Clovers and How to Grow Them

CHAPTER VI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Soils.—Mammoth clover may usually be successfully grown in soils well adapted to the growth of the medium red variety. (See page 65.) This means that it will usually grow with much luxuriance in all areas which produce hardwood timber, and are usually covered with a clay or muddy loam soil underlaid with clay. It will also grow with great luxuriance in the volcanic ash soils of the irrigated valley lands of the Rocky Mountain States, and in the loam and light loam soils of the Puget Sound country. It has greater power than the common red variety to grow in stiff clays, in sandy soils underlaid with clay, and in areas where moisture is insufficient near the surface soil. In stiff clays the roots penetrate to a greater distance than those of the medium red variety and gather more food. Consequently, a stiff clay soil that would only furnish a light crop of the medium red variety in a dry season may furnish an excellent crop of the mammoth. The quality of the hay is likely to be superior to that grown on soils altogether congenial, since it is not likely to be over-rank or coarse.

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

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

On clay soils that are so saturated with water that in the winter or spring the clover is much liable to heave, there is conflict in opinion as to whether the mammoth or the common red variety will heave the more readily, but the preponderance of the evidence favors the view that the roots of the mammoth variety can better resist such influences than those of the common red.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sowing.—Much of what has been said about the sowing of medium red clover will apply also to the sowing of mammoth clover. East of the Mississippi and north of the Potomac and Ohio rivers, mammoth clover is usually sown in the spring, and for the reason that the young plants are frequently killed by the severity of the winter weather when sown in the autumn. But when sown at that season, the seed being mixed with winter rye and being deposited by the drill as early as September 1st, the plants frequently survive the winter as far north as Marquette County in Wisconsin. The rye in the line of the drill marks provides a sufficient protection for the clover. But this only occurs where the conditions are eminently favorable to the growth of the clover. Around Puget Sound it may also be sown with advantage in the early autumn, as then it should produce a full crop the next season, and the same is true of nearly all the Rocky Mountain valley region, but in these areas it may also be sown in the spring. Between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains and Oklahoma and Canada, spring sowing is usually preferable, and in much of the area is an absolute necessity to insure a stand. In the South the seed may be sown fall or spring; which season is to be preferred should be determined chiefly by the character of the soil. On soil much given to heaving in the winter it is usually preferable to sow in the spring. In all, or nearly all, parts of Canada spring sowing only is admissible.

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

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

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

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

When mammoth clover is sown alone for hay or for seed, not fewer than 12 pounds per acre of seed should be used. When sown with timothy, 6 and 8 pounds, respectively, would be an average seeding. If alsike clover is added, the seed of the mammoth may be reduced by one pound, and the same amount of alsike added to the mixture. When sown with the medium red variety to provide short rotation pastures, about 6 pounds of each may be sown. The pasture furnished will be more continuous than where only one kind is sown. If timothy or tall oat grass is added, a pound of one or the other of these should be added for every pound of the clover withheld from the mixture. For permanent pastures 6 pounds of the mammoth clover may be set down as the maximum to sow per acre, varying the quantity with varying conditions. And when the clover is sown with small grain to be plowed under in the fall or early in the spring, usually only very moderate amounts of seed ought to be used, especially where the hazard is considerable that the dry weather may cause failure in the catch of the seed.

Pasturing.—Mammoth clover furnishes much pasture when it is grazed, on into July and sometimes even into August, because of the vigorous character of the growth, but after that season the growth is usually light. Nor is there generally much growth after the crop has been cut for hay. The palatability of the pasture is much the same as that of the medium red variety. More grazing is furnished where the crop is fairly well grown before the pasturing begins, but it is not so palatable, and when unduly rank, to defer pasturing thus long would result in a considerable waste of pasture, which the stock would tread under foot. When the crop is wanted for hay, there may be instances in which it may be advantageous to pasture it for a time to prevent the growth from becoming overly luxuriant. There have been instances in which the clover has grown so rankly that the lodged clover killed nearly all the plants by excluding the air from the roots. When grown on soils that in a normal season produce a rank growth, the quality of the hay will, in nearly all instances, be improved by grazing. This, however, should be done soon after the growth begins and should not be long continued, and it should be close, in order to promote evenness and uniformity in the growth of the hay crop.

When grown for seed, mammoth clover is quite frequently pastured. In fact, in a majority of instances it is either pastured or cut with the mower when a seed crop is wanted. The pasturing usually continues until June 1st, but in some instances it is prolonged far on into June. The duration of the pasturing season should be gauged largely by the character of the soil and weather. The better the conditions for growth in the plants, the longer may the pasturing be continued, and vice versa. There are also conditions in which such pasturing may not be necessary. But when the grazing is not close, the mower should be run over the field, otherwise the seeds will not ripen evenly.

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

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

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

Some farmers cure mammoth clover in its green form in the mow as they also cure the medium red variety, but the same objections apply to curing it thus that apply to the similar curing of the medium red. (See page 102.) Others cure it in the mow by storing good bright straw, preferably oat straw, in alternate layers along with the clover. From one-third to one-half the quantity of the straw as compared with the hay will suffice for such curing, varying with the degree of the wilting in the hay. Clover cut in the morning after the dew has lifted may be thus stored the same day. Where the facilities are present such a method of curing mammoth clover may be eminently wise in showery weather. The natural color of the hay and blossoms is thus preserved and the straw is eaten with avidity, because of what it has imbibed from the clover.

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

When mammoth clover is neither pastured nor mown early in the season, when grown for seed some kinds of weeds may be prevented from going to seed in it by cutting them off with the scythe. When not too plentiful they may be removed with the spud. Among the more troublesome weeds that infest mammoth clover are the Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), the plantain (Plantago lanceolata), and in some instances the horse nettle (Solanum Carolinense) and spring nightshade (Solanum).

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

The crop is ready for being harvested when a majority of the heads have ripened so far that the bloom on them is all gone and the shade of color in the head has not yet become brown. If left until a majority of the heads are brown many of them will break off while being harvested. The crop is usually cut with a self-rake reaper, but it may be cut with a mower. When cut by either method the sheaves should be made small, so that they will dry out quickly.

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

The yields of the seed vary much. Instances are on record where as much as 11 or 12 bushels per acre have been reaped, but ordinarily even on good producing soils the yields are not more than 4 to 5 bushels per acre, and under ordinary conditions for the production of mammoth clover they are even less than the amount named. Notwithstanding the greater strength of the plants, the seeds are apparently no larger than those of the medium red variety, nor can they be distinguished from them unless by an expert.

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

Compared with Medium Red Clover.—1. The mammoth is larger and coarser than the medium red and is considerably less erect in its habit of growth. It has larger and longer roots; hence, it goes down more deeply into the subsoil in search of food.

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

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER VII

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

As a catch crop crimson clover may be made to do duty in seasons in which other clover crops may have failed. As a cover crop or a mulch for orchards, it is in high favor, as the growth which it produces protects the roots of the same. But its greatest use lies in the beneficial influence which it exerts upon soils by enriching them and also improving their mechanical condition. It is likely, therefore, to be grown more for this purpose than for any other. While growing it in many instances will not render unnecessary the use of commercial fertilizers, it will greatly reduce the quantity of these that would otherwise be necessary. Owing to the season at which it is grown, it will be found quite helpful in destroying weeds.

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

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

This plant needs a climate rather mild and decidedly moist. It cannot withstand severe freezing when the ground is bare; hence, its uniformly successful growth cannot be relied on very far north of the Ohio and Potomac rivers. True, in certain winters of much snowfall it has come through in good form considerably north of the rivers mentioned, but in more instances it has failed. On the other hand, while it grows best in warm climates, the growth in these is made chiefly when the weather is cool, as in the autumn and spring, and in some instances in the winter. It would be about correct to say that the climatic adaptation of this plant is nearly the same as that of the peach. Climates too cold for fruitage in the latter would be too cold for the uniformly safe wintering of crimson clover. It would also seem correct to state that on suitable soils and with sufficient precipitation, this clover will do best in the United States when the climate is too warm for the medium red clover to grow at its best. In the United States, soil and climatic conditions taken together, would probably give Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Tennessee highest adaptation for the growth of this plant. Taking in a wide area, highest adaptation would lie in the States south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers and east of the Mississippi. Washington and Oregon, west to the Cascade Mountains, would probably furnish exceptions, but in these the necessity for growing crimson clover is not likely to be so great as in the area just referred to, owing to the ease with which other varieties of clover may be grown. In some parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan many farmers have succeeded well in growing crimson clover, but a larger number have failed. The failures have arisen largely through dry weather in the autumn, want of plant food in the soil and the severity of the winter weather. Westward from these States to the Mississippi, the adaptation is still lower, and the same is true of the New England States. In fact, it is so low in these that it is far more likely that it will fail than that it will succeed. Between the Mississippi and the Cascade Mountains, crimson clover is not likely to be much grown. It will not grow well in any part of the semi-arid belt. In the mountain valleys it would probably succeed, but in these alfalfa and some other varieties of clover will give far better returns.

Crimson clover will not grow well in any part of Canada, except in that narrow strip of land between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. The winter climate is too cold for it. Some crops have been grown successfully in the peach-producing areas of Ontario contiguous to Lakes Erie and Ontario, but even in these it is an uncertain crop. The attempt has been made to grow it in some of the provinces of Canada, and in several of the States, by sowing the seed in the spring. Some fairly good crops have been thus obtained, but usually not so good as can be grown by sowing certain other varieties of clover at the same season. It is but reasonable to expect, however, that adaptation in growing crimson clover will widen with the acclimation of the plant, and with increasing knowledge as to its needs on the part of those who grow it.

Soils.—Crimson clover though usually grown for the enrichment of soils will not, as a rule, make satisfactory growth on soils very low in the elements of fertility, whatsoever may be their composition or texture. On orchard lands liberally fertilized, in the Middle Atlantic States, excellent crops have been obtained, whereas on adjacent soils precisely similar they have failed. In the Southern States, however, better results, relatively, will be obtained from sowing this clover on comparatively infertile lands, owing to the longer season which it has for continuous growth. Where the winters are possessed of considerable severity and when the protection of snow is more or less wanting, unless the plants are strong when they enter the winter, they are almost certain to perish. Loam soils with reasonably porous subsoils are best adapted to its growth. Of these, sandy loams have a higher adaptation than clay loams, when equal to the former in fertility, as in the latter the plants can more quickly gather the needed food supplies, since the roots and rootlets can penetrate them more readily. Such soils are well adapted to the growth of orchards, especially peach orchards, and it is in such areas that crimson clover has been grown with highest success. In the alfalfa soils of the Rocky Mountain valleys it should also grow well, but on these it would be less profitable to grow than alfalfa, because of the permanency of the alfalfa. Even on sandy soils a good growth will be obtained when these have been fertilized and sufficient moisture is present. On stiff clays the growth is too slow to produce crops highly satisfactory either North or South, and in dry weather it is also difficult to obtain a stand of the plants. The alluvial soils of river bottoms in the South produce good crops. The vegetable soils of the prairie do not grow the plants very well, and the adaptation in slough or swamp soils is even lower. Good crops will not be obtained on soils underlaid with hardpan which comes up near the surface, whatsoever the nature of the top soil may be, since the roots cannot penetrate these.

Place in the Rotation.—It cannot be said of crimson clover, in the ordinary usage of the word, that it is a rotation plant. It has probably no fixed place in any regular rotation, and yet it can be used almost anywhere in the rotation that may be desired, and in any rotation whether long or short, regular or irregular. As previously intimated, it is usually grown as a catch crop, and primarily to fertilize the land; and since its growth is chiefly or entirely made in the late summer, autumn, winter and early spring, that is to say, when the land is not otherwise occupied, the only hindrances to using it anywhere in the rotation are such as arise from the nature of the weather, the mechanical condition of the land and the needs of the crops that are to follow. For instance, at the usual season for sowing it, the weather may be so dry as to preclude the hope of successful germination in the seed. This influence may also make it impossible to bring the land into that mechanical condition which makes a good seed-bed without undue labor, and ordinarily it would not be necessary to have crimson clover precede another leguminous crop; since the latter, under many conditions, can secure its own supply of nitrogen. To this there may be some exceptions. There may be instances, as on light, porous and leechy soils, when it might be proper to grow crimson clover as an aid in securing a stand of the medium red variety, or in growing a crop of peas for the summer market. Ordinarily, however, this crop is grown to increase the supply of plant food in the soil for crops which require nitrogen, and to give soils more or less porous, increased power to hold moisture and applied fertilizers. It is probably seldom grown to improve the mechanical condition of stiff soils, since on these it grows slowly. Some other plants can do this more effectively. It is pre-eminently the catch crop for the orchardist and the market gardener, and yet it may be made the catch crop also of the farmer, under certain conditions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

In a majority of instances farmyard manure cannot be spared for such a use. When it cannot, if necessary, commercial fertilizers may be applied. Those rich in phosphoric acid and potash are usually most needed, but sometimes nitrogen also is necessary. When nitrogen is used, it may be best applied on the growing crop and while it is young. Phosphoric acid and potash may be fitly applied when the land is being prepared, and in a way that will incorporate them with the surface soil. These may be used in the form of wood ashes, bone meal, Thomas' slag, Kainit, sulphate or muriate of potash, South Carolina rock and acid phosphate. Acid phosphate and muriate of potash stand high in favor with some growers when applied in the proportions of 9 and 1 parts and at the rate of, say, 200 pounds more or less per acre.

Sowing.—The date for sowing crimson clover would seem to depend more upon latitude than upon any other influence. North of the Ohio River it should seldom be sown later than September 1st, lest the growth of the plants should not be strong enough to endure the winter weather. Nor should it be sown earlier than July 1st, lest the plants should reach the blooming stage without having made a sufficient growth, an objection which applies to sowing earlier than July 1st in any part of the United States. All things considered, August is the most favorable month for sowing the seed north of the Ohio and Potomac rivers. In the South, sowing at a later period is preferable. In the latitude of Tennessee, September would usually prove more suitable for sowing than an earlier date, and near the Gulf, October. But it may be sown earlier and later in these respective latitudes. It is a good time to sow the seed in much of the South when the autumn rains begin to come, and the same is true of the Puget Sound country.

The seed may be sown by hand, by the aid of hand machines, by some makes of grain drills in the same way as grain is sown, and by others with a grass-seeder attachment. When sown by the latter, the seed should usually be allowed to fall before the grain tubes to aid in securing a covering for it; the covering thus provided should be supplemented by additional harrowing and in some instances rolling. When sown by hand or by hand machines on soils East and South, the roller should in many instances follow and then the harrow, but on cloddy surfaces the harrow should be used first and then the roller. No method of sowing the seed is more satisfactory than that which sows it by grain drills, which can deposit it in the soil as grain is sown, as it is then buried at an even depth. Sowing to a medium depth, say, ½ to 1½ inches, is preferable to either extreme.

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

Whether this clover should be sown alone or in mixtures will also depend upon conditions. If the crop is wanted solely for the enrichment of the land, it will usually be better to sow it alone, as crops other than legumes do not bring as much fertility to the land. As a rule, therefore, it should be sown alone in orchards. It should also, usually, be sown alone for soiling crops and for hay, but in some instances for both uses it may be sown with such crops as winter oats or winter vetches. On some soils, however, these will too much crowd the clover plants. On others the reverse will be true. For seed the crop should, of course, always be sown alone.

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

When sown alone, from 10 to 20 pounds of seed are used per acre. With all the conditions favorable, 12 to 15 pounds should suffice. When sown with rape for pasture, 3 pounds of rape and 10 of the clover, or even a less quantity, should be enough. When sown with winter rye or winter oats, about 1 bushel of each and 10 pounds of clover should suffice, and when sown with the common or the sand vetch, ½ bushel of either and 10 pounds of the clover should be enough. When sown in the chaff, from 2 to 3 bushels ought to suffice, but the amount required will be much affected by the character of the seed crop.

Pasturing.—Crimson clover may be pastured in the autumn or in the spring or at both seasons, either when sown alone, or in conjunction with some other pasture crops, as winter rye, oats, barley or vetches. But it is not probable that it will ever become so popular as some other pasture plants that grow during the same seasons of the year; since, first, when it is grown, it is usually wanted for green manure; second, it does not under some conditions grow satisfactorily with other crops; and third, when grazed down in the autumn the covering thus removed renders the plants much more liable to perish in the winter. When, however, it is sown early in the season, as in July, along with Dwarf Essex rape, or even alone, much grazing may be furnished, even though the clover should not survive the winter.

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

Harvesting for Hay.—Crimson clover is ready to be cut for hay when coming into, and a little before it is in, fullest bloom. Some authorities claim that it should be harvested when the blooms begin to appear. It should certainly not be allowed to pass the stage of full bloom, lest the hay when cured should prove hurtful to horses and possibly to other live stock, because of the presence of hair balls, which are then liable to form from the hairs so numerously found on this plant. These balls produce death by forming an impermeable wedge in the intestines of horses, thereby impeding and in some instances totally arresting the process of digestion. These balls, almost circular in form, are composed of minute and rather stiff hairs, and several have been found in one animal. These hairs, numerous on the heads; do not stiffen sooner than the period of full bloom; hence, until that stage is reached in the growth of the plants, the danger from feeding cured hay made from them does not occur.

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

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

Securing Seed.—Crimson clover does not ripen quite so quickly after flowering as common red clover, owing, in part, at least, to the less intense character of the heat and drying influences at the season when it matures. Nevertheless, when it is ripe, unless it is cut with much promptness, the seed will shed much from the heads, and the heads will break off much during the curing process. If cut even two or three days too soon, the seeds will not be large and plump. Moreover, showery or muggy weather will soon greatly injure the crop. One or two days of such weather after the crop has been cut will stain the seed; two or three days of the same will cause much of the seed to sprout, and three or four days will practically ruin the crop.

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

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

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

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

Facts Regarding Crimson Clover.—1. When crimson clover is sown so early in the season that it has at least three to four months in which to grow before winter sets in, the benefits to the land from sowing the seed will usually more than pay for the seed and labor, even though it should not survive the winter.

2. Prominent among the causes of failure where crimson clover does not succeed are: (a) The seed fails to germinate because of the want of moisture, or having germinated the young plants are killed by heat or drought; (b) they perish in the winter from exposure to cold winds or frosts, or by alternate freezing and thawing in the soil; or (c) the land is too low in fertility to produce a sufficiently vigorous growth in the plants.

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

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER VIII

White clover is perennial, the stems of which creep along the ground and, as above intimated, root at the joints; so that from this source plants are indefinitely multiplied. They also come from the seed. The leaves are small and very numerous, and with the exception of the flower stems and flowers, furnish all the forage obtained. The flowers are very numerous, especially when showery weather precedes and accompanies the flowering season. They are large for the size of the plant, are supported by a leafless stem of considerable length, and are white or tinted with a delicate rose color. The roots are numerous and fibrous. They cannot go down into the soil so deeply as the larger clovers; hence, the dwarfing effect of dry seasons upon the growth.