Book: Clovers and How to Grow Them

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[Illustration: Alsike Clover in Northern Wisconsin]




CLOVERS
AND
HOW TO GROW THEM


BY
THOMAS SHAW


Author of "Forage Crops Other than Grasses,"
"The Study of Breeds," "Soiling Crops and
the Silo," "Animal Breeding," "Grasses
and How to Grow Them," etc.



NEW YORK
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY
1906



COPYRIGHT, 1906
By ORANGE JUDD COMPANY



TO ALL PERSONS
WHO ARE OR MAY BE INTERESTED
IN THE
GROWING OF CLOVERS
THIS WORK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR


_St. Anthony Park, Minn._
_1906_




ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


In preparing this work, the chief sources of information beyond the
author's experience and observation have been the bulletins issued by
the various experiment stations in the United States and discussions in
the Agricultural Press.

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




THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE


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

Only those varieties of clover are discussed at length which are
possessed of economic value. The treatment of the subjects is virtually
the same as was adopted in writing the book on "Grasses and How to Grow
Them." Some references are made to the history, characteristics and
distribution of each variety. These are followed by discussions with
reference to soil adaptation; place in the rotation; preparing the
soil; sowing; pasturing; harvesting for hay; securing seed; and renewing
the stand.

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

_St. Anthony Park, Minn._
_1906_




TABLE OF CONTENTS


CHAPTER I. PAGE.
Introductory 1

CHAPTER II.
General Principles for Growing Clovers 6

CHAPTER III.
Medium Red Clover 57

CHAPTER IV.
Alfalfa 114

CHAPTER V.
Alsike Clover 194

CHAPTER VI.
Mammoth Clover 218

CHAPTER VII.
Crimson Clover 238

CHAPTER VIII.
White Clover 258

CHAPTER IX.
Japan Clover 279

CHAPTER X.
Burr Clover 291

CHAPTER XI.
Sweet Clover 300

CHAPTER XII.
Miscellaneous Clovers 316




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


FIG. PAGE.
1 Alsike Clover--_Frontispiece_.
2 Medium Red 61
3 Alfalfa 115
4 Field of Alfalfa 171
5 Alsike 195
6 Crimson 239
7 White 259
8 Japan 281
9 Sweet 301
10 Sainfoin 318
11 Beggar Weed (Flower and Seed Stems) 339
12 Beggar Weed (Root System) 341




CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY


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

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

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

=Varieties.=--At least twenty varieties, native or naturalized, are
found in Great Britain; more than twelve varieties belong to the United
States. The more valuable varieties found in this country have been
introduced from Europe, unless it be the small white clover (_Trifolium
repens_). Viewed from the standpoint of the agriculturist the varieties
that are most generally useful include medium red clover (_Trifolium
pratense_), alfalfa (_Medicago sativa_), alsike (_Trifolium hybridum_),
mammoth (_Trifolium magnum_), crimson (_Trifolium incarnatum_) and small
white (_Trifolium repens_). The varieties which flourish only in the
South include the Japan (_Lespedeza striata_) and the burr clover
(_Medicago denticulata_). Sweet clover (_Melilotus alba_), sometimes
called Bokhara, which will grow equally well North and South, is worthy
of attention because of its power to grow under hard conditions, in
order to provide honey for bees and to renovate soils. Other varieties
may render some service to agriculture, but their value will not compare
with that of the varieties named.

The most valuable of the varieties named in providing pasture, include
the medium red, the mammoth, the alsike and the small white. The most
valuable in providing hay are the medium red, alfalfa and alsike. The
most valuable, viewed from the standpoint only of soil renovation, are
the medium red, mammoth, alsike, crimson, Japan and sweet. The most
valuable in producing honey accessible to tame bees, are the small
white, alsike and sweet.

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

Some varieties, as alfalfa, crimson and sweet clover, are upright in
their habit of growth. Others, as the small white and the burr, are
recumbent. Others again, as the medium red, alsike and mammoth, are
spreading and upright. The alfalfa and medium red varieties grow most
persistently through the whole season. The sweet, small white and alsike
varieties can best endure cold, and the sweet, Japan and burr varieties
can best endure heat. The small white, Japan, burr and sweet clovers
stand highest in ability to maintain a hold upon the soil.

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

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

=Plan of Discussion.=--Chapter I., that is, the present chapter, as
already indicated, is introductory, and outlines the nature, scope and
plan of the work. Chapter II. deals with the general principles and
facts which relate to the growing of clovers. A close study of these
will, in the judgment of the author, prove helpful to those who engage
in growing any of the varieties of clover discussed in the book.
Chapters III. to XI. inclusive treat of individual varieties, a chapter
being devoted to each variety. It has been the aim of the author to
discuss them in the order of the relative importance which they bear to
the whole country and to devote space to them accordingly.

The following varieties are discussed and in the order named: Medium Red
clover, Alfalfa, Alsike, Mammoth, Crimson, Small White, Japan, Burr and
Sweet. All of these varieties will be found worthy of more or less
attention on the part of the husbandmen in the various parts of this
continent.

Chapter XII. is devoted to a brief discussion of miscellaneous varieties
which have as yet been but little grown in this country, or of varieties
of but local interest. The former are Sainfoin (_Onobrychis sativa_),
Egyptian clover (_Trifolium Alexandrianum_), yellow clover (_Medicago
lupulina_), Sand Lucerne (_Medicago media_), and a newly introduced
variety of Japanese clover (_Lespedeza bicolor_). These may prove more
or less valuable to the agriculture of the United States when they have
been duly tested, a work which as yet has been done only in the most
limited way. The latter include Florida clover (_Desmodium tortuosum_),
more frequently called Beggar Weed, Buffalo clover (_Trifolium
reflexum_), and Seaside clover (_Trifolium invulneratum_). These may be
worthy of some attention in limited areas where the conditions are
favorable, but it is not likely that they will ever be very generally
grown. They are dwelt upon rather to show their small economic
importance and with a view to prevent needless experimentation with
plants possessed of so little real merit.




CHAPTER II

SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES WHICH APPLY TO THE GROWING OF CLOVERS


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

=Adaptation in Clovers.=--Adaptation in the varieties of clover
considered will be more fully given when discussing these individually,
but enough will be said here to facilitate comparisons. Clover in one or
the other of its varieties can be grown in almost all parts of the
United States and Canada. Speaking in a general way, the medium and
mammoth varieties can be grown at their best between parallels 37 deg. and
49 deg. north latitude. Alfalfa has special adaptation for mountain valleys
of the entire West, but it will also grow in good form in parts of all,
or nearly all, the other States. Alsike clover grows in about the same
areas as the common and mammoth varieties, but it may also be grown
further North, owing to its greater hardihood. Crimson clover has
highest adaptation to the States east of the Allegheny Mountains and
west of the Cascades, but will also grow in the more Central States
south, in which moisture is abundant. Small white clover will grow in
any part of the United States or Canada in which moisture is
sufficiently present. Japan and burr clover grow best south of parallel
37 deg. and east of longitude 98 deg.. Sweet clover will grow in all the States
and provinces of the United States and Canada, but has highest
adaptation for the Central and Southern States.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Although alfalfa is not usually looked upon as a rotation crop in the
Rocky Mountain valleys, it may be made such a crop. In these it grows
so vigorously as to fill the soil with its roots in one or two seasons,
hence it may be made to rotate profitably with other crops. (See page
135.) In such instances, however, medium red clover would probably
answer the purpose quite as well, and possibly better, since the labor
of burying it with the plow would be less difficult.

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

=Preparing the Soil.=--Clovers are usually sown with a nurse crop. The
exceptions are crimson clover, and in many instances alfalfa. When thus
grown, the preparation of soil for the nurse crop will usually suffice
for the clovers also. But there may be instances in which it would be
proper to give more attention to cleaning and pulverizing the soil to
properly fit it for receiving the clover seed. The leading essentials in
a seed-bed for clover are fineness, cleanness, moistness and firmness.
Ordinarily black loam soils, sandy loam soils, sandy soils, humus soils
and the volcanic ash soils of the West are made sufficiently fine
without great labor. Clay soils may call for the free use of the harrow
and roller used in some sort of alternation before they are sufficiently
pulverized. Excessive fineness in pulverization of these soils is also
to be guarded against in rainy climates, lest they run together, but
this condition is present far less frequently than the opposite.

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

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

When clovers are sown in the spring on land which is also growing a
winter crop, no preparation is necessary in preparing the land for
receiving the seed. On some soils the ground becomes sufficiently
honeycombed through the agency of water and frost to put it in a fine
condition for receiving the seed. When this condition is not present,
the seed will usually grow if sown amid the grain and covered with the
harrow.

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

=Fertilizers.=--On certain soils low in fertility and much deficient in
humus, it may be necessary to apply fertilizers in some form before
clovers will grow vigorously. Such are sandy soils that have been much
worn by cropping, and also stiff clays in which the humus has become
practically exhausted. In such instances green crops that can be grown
on such lands, as rye, for instance, plowed under when the ear begins to
shoot, will be found helpful. If this can be followed on the sandy soil
with some crop to be fed off upon the land, as corn, for instance, and
the clover is sown, successful growth is likely to follow. On clays in
the condition named it may not be necessary to grow a second crop before
sowing clover, since in these soils the lack is more one of humus than
of plant food. The application of farmyard manure will answer the same
purpose, if it can be spared for such a use.

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

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