Clovers and How to Grow Them

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

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

Rain falling on alfalfa will injure it quite as much as it does red clover. (See page 96.) In climates with much rainfall in May or June, when the first cutting of alfalfa is ready for being harvested, according to locality, in instances not a few much difficulty is found in curing alfalfa without loss. Sometimes the entire cutting will be rendered practically useless by rain. Because of this, as previously intimated, it may be well to arrange, where practicable, to cut the first crop of the season for soiling food.

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

The yield of hay from each cutting will, of course, vary much with conditions, but it is seldom less than a ton. An approximate average would place the average cutting at about 1¼ tons, but as much as 2 tons have been obtained per acre at a cutting, and, again, not more than ½ ton. In New Jersey an average of 4.57 tons per acre was obtained under good conditions of management, but without irrigation, at the experiment station for three years in succession. In Kansas, 4 to 6 tons per acre may usually be expected from good soils. In Tulare County, California, as much as 6 to 10 tons have been secured under irrigation.

The yields from the various cuttings are by no means uniform, especially in the absence of irrigation. They are much influenced by rainfall. In such areas, the second cutting is usually the best for the season, the subsequent cuttings being considerably less. Where irrigation is practiced, the crops are much more uniform, but even in mild climates, as the season advances, there is a tendency to lesser yields, indicative of the necessity of at least partial rest for plants during a portion of the year. The yields of alfalfa are usually exceeded by those of no other crop, where the conditions are quite favorable to its growth, even in the absence of irrigation. At the New Jersey Experiment Station, as stated in Bulletin No. 148, one acre of alfalfa produced 36,540 pounds of green food; of corn, 24,000; of red clover, 14,000; of crimson clover, 14,000; of millet, 16,000; of cow peas, 16,000; and of oats and peas, 14,000 pounds. But where only two, or even three, cuttings can be obtained per year, some crops may produce larger yields than alfalfa. In the distinctive alfalfa belt in the West, no forage crop can be grown that will compare with it in the yields obtained. The protein in alfalfa is also relatively high. At the station quoted above it was found one ton of alfalfa contained 265 pounds of protein; hence, its high relative value as a food; red clover, 246 pounds; timothy, 118 pounds; and wheat bran, 118 pounds. At the Delaware Experiment Station, in Bulletin No. 55, it is stated that maximum crops of cow peas and of crimson clover gave 720 pounds of protein, while a maximum crop of alfalfa gave 1230 pounds.

Where alfalfa is irrigated, it is usual to apply irrigating waters just after each cutting of the crop. It is a matter of some importance that the water shall be applied at once as soon as the previous crop has been harvested, otherwise time will be lost in growing the next crop. There are instances where it is necessary to apply water before the first crop is grown, but usually the moisture which falls in the winter and spring will suffice to produce the first crop of the season. Some irrigators apply water some time previous to harvesting the crop, but not so late as to leave the ground in a soft condition when mowing is begun. The amount of water required will vary with the soil, the season of the year, the distance of the ground water from the surface, and the precipitation. The more porous the soil and subsoil, the hotter the weather, the less the precipitation and the farther below the surface, up to a certain limit, the greater will be the amount of water needed. There are situations, as in some of the islands in the Yellowstone River, in which ground water is so near the surface that alfalfa grown on these is able to get enough of water from this subterranean source to produce good crops. Care should be taken not to apply water in excess of the needs of the crop, or the yields will be proportionately reduced. The amounts that will best serve the end sought can only be ascertained by actual test. Caution is also necessary where the winters are cold not to apply water late or in excessive quantities, lest a sappy condition of the plants shall be induced, which will make them succumb to the cold of the winter following. Moreover, on some soils alfalfa fields will produce good crops, if irrigated only the first season, until the roots get down to moisture, the irrigating waters being utilized when more needed.

Alfalfa hay is fed freely to all kinds of domestic animals on the farm, and with results that should prove highly satisfactory. Properly fed, it is an excellent food for horses and mules. It not only serves to maintain flesh, but it is favorable to glossiness in the coat. Horses that are working hard should be accustomed to it gradually. When it is fed to them too freely at the first, it induces too much of a laxity in the bowels, too free urination, and profuse sweating. When fed to such horses or mules, some authorities claim that several weeks should be covered in getting them on to what is termed a "full feed" of alfalfa. When fed to milch cows, free lactation results. Alfalfa fine in character is now manufactured into food suitable for calves and other young stock. Cattle and sheep are now fattened for slaughter on alfalfa hay fed alone, but when thus fattened the finish made is not equal to that resulting from adding grain to the alfalfa. To meet the needs of the best markets, alfalfa alone does not produce enough of fat or of firmness in the flesh, but it has been claimed, and probably it is true, that one-half the amount of grain required for finishing along with carbonaceous fodder, such as corn stalks or timothy, will give equally good and quick increase when fed with alfalfa hay. It is most excellent fodder on which to grow cattle and sheep, even in the absence of a grain supplement. The later cuttings of the season are thought to be the most suitable for calves and also for sheep and lambs, because of the greater fineness of the fodder and the greater abundance of leaves on it. Alfalfa hay is used with much advantage in wintering swine, especially brood sows. Swine have been wintered on alfalfa hay without any grain supplement where the winters are mild, but they will fare much better with a grain supplement. It is thought that half the usual amount of grain fed will produce equal results when fed with alfalfa, to those obtained from feeding a full allowance of grain in its absence. Alfalfa and sorghum properly grown make an excellent food for swine, and the two may be profitably fed thus where the conditions may be over-dry for corn, but not for sorghum. When feeding alfalfa, the aim should be to use it in conjunction with a carbonaceous food, as corn. Fortunate is the country which grows good crops of corn and alfalfa.

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

Nearly all the seed now grown in the United States is produced by fields that have been sown in the usual way, and primarily to produce hay, but in some areas, especially where irrigation is practiced, it is sometimes grown mainly for seed. On the irrigated lands of the West it is customary to grow the first cutting of the season for hay and the second for seed. But in many instances the second cutting also is made into hay, and the seed is taken from the third cutting; even in the States east of the Mississippi, and also in Ontario and Quebec, seed is usually taken from the second cutting. But in Montana, Washington and Idaho, on the higher altitudes, seed is not unfrequently taken from the first cutting for the season, since, in the short season for growth of those uplands, seed from cuttings later than the first does not always mature so well. In a large majority of instances seed does not form so profusely from plants of the first cutting as from those of later growths. This is thought to arise, in part, at least, from the fact that bees, and it may be other insects, are then less active in searching for food, and because of this do not aid in the fertilization of the plants as they do later. Nor does seed of the first cutting ripen so evenly. An important justification is also found for taking seed from the later cuttings, in the fact that when a crop has produced seed, it grows less vigorously during the subsequent period of growth that same season. So pronounced is this habit of growth in alfalfa, that in many localities, if the first growth is allowed to produce seed, but little subsequent growth will be made again the same season. The second cutting, all things considered, is the most favorable to seed production, as, unless on irrigated lands, the third cutting is not usually possessed of that vigor necessary to induce abundant seeding in the plants.

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

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

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

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

The seed is frequently threshed with the ordinary threshing machine, but in many instances it is also threshed with a clover huller. The huller does the work less quickly, but probably, on the whole, more perfectly. Threshing machines, with or even without certain adjustments in the arrangement of the teeth in the cylinder and concave, and with extra screens, are now doing the work with much despatch, and with a fair measure of satisfaction. But the opinion is held by competent judges that a machine that would more completely combine the qualities of the thresher and the huller would be still more satisfactory. It is easily possible to have the crop too dry to thresh in the best condition, and care should be taken to regulate the feed in threshing so that the alfalfa will not enter the cylinder in bunches. More than 200 bushels of seed have been threshed in a day from crops which yielded abundantly. The seed should be carefully winnowed before putting it on the market. The seed crops, as would naturally be expected, vary much; crops are harvested which run all the way from 1 to 20 bushels per acre. From irrigated lands the yields are, of course, much more uniform than from unirrigated lands, since in the former the supply of moisture may be controlled. Fair to good average yields on these may be stated at from 4 to 6 bushels, good yields at from 6 to 8 bushels per acre, and specially good yields at from 10 to 12 bushels. The bushel weighs 60 pounds. Growing alfalfa seed under irrigation has frequently proved very profitable. The seed grown in such areas is larger and more attractive to the eye than that ordinarily grown in the absence of irrigation, and because of this many are lured into sowing it on unirrigated land when the former would better serve their purpose. The seed is frequently adulterated with that of yellow clover (Medicago lupulina), which resembles it closely, but this is more likely to be true of imported than of American grown seed.

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

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

Should the alfalfa fields be spotted, because in places the nurse crop lodged and smothered the plants, or because excessive moisture destroyed them on the lower portions of the field in an abnormally wet season, the renewing process is simple indeed. It consists in disking those parts so thoroughly as to destroy all vegetation that may have become rooted on them, and sowing seed in the usual way without a nurse crop. But should the low places be such as to hold an excess of water at any time of the year under normal conditions for days in succession, even though it should not rise to the surface, the attempts to make alfalfa grow successfully on these will prove abortive.

When weeds and grasses crowd the crop, the plan of disking the fields to destroy these is becoming quite common, especially in the West. The work is usually done in the early spring. In doing it, disk harrows are driven over the field, usually two ways, the second disking being done at right angles to the first. The disks are set at that angle which will do the least injury to the plants, and that will at the same time do the work effectively. This can only be determined by actual test in each instance. Some of the crowns of the plants will be split open by the disk, which some authorities claim is an advantage in that it tends to an increase in the number of the stems produced, an opinion which is by no means held in common at the present time, and yet there are localities where it has certainly proved advantageous. Occasionally, a plant will be cut off. There can be no doubt, however, that such disking, when necessary, does tend to clean the land and also to strengthen growth in the alfalfa crop, on the principle that cultivation which does not seriously disturb growing plants is always helpful to them. The frequency of such diskings will depend on the needs of the crop. Some advocate disking every spring, some every other spring, and some not at all. That plan which disks the ground only when it is necessary to keep the weeds at bay would seem to be the most sensible. This would mean that sometimes, as where crab grass has a firm hold, disking may be necessary at least for a time every spring. In other instances it would be necessary only every second or third season, and in yet other instances not at all. However, some growers in dry areas advocate disking frequently, as, for instance, after some of the cuttings of the hay, and with a view to retain moisture. It is at least questionable, however, if disking so frequently would not soon tend to thin the plants too much, to say nothing of the labor while the work is being done.

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

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

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

Sources of Injury to Alfalfa.—Chief among the sources of injury to alfalfa, after the plants have become established, are frost in saturated ground, ice, floods, grasshoppers, gophers, dodder, and pasturing by live stock in the late autumn or winter. When it happens that two or three of these act in conjunction, the injury following is just so much more rapid and complete. As has been intimated, where water is excessive, in a climate which in winter or spring is characterized by alternations of freezing and thawing, the plants will either have the roots snapped asunder, or they will be gradually raised out of the ground. This will only happen in soil with a subsoil more retentive than is compatible with well-doing of the highest order in the plants. The danger from this source is greatest during the first winter after sowing the plants, as then the roots are not really established. The only remedy for such a contingency is the draining of the land.

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

Floods in warm weather are greatly injurious to alfalfa. The extent of the injury done increases with increase of depth in the waters of submergence, increase in stagnation in the waters, and increase in the duration of the period of overflow. Stagnant water sooner loses its dissolved nitrogen; hence, the plants cannot breathe normally. The harm done, therefore, by floods in each case can only be known by waiting to see the results. These summer floods always harm the crops temporarily, and in many instances kill them outright. Occasional periods of overflow should not prevent the sowing of alfalfa on such lands, since on these it is usually not difficult to start a new crop, but the seed should not be sown on such lands when overflow occurs at such a season. When it occurs in cool weather and quickly subsides, it may be possible to grow paying crops of alfalfa.

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

It would seem correct to say that gophers do more injury to alfalfa fields in certain areas of the West than comes to them from all other sources combined. They not only destroy the plants by feeding upon them, but they fill the soil with mounds, which greatly interfere with the harvesting of the crops. They are destroyed by giving them poisoned food, trapping, shooting, and suffocating through the use of bisulphide of carbon. Poison is frequently administered by soaking grain in strychnine or dropping it on pieces of potato and putting the same in or near the burrows. Bisulphide of carbon is put upon a rag or other substance, which is put into the burrow and the opening closed.

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

Some reference has already been made to injurious results from pasturing close in the autumn or winter, except in the most favored alfalfa regions. In addition to what has been already said, the wisdom of not grazing alfalfa the first year is here emphasized, and also the mistake of grazing at any time when the ground is frozen, at least in areas east of and, generally speaking, adjacent to the Mississippi River.

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

The fertility thus furnished does not consist so much in the plant food deposited in the soil directly as in that furnished in the successive crops that are grown and fed every year. In Farmers' Bulletin No. 133, published by the United States Department of Agriculture, it is stated that the Wyoming Experiment Station found 44 pounds of nitrogen, 8.27 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 50.95 pounds of potash in one ton of alfalfa. This would mean that in the yield of alfalfa hay from a given area, estimated at four tons per acre for the season, alfalfa would furnish 176 pounds of nitrogen, 33.08 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 203.8 pounds of potash. If this alfalfa were fed upon the farm, it would not only prove a cheap source of protein for feeding, but it would furnish fertility, as stated above, without seriously diminishing the supply of the same in the surface soil, since much of the fertilizing material produced would come from the air and subsoil. The manure thus made, if carefully saved and applied, would thus add materially to the fertility of the land. If, however, the alfalfa were sold, the mineral matter drawn from the cultivable area of the soil and from the subsoil lying under it would be reduced to the extent of the draft made upon these in growing the alfalfa.

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

The mechanical effects of alfalfa upon the land are beneficent. It improves the tilth by means of the shade furnished, and the extent to which the roots fill the soil. These in their decay further influence favorably that friability which is so desirable in soils that are cultivated, and as previously stated, the long, deep roots in their decay exercise a salutary influence on drainage.

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

CHAPTER V

Alsike clover is a perennial. In favorable situations it will live for many years. Ordinarily, it grows to the height of 18 to 24 inches, but in slough lands it sometimes grows to the height of 5 feet. The plants do not reach their full size until the second year, and in some instances until a period even later. They grow less rapidly than those of medium red clover, are several weeks later coming into flower, and grow much less vigorously in the autumn. Ordinarily, they furnish but one cutting of hay each year. Because of the more fibrous character of the root growth, the plants do not heave so readily as those of red clover. In moist situations they are much given to lodge; hence, the importance of growing this crop, when grown for hay, along with some kind of grass that will help to keep the stems erect.

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

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

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

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

In the United States the best crops are grown in the States which border on Canada, and in these the highest adaptation, climate and soil considered, is found in Michigan, Wisconsin and Northeastern Minnesota. But in New York the adaptation is also high, and also in certain parts of Montana, Idaho and Washington. Good crops may also be grown in nearly all the second tier of States that lie southward from the Canadian boundary. The exceptions are those embraced in the semi-arid belt. Further south than the second tier of States to which reference has just been made, the successful growth of alsike generally lessens, and yet in parts of these States, as, for instance, Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri, good crops are grown. Some of the Rocky Mountain valleys, more especially those that can be irrigated, and that are also sufficiently elevated, grow excellent crops of alsike. Much of the province of Ontario has very high adaptation to the growth of alsike clover, and in several counties of that province large quantities are grown, not only for hay, but also for seed. In Ontario County in the said province, are certain clay soils rich in lime; in fact, almost marley in character, which have been found especially well adapted to growing alsike clover seed, and in certain areas in proximity to the Georgian Bay, adaptation exists about equally high. In some parts of Quebec good crops are also grown. But this variety of clover has not been grown as yet with much success in Manitoba, Assiniboia, Alberta or Saskatchewan. Both soil and climate, however, in these provinces should not be uncongenial to it in the main. In the cultivable lands of British Columbia, as in those of Washington, it grows remarkably well. Especially in the river bottoms and on the tide lands can immense crops be grown, as also on the tide lands of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but not on the upland sandy soils of these provinces.

Soils.—The most suitable soil for alsike clover is a moist clay loam, not too friable nor too dense, and moist and deep. A goodly impregnation of lime in the same is favorable to maximum production. Abundant moisture conduces to the same end. This plant will, however, produce good crops, and in a moist season, excellent crops, on the stiffest clays, whether white or red, after a good stand has once been secured, providing hard pan is not found near the surface, but in dry seasons it is not easy to secure a stand on such soils. The plants send their fibrous roots down into the soil in all directions, and in this way render it much more friable when it is broken up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Place in the Rotation.—Much of what has been said about the place for medium red clover in the rotation may also apply to alsike clover. (See page 70.) On upland soils its place in the rotation will be very similar to that of the other variety, but with the difference that the rotations will be longer, because of the perennial habit of growth in the alsike. It will be best sown, therefore, on clean land which has produced a crop that has been cultivated the previous year. Consequently, it may follow such crops as corn, potatoes, field roots and beans in the North, and the same crops in the South, with the addition of cow peas, soy beans and the non-saccharine sorghums. But it may be sown after other crops when necessary, especially when it is to be pastured. One chief objection to sowing it thus for hay is that the hay will be less free from weeds.

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

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

Preparing the Soil.—The preparation of the land for alsike clover on ordinary soils is the same as for medium red clover. (See page 74.) Usually, that degree of fineness in the pulverization which best prepares the soil for the nurse crop with which alsike clover is sown, will also best prepare it for the alsike. But there may be some instances, as in strong clays, when a fine pulverization that would suffice for the needs of the nurse crop would be advantageous to the alsike. This finer pulverization can only be secured by the judicious use of the roller and the harrow. In loose-lying soils, more especially in areas where the precipitation in winter comes in the form of snow, and, therefore, does not wash the land as it does when it falls as rain, if the land on which alsike is to be sown is plowed in the fall, and only harrowed in the spring, or cultivated and harrowed when preparing it, the moisture will be better conserved than if it were plowed in the spring. When thus managed, strong clays in the area under consideration will usually have a much finer pulverization than can be obtained from spring plowing. When the preceding crop has been given clean cultivation, to plow land subsequently before sowing to alsike would bring up many weed seeds to the surface, where they would at once begin to grow. On slough lands, where water saturation is present during a portion of the year, even to the extent of appearing for a short interval over more or less of the surface, the seed may be sown without any previous preparation of the land, and in some instances successfully. In other instances it will fail should the following summer prove adverse. The stand is rendered much more certain in such instances by first burning off the grass, sowing the seed upon it, covering it more or less with the harrow and running the mower over the ground, say, twice in the season, to let in sunlight to the young plants. The grass thus mown may be left as a mulch. Pasturing, but not too early in the season, will in some instances give results equally good. In such situations the sowing should be done, and also the harrowing, before the frost has left the ground, except for a short distance from the surface, or the horses may sink too deeply when doing the work. The success is dependent in no small degree on the denseness or want of denseness of the root growth of the grass plants already covering the soil. The more dense these are, the less easy is it to obtain a stand, and the more peaty the soil immediately underneath the surface, the greater is the danger that the young plants will perish in a time of drought.

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

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

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

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

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

Although this clover does not mature until three to four weeks later than the medium red, nevertheless, it may be well to add the latter to the timothy and alsike clover mixture. When these are thus sown in due balance, the first cutting will be mainly red clover, after which there will be but little of the red present. But the medium red clover will add much to the pasture after the first cutting for hay. Subsequently, the hay crop will usually consist of alsike and timothy. Alsike clover along with timothy may also be sown with mammoth clover, since the two mature about the same time. But the mammoth variety will monopolize the ground while the first hay crop is being produced. The advantage from sowing the seed thus lies chiefly in prolonging the period of clover production along with timothy grown chiefly for hay. It is not wise, usually, to sow alsike clover alone for hay, owing to its tendency to lodge. In the South it is frequently sown with red top and orchard grass, especially the latter. It fills in the spaces between the plants in the orchard grass, and in so doing adds much to the hay or to the pasture.

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

The seeds of alsike clover are small. They are considered to be less than half the size of those of medium red clover, consequently, the amounts of seed are relatively much less. When alsike clover is sown alone and for seed, from 3 to 5 pounds of seed should suffice per acre, according to the soil conditions. Four pounds are frequently sown. In the various mixtures given above, the amounts of seed will vary with local and other conditions, but the following amounts may be given as averages: Alsike and timothy, 4 and 6 pounds, respectively, per acre; alsike, timothy and red top, 3, 4 and 3 pounds; alsike, timothy and red clover, 3, 4 and 3 pounds; alsike, timothy and mammoth clover, 3, 4 and 3 pounds. When sown with other grasses for pasture, it would not be possible to give the amounts to sow that would best meet the needs of the grower under all conditions. But it may be said that 1 to 2 pounds of alsike seed per acre, sown under almost any circumstances in moist soils and within the alsike clover area, will be a good investment when laying down pastures of any considerable permanency.

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

Pasturing.—Alsike clover has by some authorities been assigned to a high place as a pasture plant. For such a use it has no little merit, but in the judgment of the author it is not nearly equal to medium red clover as a pasture plant, under average conditions, since it does not grow so well, relatively, on average upland soils, and because the aftermath is usually light, after the crop has been cut for hay or for seed. Nor is it thought to be relished quite as highly by stock as the medium red clover. Nevertheless, domestic animals eat it freely, and under suitable conditions it will furnish for them a considerable amount of grazing. This feature has been finely illustrated by an experiment in grazing conducted at the Agricultural Experiment Station of Montana, on irrigated land, at Bozeman, in the Gallatin valley. Full particulars relating to this unique experiment are given in Bulletin No. 31, issued by the afore-mentioned station. In the summer of 1900, 18 cattle, one and two years old, were pastured on 5.04 acres of alsike clover for 102 days, beginning with June 9th. The increase in the weight obtained from the pasture in the time stated was 4560 pounds. This gain was valued at the very moderate price of 4 cents per pound live weight; hence, the net return per acre for the pasture for the season was $36.19. It would scarcely be possible under any conditions, howsoever favorable, to obtain such results without irrigation.

Ordinarily, the results from pasturing alsike clover will be more satisfactory when one or two other plants are grown along with it, as, for instance, medium red clover or medium red clover and orchard grass, since both of these plants tend to prolong the period of grazing. In slough lands, red top and timothy add considerably to the value of the grazing. When grazing alsike clover, much more pasture will be obtained if it can be allowed to make a good start in the spring, and if it is then kept grazed so short that the plants do not come into flower. Such treatment tends very much to prolong the period of grazing for the season. Should the grazing be so uneven as to admit of certain areas in the pasture pushing on into the flower stage, the mower may sometimes be profitably used to prevent such a result. Weeds should also be kept from going to seed in the pastures by using the mower or the scythe, or both. Nor should the fact be lost sight of that the tendency to produce bloat in alsike clover is much the same as in medium red clover.

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

If grown alone for hay, the process of harvesting would be much the same as in harvesting medium red clover. (See page 95.) But since the stems of alsike clover are finer than those of the medium red, less time will suffice for curing it. It will also cure more quickly along with some other grass than if alone, since it does not then lie so closely in the winrow or in the cock. Grasses, as a rule, cure more quickly than clovers, and this also has a bearing on hastening curing in clover when the two are grown together; and also in lessening the degree of the fermentation after the crop has been stored. Ordinarily, when the weather is bright, alsike clover along with timothy may be cut in the forenoon, tedded once or twice soon after cutting, raked into small winrows the same evening and stored away the following afternoon. When thus managed, the hay loader may be used in lifting the hay from the winrows. Alsike clover growing alone could not be cured thus quickly. Nor would it be wise in showery weather to try and cure the crop without putting it into cocks, whether grown alone or with some other crop. When properly cured, the heads retain much of their bloom and the stems much of their greenness.

The yields of hay vary greatly with the soil. On dry, sandy uplands the yields of cured hay may not exceed ½ ton, while on rich loam soils it may exceed 3 tons. Ordinarily, on good soils a combined crop of alsike clover should yield from 1½ to 2 tons per acre of very excellent hay. Some authorities speak of getting two cuttings per year, but this is not usual. Under quite favorable conditions it would be possible to get two cuttings for soiling uses, providing the first was taken when the plants were coming into bloom. Usually, the growth of the aftermath, when the hay has been removed, is very moderate.

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

The duration of the grazing is much dependent on the soil and the season. The more moist and rich the soil and the more moist the season, the more prolonged should the grazing be. In Northern areas it seldom begins earlier than May 1st, and seldom extends beyond June 1st. If prolonged unduly and dry weather follows, the growth of the plants will not be enough to produce average crops of seed. Quite frequently on upland soils, the grazing should cease before the end of May.

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

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

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

The seed crop can best be cut with the self-rake reaper, which throws off the sheaves unbound. If cut with the grain binder, the sheaves should not be bound. A sort of box attachment may be fastened to the cutter-bar of the mower, which will enable the workmen to leave the hay in sheaves, but to do this an additional hand is wanted to rake or pitch off the sheaves. The sheaves should be laid off in rows, and by system, rather than at random, for convenience in storing.

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

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

The seed may be threshed at once or stored. Storing under a roof is preferable to storing in the stack, but the latter method will suffice, if the tops of the stacks are well protected with a covering of marsh hay or of some other suitable material. When the seed is not threshed at once it is usual to defer threshing until cold weather, as with medium red clover, as then the seed is much more easily removed from the seed pod. Ordinarily, the work can best be done by clover hullers, the same as are used in threshing medium red and mammoth clover, but grain separators, with certain attachments, will now do this work in good form. Much care should be exercised in winnowing the seed. It ought to be so cleaned that it will grade as No. 1, and so bring the highest current price. Due care in this matter will make the major part of even ordinary seed bring the best price.

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

On certain soils, as those naturally moist and porous, it may be possible so to renew alsike clover that it will produce hay or pasture crops almost indefinitely, by simply allowing some heads to seed every year and fall to the ground. In meadows, this may be done by not grazing after the hay has been harvested until other heads have formed and ripened. A limited number of these will thus form after the crop has been mown for hay. If the crop has been cut for seed, many heads will in any event be left upon the ground. The same result will follow when grazing the crop, if grazing is made to cease at the right time, and for a period long enough to allow a considerable number of heads to mature. This method of renewal will not prove a complete success on all soils, as, for instance, on those very stiff and very light.

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