
gen from the atmosphere, while the legumes could and did.
His conclusions may be summed up as follows: That the
leguminous plants in general are able to secure large quan-
tities of nitrogen from the air during their period of growth;
that there is scarcely room to doubt that 1ue free nitrogen of
the air is thus acquired by tke plant; that without root tuber-
cles there was in no case any large gain of nitrogen, and that
with them there was uniformly more or less gain, and that
the greater the abundance and number of root tubercles
the larger and more vigorous the plants and the greater the
amount of atmospheric nitrogen acquired. Still further,
that the connection between the root tubercles and the
acquisition of nitrogen is°clearly demonstrated, but that the
relation of the bacteria to the root tubercles and to the
acquisition of nitrogen, and in general how the nitrogen is
obtained, are questions yet to be solved. In conclusion Prof.
Atwater says:

This subject has a wider significance than what has been said above
implies. The future welfare of our race, material, intellectual and moral,
flepends upon the food supply, or, in other words, upon the product of the
soil. This in turn reduces itself essentially to a question of phosphoric
acid, potash and nitrogen. Enough of the first two for an indefinite time
to come is assured in the deposits of phosphates and potash salts already
discovered, but the probability of a sufficient supply of nitrogen has been
questioned. This costliest of the fertilizing elements escapes from our
soils into the air and: into the sea, and is taken away by crops, and not
completely returned. Artificial fertilizers promise to meet but a small
fraction of the coming demand. If, as has been urged, the exhaustless
stores of the atmosphere are not available to plants, the outlook is dark

enough. But if the farmer may vse his crops to gather it, without money
and without price, we may dismiss our solicitude. With the assurance

142 CLOVER CULTURE

that plants obtain nitrogen from the air, the fear of starvation for the
over-populated earth of the future may be ignored. That research will
bring the brighter answer to this problem, there seems to be most excel-
lent reason to believe.*

In 1891 we visited the celebrated Experiment Station con-
ducted by Sir J. B. Lawes, of Rothamstead, England, the
oldest and in many respects most complete experiment station
in the world, and found that not only had this distinguished
experimentor and his scarcely less distinguished assistant, Dr.
Gilbert, full faith in the capacity of clover and other legumes
to obtain nitrogen from the atmosphere, but that their experi-
mental grounds furnished ocular demonstration of the truth of
this theory. A large number of plots had been sown with the
clovers, peas, beans, lupines and other legumes, and fertilized
more or less with nitrogen, while each alternate plot on the
same kind of soil, to which no nitrogenous fertilizers had been
applied, was sown with the same plant. In very few cases
could we detect the slightest difference in the plant, visiting
them as we did at the period of their greatest luxuriance,
showing conclusively that though much nitrogen might be
applied, the legumes found it easier to assimilate the nitrogen.
in the atmosphere than that in the soil. We found the lead-
ing scientific agriculturists in Belgium and Scotland holding
firmly to the same belief, so that the capacity of the legumes
to supply themselves with nitrogen from the atmosphere is
not a theory held by a few men here and there, but is now the
accepted belief of the agricultural world, and is regarded as
among the very greatest discoveries of the age.

The results, both scientific and practical, of the above
investigations demonstrate that clover -+receives its nitrogen,
not from the soil in which it grows, except-in the earlier
stages, perhaps, but from bacterial action in the tubercles
found on the root of the clover plant, and that all the legumes,
such as beans, peas, etc., derive their nitrogen in the same
way. It leaves, however, the precise method in which the
bacteria obtain the nitrogen from the only source possible,
the atmosphere, still unsolved. It, however, explains some
things which have sorely puzzled practical clover growers
who never heard of these investigations. It goes far toward
explaining why it is that when clover is sown on new lands,
the plants seem to take on a vigorous growth for a week or
two and then dwindle away and die. ‘This was our experience
for some years in sowing clover on new lands, both on the
raw prairie and in cultivated fields, and we have no doubt it

*A detailed account of Prof. Atwater’s experiments may be found in the second
raaee report of the Storrs School Experiment Station, Storrs, Connecticut, published
n le ;

CLOVER CULTURE. 143,

nas x1 the experience of many others similarly situated~
Until we becam. acquainted with these investigations we hadi
despaired of finding the solution of the mystery. It explains,.
also, why occasional plants flourish, especially on portions ofi
the field where the wild legumes grew. If allowed to remain
and mature seed, the clover gradually spreads all over the-
field, securing in time a perfect stand. As no subsequent-
trouble was found in seeding these fields, there cau be but.
one conclusion, viz., that the bacteria were present only in
such spots in the field as had grown wild legumes, and that.
they multiplied readily and extended all over the field. We
might state that recent investigations in Germany have shown:
that it is necessary to inoculate or leaven certain fields or
portions of fields with the microbe of lupines, a leguminous
plant. The readiness with which clover grows on gravelly -
points on which nothing but prairie grass ever grew, when ,
covered with manure from cattle, and especially horses that .
had been fed on clover hay, suggests that. inoculation with
the microbe is fully as essential as the sowing of clover seed.
We have felt that it was due to the reader, before closing
this volume, to state briefly the facts contained in this chap- -
ter, which have been established by the most rigid scientific:
investigation, in order that they may see that in assuming in:
almost every chapter of this work that clover is not dependent
upon the nitrogen of the soil for its growth, we are making -
no bald, unsupported assumption, but one that has been de- -
monstrated with almost mathematical precision, and which is .
now held by scientific men in all countries where science has .
attempted to aid the farmer in his work.

CLOVER CULTURE---THE WAY OUT.

ra CHAPTER XIV.

If the assumptions of the earlier chapters of this work be
correct, and the facts stated and the conclusions drawn in the
previous chapter prove that these are not mere assumptions,
but demonstrated facts and established verities, clover culture
becomes a problem of the first magnitude, not only to the
individual farmer wherever he may be located, but has impor-
tant bearings on the commercial and financial interests of the
entire nation.

If it be true, as the concurrent testimony of the ablest
and most reliable scientific investigators in the world with
one voice affirm, that the legumes are, to a great extent, inde-
pendent of soil nitrogen and supply themselves in preference
from the atmosphere, why should the farmer in the Atlantic
and Middle states invest his hard-earned dollars in nitrogen
in the form of nitrates, costing from ten to eighteen cents per
pound, when he can, through the medium of the tubercles
on the roots of the legumes, draw on the limitless, inex-
haustible supply of nitrogen that floats over him daily in the
atmosphere. ‘The Connecticut Experiment Station estimates
that no less than half a million dollars are expended annually
by the farmers of that small, non-agricultural state, for com-
mercial fertilizers, more than one-third of which is for
nitrogen. 9» Why this waste? ‘The market gardener must,
per force, purchase his nitrogen in the form of nitrates, dried
blood, or in some other condensed shape, because he cannot
wait for the two years which the clover plant requires for its
perfection. He must have immediate results. Nor can he
tolerate any vegetable matter in the soil not thoroughly

(144)

CLOVER CULTURE. 145

decomposed. He can use nothing that will interfere with the
cultivation of the smallest and most delicate plant. It is
different, however, with the farmer. He can employ a rota-
tion in which the clovers of some kind form a prominent part
that will supply him with available forage, and also diversify
his crop, while storing his soil with the fertility needed im
the future. Two years ago one of the ablest scientists in
Europe said to a convention of Scottish farmers, in substance,
that it was folly for them to invest pounds, shillings and
pence in nitrogen where they could grow clover and other
legumes. In view of the recent discoveries to which we have
alluded in the previous chapter, it is high time for some one,
in whose judgment they have confidence, to tell the eastern
farmers the same truth. If, for any reason, the clovers
cannot be grown, other legumes, such as beans and peas, can.
A soil is poor indeed that will not grow beans, and the fact
that a comparatively barren soil will grow paying crops ofa
food rich in nitrogen, itself should suggest to the practical
farmer that when the scientists affirm that beans, so rich in
nitrogen, are largely independent of the soil for their supply,
they are but confirming the experience of his life-time. - In
fact, the most that scientific investigation has done in recent
years is to explain the paradox of twenty centuries, viz: That
the clovers and other legumes, while furnishing a large
supply of nitrogenous food, at the same time actually increase
the supply of available nitrogen in the soil. When stated
as a distinct and separate proposition, it seems incredible.
When offered as the rational explanation of an agricultural
paradox, it solves a mystery that has puzzled the student of
agricultural science for.centuries. The eastern farmer who
has spent large sums annually for nitrogen in the form of
commercial fertilizers, cannot do a wiser thing than to
investigate this subject and learn how he cannot only reduce
the expense of cultivating his land, but successfully under-
take to restore abandoned lands without beggaring himself to
purchase nitrogen. Clover culture, however, means far
more to the western farmer than it does to his co-laborer in
the Atlantic and Middle states. He has at least two great
and distinct advantages, his soils are not made up from the
decomposition of the rocks of the immediate locality. In
many districts in the eastern states the soil is deposited
in situ; that is, it has been formed by the decomposition of
the rocks lying immediately over or under it. Some of these
may be rich in potash and poor in phosphoric acid, and others
rich in the latter but poor in potash. The sub-soils of
large portions of the western states are the result of glacial

"146 CLOVER CULTURE.

~action, and are covered by the great northern drift in which
the elements derived originally from the primary rocks are so
‘thoroughly commingled that it is difficult to find a soil desti-
tute of the two great inorganic elements of fertility, potash
-and phosphoric acid. Hence, the important question with
him is how to obtain a supply of nitrogen commensurate with
the supply of potash and phosphoric acid in the soil. He
has another very great advantage. His soils are not, except
in rare cases, so far exhausted by long cultivation of their
potash and phosporic acid that they refuse to grow the
clovers. They are not, therefore, said to be ‘‘clover sick.”
‘He can proceed to draw on them at once to the limit of their
- supply in nitrogen, because he can count with confidence on
- an abundance of potash and phosphoric acid which are so
- essential to the growth of clover. He has still a third
- advantage, viz: That while many eastern soils heave out
the clover during the late winter and spring months by purely
mechanical action, his soil, when properly drained, holds the
clover plant during the entire period of its natural life.

If, however, he postpones the use of clover and other
legumes until his soil is exhausted of its natural supply of
potash and phosphoric acid by continuous cropping with the
cereals and grasses that are wholly dependent upon soil nitro-
gen, his condition will be practicaily hopeless. He cannot
‘purchase commercial fertilizers of any kind at present prices
at the sea-board, paying in addition freights and profits, and
then pay freights and profits on his products back to the
principal markets. | When this exhaustion has taken place it
is too late to grow the legumes, for these are as dependent on
potash and phosphoric acid as are the cereals on nitrogen.
When his soil is thus reduced to the condition of some of the
30s of the eastern states, he may as well give up the

strugg
Fine fact, attested by the experience of clover growers in
omany thousands of cases, that a good crop of clover roots
_adds to the ordinary crop from fifteen to thirty bushels of
corn per acre the first year, and almost an equal amount the
‘second, and to all other crops in a corresponding proportion,
should teach the western farmer that his soil needs mainly
nitrogen, or, rather, that his soil is more deficient in nitrogen
‘than in either potash or phosphoric acid. The best [way
‘agricultural chemists have found of analyzing a soil is to
interrogate it with v ee, commercial fertilizers, and find
from the varying yield, what great element of fertility is
lacking. The farmer interrogates his separate fields in the
same way, when, side by side with a crop grown on clover

CLOVER CULTURE. 147

roots, he plants corn, wheat or flax on a similar soil that has
been cultivated some years and gives both plots the same
culture and care. The almost uniform answer of the soil in
such cases is, ‘‘I am hungry for nitrogen.” If, however, he
will by the culture of clover and other legumes, fill his soil
with nitrogen and conserve the potash and phosphoric acid
by carefully husbanding the manure made on the farm, he
can maintain for an indefinite period the fertility of his farm
and be ina position to meet successfully the inevitable compe-
tition, whether from his neighbors, his own countrymen or
the grain growers of the civilized world. The nation that
can grow the great cereal products and transport them to the
world’s markets at the smallest cost will eventually dictate the
price of bread.

It is supreme folly for any man or any class of men to say
that his lands are inexhaustible. Many times in the history of
agriculture has that claim been made, and as often have those
who have made it been brought to confusion by the dire
event. All that is needed to exhaust the fertility of any soil
for any cereal crop is to keep on growing that crop year after
year. Itis quite true, as has been affirmed by Sir John B.
Lawes and other thoroughly scientific investigators, that it
is not possible to exhaust completely the capacity of any land
for the production of any one crop provided the soil is good
to begin with. Nature loves fertility and hoards it as a miser
does his gold. She parts with it slowly and reluctantly,
and as soon as she has allowed man to exhaust_it to the
point where he cannot grow paying crops in competition with
better soils, and has thus driven him from his land, she at
once begins the work of soil restoration.

The strict and accurate truth is that any soil may by con-
tinuous cultivation in the cereals be so far exhausted of its
nitrogen or other elements of soil fertility, that the crops
grown on it are no longer profitable. When it reaches this
point of exhaustion and the farmer can no longer make a liv-
ing on his farm, it is for him practically exhausted. What
we mean, therefore, by soil exhaustion is not the complete
removal of one or all of the great elements of fertility, but
the reductiontof any one of them to a point where the soil
will not produce paying crops. Sir John B. Lawes has for
nearly forty years grown continuous crops of wheat on the
same land without manure, equal, even in late years, to the
average crop of the wheat-growing world, but it has been
done, by a system of thorough tillage, hand-hoeing and weed-
ing, which if done on a commercial basis would reduce the
owner to beggary.

148 CLOVER CULTURE.

We desire to reiterate what has been said in preceding
chapters, that the most complete exhaustion of the soil, para-
doxical as it may seem, may be accomplished by the use of the
clovers. If by supplying nitrogen in the clovers and continu-
ally drawing on the potash and phosphoric acid, which the
clovers do so largely, the farmer practically exhausts the land
of these, he must then either resort to expensive commercial
fertilizers or throw his land into the hands of mother Nature
to nurse it back through long years, or it may be centuries,
to the condition to which as a foolish and unskillful cultivator
he has found it a fit subject for his robberies.

The Western farmer has now reached a point where,
willing or not, he must elect to do one of three things: 1.
Continue his present robbery of the soil by continuous grow-
ing of grain for sale in the world’s markets and thus selling
his land by piece-meal. 2. He may by supplying nitrogen in
the clovers and returning nothing in the form of manure rob.
it more completely and reduce it toa more hopeless barren-
ness. 3. He may draw on the winds of heaven by. means of
the miracle-working tubercle in the roots of the clovers, and
then by the judicious use of the manure made on the farm in
various ways restore the potash and phosphoric acid, trusting
to the gradual disintegration of the rocks of which the soil is
composed to keep up indefinitely their supply.

The folly of the first course is as supreme as it is con-
spicuous. ‘The farms all over the West that have been rented
on one-year leases to croppers attest that folly so completely
that he ‘‘may run that readeth it,” and ‘‘the way-faring man,
though a fool, need not err therein.” Heretofore millions of
the best acres in the West have been cultivated by farmers
who confessed themselves pilgrims and strangers, and like
Abraham of old, though in a far different sense, said they
were seeking a better country and would find it as soon as
they had, to use their own expression, ‘‘skinned” or ‘‘ taken
off the cream” from the lands they occupied. ‘These are the
soil robbers who plant neither orchards nor groves, around
whose homes are no flowers, on whose porches are no vines
to shade their wives from the summer’s sun, and who expect
as soon as their robberies are completed to find in the farther
West another piece of virgin land to despoil. It is time for
this class of farmers to understand that the limit of the corn
lands of America has been definitely marked out, as fixed by
their Creator; that these lands are all out of the possession of
the Government and are nearly all in cultivation, and that
while there is a large amount of wheat lands as yet untouched
by the plow, they are in capricious and uncertain climates,

CLOVER CULTURE. 149

subject to the vicissitudes of doubtful rainfall, hot winds and
destroying insects, or else yield up their natural fertility only
by irrigation. Capitalists can no longer buy the finest lands
in townships and counties, rob them of their fertility by con-
tinuous wheat growing on the bonanza plan, and find in the
newer West fresh lands to impoverish. The migration of
these bonanza farmers westward must now cease. A farmer
who wishes a permanent home for himself and a heritage for
his children must buy it soon. ‘The tabernacle of the wilder-
ness must give place to the permanent structure in a land not
divided by lot but selected by purchase. The soil robber must
henceforth be content with robbing himself and wasting in
advance the patrimony of his children.

If, however, he makes the second election and sees in the
recent discoveries of agricultural science an opportunity by
clover culture to rob his lands more completely than before,
by selling in a distant market the elements of fertility in his
land, he should know that in this way he will reduce his land
to a degree of barrenness impossible under former conditions.
He may by clover culture become thus penny wise and pound
foolish. He may adopt the specious though fallacious maxim
that ‘‘tillage is manure,” without stopping to think that im-
proved tillage by increasing the yield will onlye the more
speedily exhaust, by the magnitude of the crops which it fur-
nishes, the fertility of the land. He may draw upon the great
bank, the atmosphere, for his supply of nitrogen, and if his
drafts be properly drawn, signed and sealed by the clover-root
tubercle, they will not go to protest, but when he draws upon
the soil for potash and phosphoric acid, he will get the quick
response, ‘‘Protested—no funds.” Every farmer owes it to
those ‘who are to bear his name, to leave the acres that have
fed him, richer if possible than he received them from the
hand of Nature or a previous purchaser, or if he fails to do so,

‘he cannot with truth have the honorable title of ‘‘a good
farmer” engraved on the marble that is intended to perpetuate
his memory.

_ The only wise choice is the third one above mentioned,
viz., to grow clover, feed stock, husband carefully the farm-
yard manure and restore it to the land without waste. He
must necessarily dispose by the sale of his live stock and grain
of more or less of the great elements of fertility., Nature,
however, is ever struggling to maintain it by the gradual
decomposition of rock material of which the soil was first
formed, and if he works with her he will be entitled to a
well earned reputation for agricultural wisdom. If better
methods of tillage hasten the decomposition of the primary

150 CLOVER CULTURE.

rock, it only increases his supply of home-made fertilizers by
the careful husbanding and diligent application of which he
is ever restoring to the land its own. The future prosperity
of the Western farmer depends, more than on anything else,
on whether he elects the part of wisdom, and the prosperity of
any section or of any community depends upon the number of
farmers who make this choice.

It cannot have escaped the attention of thoughtful stu-
dents of agriculture that in any country that is really pros-
perous for any great length of time the farmers have settled
down to a system of mixed grain and stock growing and the
cultivation of the tame grasses that are so essential to success.
in this line. The ranch system so long dependent wholly on
the wild grasses may endure for a time, or as long as these
grasses are abundant and free to all, so to speak, ‘‘without
money and without price,” but it should be noted that even
the ranchman is turning to alfalfa. Nor should it escape the
notice of the thoughtful that among the grasses that form
these cultivated pastures the legumes have always had an
important place, and that the failure of clover in any nation
except as part of a long rotation has always been regarded as
a great calamity.

Circumstances will compel the Western farmer to adopt
the same methods. He has, however, a great advantage over
all the farmers that were before him. They grew the clovers
because they found by experience that they increased the value
of all subsequent crops, but did not know how or why. Their
farming was on the principle of ‘‘cut and try.” The modern
farmer is now in the position of the tailor who has a rule by
which he can cut and be reasonably sure of a fairly good fit.
He knows, or at least may know, that by the use of clover he
can store up nitrogen in his soil for a crop of wheat, corn or
flax following. He knows what plants can obtain nitrogen
from the atmosphere and what can not, why timothy always
does well after clover, why blue grass flourishes with white
clover as a growing mate, and can thus plan his rotations and
his seed mixtures with intelligent foresight, as a painter
mixes his paints and plans his work, knowing beforehand
very nearly what will be the result. | @

The Western farmer has been placed for many years ina
peculiarly trying position, and that largely through no fault
of his own.® In the last thirty years a vast empire has been
opened up west of the Missouri. Its fabulous wealth has
been advertised over Europe and America by railroads inter-
ested in its settlement. Population has rushed in, fully im-
bued with the idea that unlimited acres of inexhaustible

CLOVER CULTURE. 15}

fertility were to be had fora song. Payments for the land,

for the improvements and for living expenses had to be made
from crops of ready sale at cash prices in the world’s markets.
These bulky products had to be hauled from five hundred to
seven hundred miles to the nearest water line and froma
thousand to fifteen hundred miles to the seaboard, and that,

too, as soon as gathered. Paradoxical as it may seem, the
pioneer farmer as a rule has not been able to build granaries
to store the products of his land. The result has been two-
fold—exclusive grain farming in necessary violation of the
well established principles of successful agriculture the world
over, and the glutting of the markets of the world with cereals
to an extent that has produced acute and severe distress
among grain farmers everywhere. A cry of distress, both in
years of shortage and abundance, has been heard in every
part of the United States in which the improved grasses have
not been contiguous to the grain and cotton field. Mean-
while the American farmer, by reason of his fertile soil, im-
proved machinery and skilled agricultural labor, is crowding
the British, the Russian and the Hindoo farmer to the wall,

and while suffering himself, is inflicting more severe suffering
on farmers in othcr parts "of the world under less favorable
conditions.

We have outlined these existing conditions, not to make
the broad claim that clover culture is the panacea for all the
ills to which agricultural flesh is heir, but to show that the
evils of a false system can be remedied only by a return to a
correct one, and this cannot be done successfully without the
introduction of the legumes, and especially of the clovers.
What the American farmer needs at present is something
that will enable him to maintain cheaply the fertility of his
soil, especially in nitrogen, the most costly and at the same
time the least stable, of all the elements of fertility in all
soils. ‘The potash and phosphoric acid will remain locked up
in various soil compounds until it is needed by the plant, but
the nitrogenous compounds, as soon as converted into nitrates,
the form in which they are assimilated by plants, are liable
to be washed out by rains. He needs a system of farming
which will enable him to condense his freights by feeding his
products on the farm, and shipping them in the form of live
stock, butter, cheese and wool, and he needs besides a home-
grown forage, rich in nitrogen or albuminoids that’ will
- erlable him to use to the best advantage the carbonaceous
- food products which exist in such super-abundance in the
West. In this lies the ‘‘way out” for the western farmer.
We do not by any means affirm that he is not suffering from

152 CLOVER CULTURE.

other evils. | We know, for example, that he pays more than
his proper share of taxes; that he is the victim of trusts and
combines, and that in many localities he is compelled to pay
exorbitant freights and excessive rates of interest. We do
mean to say, however, that where a system of agriculture has
been adopted for any great length of time, these evils diminish
in their intensity or disappear altogether. In fact, it is the
one-sided system of agriculture adopted in many parts of the
West that has rendered it possible to form some combinations
and extort usurious rates of interest. In this correct system
of agriculture wherever established, the tame grasses must
form an essential and indispensible part, and chief among
these grasses will always be found the legumes, and especially
the clovers.

The ‘‘ way out,” if it be a main travelled road leading to
the city of refuge and not a by-path leading into the forest or
a morass, must provide for retaining soil fertility and
especially nitrogen. As we have before shown, there is no
present way by which that can be done effectively and’ at the
same time cconomically except by the intelligent use of the ©
legumes. Theorists nay speculate as they please, but when
the available fertility of any soil, whether of the farm or the -
district, is so far exhausted that it will not produce paying -
crops, as it will be in time by continuous cultivation of the
non-leguminous plants, it matters very little what political
party is in power, or what the rate of taxation or transpor-
tation, or what kind of currency may bein use. The ‘‘ way
out” for the western farmer that does not provide for the
conservation of nitrogen and its increase, at least to the
measure of the supply of the other elements of the fertility in
the soil, will lead him into worse trouble than he complains
of now. Itis for the reason that it furnishes the farmer
with clear, definite and precise information on a matter of the
first importance that we regard the discoveries of Helreigel,
Wilfarth and Atwater as among the greatest of the present
age. If this important element of fertility cannot, by reason
of deficient rainfall or some other climatic or soil conditions,
be furnished by the red and mammoth clovers, then resort
must be had to alfalfa, and where this cannot be grown, the
supply of nitrozen must be secured by the use of some other
legume. The ‘‘ way out” must be sown with legumes. ,

Kt is not enough, however, to have a supply of fertility in
the soil. There must be some way of using to advantage
the products furnished by this raw material provided by
nature and husbanded by man. No country ever became
permanently rich which was burdened with the trasportation

CLOVER CULTURE. 153

of crude products to a consumer from a thousand to five
thousand miles distant. It matters little how cheap freight
rates may be, for the obvious reason that competitors are
likely to have them as cheap. Freight rates by rail can be
reduced about as much in one part of the world as in the other,
for the reason that the reduction is the result of inventions in
which the whole world shares. Water freights are prac-
tically equal with each other, and, hence, it is not the cost of
freight, but the fact that freight must be paid, and that, too,
by the farmer, that makes hard times in any country that
must find a customer for its bulky or heavy products in a far-
distant market. The ‘‘ way out” must, therefore, suggest a
method by which the farmer can convert these bulky products.
into some more compact and available form. The introduc-
tion of the clovers and other cultivated grasses at once reduces
the acreage of the cereals and paves the way for successful
stock growing, which, in turn, furnishes a means for con-
deusing freights.

It requires no prophet to forsee what would be the imme-
diate result if half the lands now in cereals in Kansas,
Nebraska and southern Dakota were successfully sown to
clovers next year. There would be an immediate, though
temporary reduction in the yield of cereals which would at
once be felt in prices, demand for improved stock to suit the
improved conditions, and a decrease in the amount of freights
furnished the railroads. It is quite true that a large amount
of the corn grown in these states is condensed by feeding to
stock brought in from the ranges. ‘This system, however
convenient or profitable it may be for the time, leads surely
‘and speedily to the soil exhaustion of these states. The
feeding is done on comparatively few farms and by men who
are feeders rather than farmers, and thus a few acres are
enriched at the expense of the many. When farmers in these
states adopt the method of farming half the land and seeding
the remainder to tame grasses, where these can be grown,
they will be able not only to maintain the fertility of their
soil, but place themselves in the position which farmers the
world over occupy, wherever agriculture is permanently pros-
perous.

Nor are we advocating any new or untried policy. Corn
is grown in nearly every state in the Union, and yet there are
but seven corn surplus states, or states that grow an amount
beyond their home requirements, and the surplus pro-
duced by two of these is comparatively small. This policy
has been largely adopted in all the states east of the Missouri.
As the grasses and legumes travel westward. elevator

154 CLOVER CULTURE.

properties on the lines of the railroads leading to the great
grain markets first decrease in value, then stand empty and
finally are burned up or torn down.

The progress of clover and grass culture may be noted
even in the political discussions, and especially those that
grow out of agricultural discontent. These discussions move
west with the tame grasses. The granger legislation of 1873
affected Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, while that
of 1889 affected only, to any great extent, the states west of
the Missouri and south of the Ohio rivers, or, in other words,
the grain and cotton growing as distinguised from the grass
growing states. No less significant is the fact that the
so-called granger legislation of Iowa in 1884-88 had for its
object, not the cheapening of rates on crude products, but the
cheaper distribution of its own products within that state.

It will be seen that the culture of the clovers and other
grasses is far reaching in its consequences. In urging it as
we do, we are on main traveled roads. We point to the exge-
rience of all farmers in all countries for the last hundred
years; we point to the fact that where once introduced it has
fever been abandoned, until the soil refused to grow clover;
we point to the fact that where it is once established, land uni-
formly advances in price, and the rate of interest as uniformly
falls; we point to the fact that where it is once established
diversification of industry naturally follows. For example,
the great dairy interest is confined almost wholly to the regions
where the clovers and other tame grasses have proved a suc-
cess. Creameries have been built by the score in advance of
the grass and clovers, and only in rare instances have they

succeeded beyond the white, red and crimson of the clover ©

fields. While it is true that there is a natural limit to the
tame grass belt, it is also true, and we call attention to the
well known fact, that the clovers have a wider Western range
than any of the other cultivated grasses, and, as we have
already shown, where clover ends, alfalfa begins. Where, by
reason of the unsuitable subsoil, it is impossible to grow
alfalfa, other legumes, such, for instance, as the soy, bean,
will be found to take its place. The necessity of the intro-
duction of some legume that will supply the place of the
clovers and alfalfa in semi-arid regions is so urgent, or will
be in a few years, that every clime will be searched by enter-
prising farmers and experiment stations to find something
that will meet the want. The right plant will be found when
it is needed, just as the right man appears in every great
crisis of a nation.

Again, any ‘‘way out,” especially for the Western farmer,

~~

CLOVER CULTURE. 15§

must provide some method for utilizing the great surplus of
carbonaceous food products that exists on his farm. Western
states have avery great surplus of this carbonaceous food.
Corn, their great crop, is highly carbonaceous, and straw,
cornstalks and sorghum still more so, and the ordinary tame
grasses, outside of the clovers, scarcely less. No one of these,
nor ali of them together, can be fed exclusively to young and
growing stock, or to milk cows, without great waste of the
food. The young grasses alone furnish a balanced ration,
but only for a brief period or the year.

The continuous waste chat goes on for eight months in
the year becomes so enormous that no section can compete
with other sections blessed with albuminoids with which to
balance up rations. Oats is about the only stock grain that
in itself comes near being a balanced ration, and in default of
the legumes farmers are compelled to use oil meal, cotton-seed
meal and wheat bran in order to feed their carbonaceous
rations without waste. The clovers come in to meet the
requirements with nitrogenous compounds, drawn not from
the soil beneath, but from the air above, and not only store
nitrogen in the soil by means of their roots, but in the form
of hay and pasture supply this much-needed want. Eastern
farmers who travel through Western Kansas and Nebraska
and Dakota and other wheat-growing sections and see the
great mass of straw given to the flames each year are accus-
tomed to declaim against the thriftlessness of the Western
farmer. He is at least as wise as they, for experience has
taught him that cattle will eat themselves poor by trying to
live on this carbonaceous food, and that for him its main
value is in its ash, which he therefore distributes as wisely as
possible by heading his wheat and burning his straw. If,
however, he can grow clover or alfalfa to balance up this
excessively carbonaceous food, the straw becomes at once a
reine of wealth.

English wheat growers are this year, in many cases, get-
ting more for their straw per acre than for their wheat, for
the reason that they can use it economically and without com-
petition, whereas in the growth of grain they are compelled
to compete with the whole world.

In the arid regions of the plains, the mountains or the
Pacific coast, the word alfalfa has a charm second only to
gold and silver, because it furnishes in the form of haya
ration that improves or balances up every other forage with
which it is fed. As the subject of feeding rations becomes
better understood through the greater number of analyses of
western grains and grasses and carefully conducted experi-

156 CLOVER CULTURE.

ments with balanced rations, the legumes will be rated at a
much higher value than they have been in times past. Stock
growers will even find that it will pay them to grow the
legumes solely as a means of stopping the great waste that is
now going on by the enforced use of rations too highly carbo-
naceous to meet the wants of the animal economy.

A system of farming that will at once conserve and
increase the fertility of the soils of the West, that will, by
diminishing the amount of the acreage in cereals and increas-
ing that of the grasses, reduce the cost of labor fifty per cent.,
and that will stop the waste of foods now going on, will at
least indicate the ‘‘way out” that can be followed with safety
and profit. ‘The extended use of the clovers and other legumes
will provide such a system, and for this reason we urge it
upon the attention of every farmer. Other nations and the
majority of our states have already adopted such systems,
ignorant of the recent discoveries that have made the way
plain, safe and easy. It devolves upon the Western farmer
to say whether he will be guided at once by the experience of
practical farmers in the past and by the light that science has
shed upon the subject, or whether he will continue to waste
the fertility of the richest heritage that Providence has ever
bestowed upon a people, and reduce to comparative barren-
ness the fairest land on which the sun shines.

FINIS.

os |

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PRAPACE cGéaiesv acer AF ian les 65 «tia & Guvicnts ath (atc CRG oon athe a aaah Wie POR Fa ee
CHAPTER I. 4

Clovers and Other Grasses—Clovers not True Grasses, but Members of the Pulse Fam-
ily—True Grasses Defined—Difference between Them and the Clovers in Root
Growth—Relation of the Clovers to Soil Fertility—Their Relation to Improved
Agriculture—Their Power to Supply Other Crops with Nitrogen—Their Ability to
Draw Nitrogen from the Atmosphere—Their Importance in Feeding Rations.....

CHAPTER II.

Distribution of the Clovers—The Economic Importance of the Legumes—The Main
Source of Supply of Soil Nitrogen—Animal Nitrogen Dependent on Soil Nitrogen
—Some Variety of the Legumes Adapted to Every Soil Capable of Supporting
Life—Leading Varieties of Clover—Range of the Common Red and Mammoth—
Their Peculiar Adaptation to the Drift Soils of the West—Their Probable Western
Limit—Range of the White, Alsike and Crimson Clovers and Alfalfa .............

CHAPTER III.

Red and Mammoth Clovers—Their Relation to Soil Fertility in the West—Their His-
tory—The Five Essentials of Plant Life—These Clovers Do Well on Compara-
tively Barren Soils—Reproduce Themselves Indefinitely in the West by Self-
Seeding—Best Methods of Seeding in Fall and Spring—Depth of Covering Re-
quired—Experiment at the lowa Experiment Station—Modern Methods of Coy-
ering in the Western States—Conditions under Which One or the Other Should
Be Preferreda—Mammoth Preferred Where Insect Enemies Are Abundant—Illus-
PraAtionsio£ Red and Mammoth Cloveriirs vcs ose ccc s+ nccmsacaceccesuntcnwereasienn gece

CHAPTER IV.

Alfalfa—Its Climatic Range, History and Travels—Its Different Names in Different
Countries—Its Specific Purpose a Meadow and a Forage Plant—Its Adaptation to
Particular Soils—Its Two Leading Uses—Its Peculiar Adaptation to the Mountains
and Plains—Its Use in the Semi-Arid Regions as.a Substitute for Clover as Dis-
cussed by Prof. Georgeson—Prof. C. L. Ingersoll on Alfalfa under Irrigation.....

CHAPTER V.

White and Alsike C:over—Difference between White and Other Clovers—Its History—
Its Place in the Permanent Pasture—Its Faults—History of Alsike or Swedish
Clover—Its Peculiar Adaptation to Wet Lands—Best Methods of Sowing—Its
Value as a Honey Plant........ 220. ces cetencecnee ceeesenensncepacesetesaes seees

CHAPTER VI.

Minor Var’eties of Clovers—Sweet Clover, Where Valuable—Scarlet or Crimson Clo-
ver—Its Climatic Range and Value—Climatic Range of Japan Clover and Its
Great Vulue to the Southern Farmer—Value of the Bur Clover to the California
Farmer—Description of Various Native Varieties, with Illustrations........-:.....

15

CLOVER CULTURE.

CHAPTER VII.

®ractical Clover Growing—Selection of Varieties for Different Localities—The Ob-
ject in View in Growing Clovers—Mixtures With Other Grasses—Mixtures for
Different Rotations—Clover Sickness—N urse Crops—Western Limit of the Clovers
—Method of Seeding on Wet Lands........ bss) Shdef tba sedous femup aes alemtai en mie se ae

CHAPTER VIII.

Curing Clover Hay—Water Content of Green Clover—Iowa Agricultural College Ex-
periments—The Problem Stated—Clover Hay-making East and West—Capacity
_of Clover to Evaporate and Absorb Moisture—Most Approved Western Methods
—Damage to Clover Hay in Stack—Value of the Tedder—Numerous Examples of
Spontaneous Combustion—Views of Profs. Sanborn and Burrell..................

: CHAPTER IX.

Clovyers in the Rotation—Importance of Rotations—Distinct Features—Clovers as
a Cleaning Crop—Their Value in Supplying Nitrogen—Rotations suggested for
different sections................ sR Wwd sere sis cUrdeT Es SAATE esate Mee ese Cumbres «easter titan

CHAPTER X.

Clover in Feeding Rations—Elementary Principles—Necessity for Balanced Rations
—Peculiar Need of an Albuminoid Crop in the West—Feeding T’'ables—Analyses
of Non-leguminous Grains and Grasses—Analyses of the Legumes—Pxamples of
the use of Clover and Clover Hay in Balancing Rations.....................-.250-

CHAPTER XI.

Insect and Other Enemies—The Clover Leaf Midge—The Clover Root Borer—Flave-
scent Clover Weevil—The Clover Stem Borer—The Clover Leaf Beetle—The
Clover Leaf Hopper—The Clover Hay Worm, with Illustrations—The Clover
Rust—The Violet Root Fungus—Dodder, with Illustration........................

CHAPTER XII.

Clover Seed and its Insect Enemies—Necessary Conditions for a Crop of Clover seed
—Prof. L. H. Pammel on Pollination of Clover—Description of tne Red Clover
Blossom, with Illustration—Best Method of Harvesting Clover Seed—Illustrations
and Description of Clover Seed Midge—Methods of Combatting It—Its parasites
—Tlustration and Description of Clover Seed Caterpillar—Remedies Recom-

CHAPTER XIII.

Clover Root Tubercle—Facts Assumed in Previous Chapters—Former Suppositious
as to how Clover Obtained Nitrogen—Description of Clover Root Tubercles—
Prof. Heliriegel’s Experiments and Demonstration of two Important Facts—Illus-
tration of Tubercles with Description—Prof. Atwatea’s Experiments and Con-
clusion—Conciusion of Sir J. B. Lawes—Practical Bearings of the Discovery on
Western Arricultnre.:::..<) S..55::. Gv ocg ds. SEAT sn be ben sich Wine eeteiisiene aetna sak

CHAPTER XIV.

Clover Culture the Way Out—Clover Culture a Problem of the First Magnitude—
Purchase of Nitrates by the General Farmer Useless—A Solution of the Agricul-
tural Paradox—Advantages of the Western. Farmer over the Eastern—Western
Soils may be Exhausted as well as Fertilized by Clover Culture—When Lands are
Practically Exhausted—Western Farmers Must Elect todo One of Three Things
—The only Wise Choice—Trying Position of the Western Farmer—Clover Cul-
ture Indicates the Way Out by Restoring Iertility, by Condensing Freights and
by Checking Waste of Carbonaceous Feed—Effects of Clover on Legi+lation—On
the Dairy Industry—Wil) the Western Farmer Adopt It®........... 00.00.35... ..005.

7

106

120

143

IN .D E.x..

Alfalfa—Length of roots, 4; its distribu-
tion, 14, 15; origin and history, 30-41; il-
lustration of, 31; peculiarly a hay and
forage crop, 52; conditions under which
its cultivation is profitable, 32, 33; cul-
tyre under irrigation, 38; yield of hay
per acre, 33.34; number of cuttings per
annum, 33, 34.42: amount of seed sown
per acre, 34, 38,42; English method of
culture, 34; when possible in rotation
35; where it can be substituted for red
clover, 35; Prof. Georgeson on its culture
without irrigation, 36,40; as a pasture
grass, 37; seeding of on prairie grass, 37;
cannot be grown on Certain soils, 37;
preparation of seed bed without irriga-
tion, 37, 38; method of curing, 38, 44:
best method of storing, 38; when seed
should be taken, 38; yield of seed per
acre, 38; price of seed per bushel, 38; nt-
tritive value compared with red clover,
39; its disadvantayes, 39,40; Prof. Inger-
soll on, 41, 44; preparation of seed bed
with irrigation, 42; methed of irrigation,

~ 42, 48; chemical composition of, 43;
where valuable in Nebraska, 44; where a
substitute for other clovers, 76,77; asa
balance in feeding rations, 106; for young
colts, 106; balances all grain rations, 155.

Alsike—Its distribution, 14; origin of, 49;
specially adapted to sloughs and othe?
wet lands, 49, 51,77; illustration of, 50:
habit of growth as compared with red,
mammoth and white, 51,52; method of
‘seeding on sloughs and wet lands in
grass, 52; climatic range of, 2, 53; value
P bee pasture, 53; in permanent pasture,

Atwater, Prof. O. W.—Investigations in
mlation to the tubercles of the legumes,

Blue Grass—In permanent pasture, 74; on
wild prairie, 75.

Bumble Bees—As pollinators of red clo-
ver, 122, 125; two varieties of, 123.

Bur Clover—Distribution of, 11; climatic
range of, 60; value as sheep pasture, 60;
peculiar relation to alfilaria, 60; a native
variety in Nebraska, 60.

Carbohydrates—Great excess of in West-
ern states, 100; proportion of proper for
various uses, 101; proportion found in
non-leguminous grains and fodders, 102;
proportion found in various legumes,102.

Carbon, its place in animal economy, 9.

Clover Culture—Its importance to the in-
dividual farmer and to the nation, 144;
advantageous to farmers both East and

West, 145, 150; its effect on succeeding
corn crops, 146; maintenance of indefi-
nite fertility possible with, 147, 148, 149;
may itself exhaust soils, 148, 149; effect
of its westward extension, 153; effect on
Olitic>] discussions, 154; never willing-
y abandoned when once introduced, 154,

Clover Flower—Anatomy of, 122, 124; illus-
tration of, 124.

Clover Hay—Analyses of, 79; moisture in,
79, 80: difference in curing, Fast and
West, 80, 81; differences in feeding value,
81; its capacity to absorb and evaporate
moisture, 81, 82; best practical method of
making, 83, 85; average per cent. of dam-
age in stack, 85; spontaneous combus-
tion of, 85, 90.

Clover rust, 116.

Clovers—Distinct in form from true grass-
es, 3; general habit of root growth, 3, 4;
their peculiar relation to soil forties 4,
5, 6; effect of their introduction into
Engiand, 5; 9 helpmeet to the true grass-
es, 5, 6; distinct from true grasses in
function, 6; number of native species,
10; why they succeed on poor soils, 18;
seeding on prairie lands without coyer-
ing, 20; circumstances under which red
or Mammoth should be preferred, 24, 25,
26; red and mammoth, scientific classifi-
cation of, 25; selection of variety de-
pends upon object in view, 69, 70; mix-
tures to be sown, 70,75; mixtures to be
avoided, 70,71; mixture for two years’
rotation, 72; how retained in permanent
pastures, 75; western limit of, 76, 77; an-
alyses of at different Ftages of growth,
79; as a cleaning crop, 93; place in feed-
ing rations, 98, 106; how used to balance
rations, 103, 106; their use in connection
with corn stalks, 103, 104; use in combi-
nation with straw, 105, 106; use in com-
bination with ordinary farm feed stuffs
106: preferable to expensive commercial
fertilizers, 144; neccssary to correct the
evils of continued grain cropping, 151;
essent‘al to a correct system of agricul-
ture, 152; western range of, 154.

Clover Seed—Conditions of germination,
19; depth of covering required, 19, 22;
surface-sown on winter wheat, how coy-
ered, 20; different depths, lowa Exper -
ment Station report, 22; sown on spring
grains, 22; yield per acre, 27; insect ene-
on of, 121; management of crop, 125,

Clover-seed Caterpillar—Life History of,
i 132; remedies for, 132; parasites of,

CLOVER CULTURE.

Clover-seed Midge—Illustrations of, 127,
128; history of, 128; description of, 128,
129; methods of combating, 129, 130; ex-
ported to Eng’and in seed, 130; parasites
of, 130, 131.

Clover sickn ess, 73.

Commercial fertilizers, annual cost of in
Connecticut, 144.

Comstock, Prof, report on clover-stem
borer, 111.

Cook, Prof.—Description of clover-stem
borer, 111; report on clover-leaf beetle,
111, 112; descriptiyn of clover-hay worm,
115; experiment on ferti'ization of clo-
ver, 122.

_ why it succeeds best on clover sod,

4%.

Corn land, limit of reached, 148.

Corn-r ot worm, opera ‘ions of, 92.

Corn-surp’us states, 153, 154. .

Crimson Clover—Its distribution, 11, 15;
habit of growth, 56: yield of hay per
acre, 56; where profitable, 56,58; illus-
tration of, 57; amount of seed required

__ per acre, 58.

Darwin, Charles, experiment on pollina-

| tion of clovers, 122.

‘Digestible nutrients in non-leguminous
grains and fodders, 102; in clovers and
other legumes, 102.

Dodder—Clover, 117, 120; in clover seed,
119; districts infested with, 120; varieties
of, 120; new variety attacking clover,
120: illustration, 118.

Farmers—Modern, peculiar advantagesof,
bg peculiar position in the West, 150,

Feeding Rations—Elementary principles
relating to, 98,99, 109; examples of bal-
anced rations, 99, 100; table for calculat-
ing, 101; various uses of clover in, 1C4,
105, 106; use of alfalfa in, 106.

Fertility—Exhaustion of, 9°: essential ele-
ne of, 17, 18, 91; how readily exhaust-
ed, 74.

Flax, ancient reputation #s a soil robber, 4.

Fungus, violet root, 116, 117.

Geary, George, experiment in deep cover-
ing of clover, 23, 24.

Georgeson, Prof. C. C., on alfalfa without
irrigation, 36, 40. .

German feeding tables, 101.

Grasses—Definition of, 3; tame, with and
without a nurse cro>, 76; for wet lands,
Wet? young, furnish a balanced ration,

Grass Mixtures—For fertility alone, 71;
for short rotations, 72; for sowing with
spring grains, 74; for permanent pas-
tures, 74; for sowing on wild prairie, 75.

Hay caps, use in hay making, 80.

al shed, cost of, 85.

He lriegel, Prof., experiment with the Je-
gumes, 154, 138.

Honey bees as fer ilizers for red and mam-
moth elovers, 123.

Ingersoll, Prof. C.
irrigation, 41, 44.

Insect Pests—Working on clover, 197, 116:
number of, working on clover, 107; clo-
ver-leaf midge, 107, 1¢8; clover-root borer,
108, 109; flavescent clover weevil, 109, 111;
clover-stem borer, 111; clover-'eaf beetle,
111, 118; clover-leaf hopper, 113, }14;
clover-hay worm, 114, 115.

L., on alfalfa under

Insects as pollinators of clover, 121, 123.

Iowa Experiment Station, experime-t
with clover seed, 22. .

Japan Clover—Its distribution, 11; history
of, 58; the soil renovator of the South,
58; climatic range, 58; its value to the
fae a farmer, 58, 60; illustration of,

Large-headed Cloyer—Des-ription of, 61,
62; climatic range of, 61, 62; illustration

of, 65.

Lawes, Sir J. B., investigations of tuber--
cles on roots of legumes, 142.

Legumes—Leading varieties of, 3, 10; num-
ber of known species, 3; wide range of
usefulne’s, 3; Virgil on, 4; Virgil's di-
rections for sowing, 4: universal distri-
bution, 10; necessary to correct the evils
of continued grain cropping, 151; essen-
- to a correct system of agriculture,.

Lintner, Prof.—Rep~rt on the number of
clover pests, 107, 18; on flavescent clover
weevil, 110; description of clover-leaf
beetle, 112, 113.

Mammoth Clover—Its distribution, 11, 12,
13; yield per acre, 27; illustration of, 29;
when to be sown alone, 70, 71; crop of
seed per acre, 71: in permanent pasture,
74; management of for seed, 125.

Nitrogen—Its abundance in nature, 8;
s .urces of supply, 9; its function in sup-
porting animal life, 9,99; waste of dur-
ing summer months, 92; supplied by the
clovers, 92; how obtained by clovers,.
138, 134.

Oats, only commonly -cultivated cereal
furnishing a balanced ration, 155.

Orehard Grass—When to be sown witb
clover, 72,73; reasons for sowing with
clover, 73; orchard grass in permanent
pasture, 74.

Osborn, Prof.—Report on flavescent-clo-
ver weevil, 110; life history of clover-
leaf hopper, 113, 114.

Pammel, Prof.— Report on clover rust,
116; on pollination of tlowers, 121, 123.
Permanent Pasture—Relation of clovers

to, 48, 49; grass mixtures for, 74.

Phosphoric acid, not liable to be washed
out of the soil by rains, 151.

Plant life, five essentials of, 17.

Pollination of clovers by insects, 121, 123;
self-pollination of red clover, 122; by
bumble bees, 122, 125.

Potash—Its p'ace in animal ecovomy, 9;
not liable to be washed out of the soil by
rains, 151.

Prairie, wild, how best seeded to tame
grasses, 75, 76.

Red Clover—Its distribution, 11, 12, 13;
how distinguished from mammoth, Il,
25; on what its reed crop depends, 12;
date of introduction into England, 16;
early methods of cultivation, 16,17; 1te
Telation to insect pests, 26; illustration
of, 28; nutritive value as compared with
alfalfa, 39; in permanent pasture, 74;
on wild prairie, 75.

Red top, in permanent pasture, 74. 4

Riley, Prof.—Report on clover-root borer,
108, 199; report on flavescent-clover wee-
vil, 110. :

Rotations— Distinct features of, 92, 93;

CLOVER CULTURE.

samples of, 94, 96; short, 94; three years,
94; four years, 94, 95; six years, 95; west
of the Missouri, 95, 96; tor Minnesota,
96; for potato growers, 96, 97.

Running Buffalo Clover—Description of,.

es va climatic range of, 63; illustration

of, 67.

Sanborn, Prof., on spontaneous combus-
tion, 85, 86. :

ae region, approximately defined,

Sloughs, how best seeded to alsike, 77, 78.

Soil robbers, operations of, 148, 149.

Soils of the astern and Western states
gorapered, 145, 146; none inexhaustible,

Soy bean, a substitute for clovers, 96.

Spontaneous combustion of clover hay, 85,
90; Prof. Sanborn on, 86, 87; letter on,
from H. R. Leaming, 86; instance of, 87;
charcoal] from,described, 87; J.W. Bepp’s
report on fifty cases of, 88; in Illinois,

88; ig Burrell’s conclusions on, 88,
, 99.

Straw in ccmbination with clover, 1°5, 1°6.

Sweet Clover—Distribution of, 11; habit of
growth, 54; where valuable for forage,
= oe as bee pesture, 54; illustration
of, 55.

Tedder—Use of in curing clover hay, 80;
indispensabl° to secure the best quality,

2; how to use it to best advantage, 83;

failure to use it a frequent cause of
spontaneous combustion, 85.

Timothy, in permanent pasture, 74.

Trifolium Carolinanum—Description of,
63; climatic range, 63; illustration of, 68.

Trifolium fucatum—Description of, 61;
illustration of, 64.

Trifolium involucratum—Description of,

62: climatic range of, 62; illustration of,

PAGE.
Common red clover....... 28
Mammoth clover......... 29

ME see. wt ee at uso
WPM. asd es a ys
Sweet clover ............ 55
iSO ClOveT >. cp: DE
Japan*clover 1 is oh.0, "59

Trifolium fucatum....... 64
Large-headed clover ..... 65
Trifolium involucratum.. 66
Biumaloclover .. . . Pecad)- mune 2
Southern clover.......... 68

Trifolium megacephalum—Description of,
61 my climatic range of, 62; illustration
of, 65.

Trifolium stoloniferum—Description of,
= 63; climatic range, 63; illustration of,

‘Tubercles—The means by which clovers
acquire nitrogen, 133; description of,
184; connection between tbeir number
and the size and vigor of plants, 134;
relation to fertility of soil, 134, 135; He)l-
riegel’s e’aborate experiments therewith,
134, 185, 136; illustration and description
of, 138, 139, 140; Prof. O. W. Atwater’s in-
vestigations in relation thereto, 140, 141,
142; investigations of SirJ. B. Lawes and
Dr. Gilbert, 142; the theory of asan expla-
nation of previous)y known facts in rela-
tion to clover culture. 142, 148; affordsa
rational explanation of an agricu)tural
paradox, 145.

“Wey Ovt’’—Must provide for retaining
and restoring soil fertility, 162: must be
Frown with legumes, 152; must enable
farmers to condense freights, 153: must
enable the farmer to economize carbona-
ceous foods, 154, 155, 156.

Webster, Prof., description of clover-hay
worm, 115, 116.

Wet lends, How best seeded to alsike clo-
ver, 77, 78.

White Clover—Its distribution, 11, 13, 14;
its relation to permanent pasture, 45, 47
48, 49; wherei it differs from red and
mammoth clover, 45, 46; method of seed-
ing, 46; ash constituents compared with:
those of red clover, 46; origin of, 46, 47;

its Weouliar Tejation to blue grass, 46, 47;

its disadvan'ages, 47, 48; depth of cover-
ing necessary, 49; on wild prairie, 75; in
permanent pasture, 74.

Wolff's feeding standards, 101.

Aw

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE.
Clover-leaf midge....... 108
Clover-root borer........ 109
Clover-stem borer....... 111
Clover-leaf beetle chs hee
Clover-leaf hopper...... 114
Clover-hay worm........ 115
Ci0Ver Gouger Ss eonnoys - ee
Red clover blossom...... 119
Clover-seed midge. ..127, 128
Clover-seed caterpillar .. 131
Tubercle on roots of the
Wipe. 6. ss oa

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of Des Moines, Iowa, edited by a practical
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