Book: Clovers and How to Grow Them

T >> Thomas Shaw >> Clovers and How to Grow Them




=Sowing.=--White clover is sown by much the same methods as the medium
red variety. (See page 75.) But it will stand more hardship than the
other variety; hence, it may be sown earlier. This means that it may be
sown in northerly latitudes any time, from the melting of the winter
snows until early summer, and in southern latitudes almost any season,
except during the hot summer months. In either latitude, however, the
early spring is usually the most suitable season for sowing.

The seed may be sown by hand, by hand machines, or by the seeder
attachment of grain drills. It is more commonly sown along with other
clovers and grasses, and the methods of sowing these will also be
suitable for the sowing of white clover. (See page 18.) But when the
seed is sown alone, as for producing seed crops, the nurse crop need not
of necessity be sown thinly, from the fear that the young plants should
be smothered by an undue density of shade.

There is no mixture of clovers and grasses grown for pasture to which
this plant may not be added with profit, providing the seed is not
already in the land in sufficient supply. But it is seldom sown with
either clovers or grasses, or with these combined, for the production of
hay. It is the judgment of the author, however, that in localities which
have special adaptation for the growth of this plant, it should render
excellent service in providing hay for sheep, if sown along with alsike
clover, and a little timothy; the latter being sown mainly to support
the clovers so that they will not lodge. The white clover would furnish
hay considerably finer even than the alsike; hence, such hay should be
peculiarly adapted to the needs of sheep. Some authorities object to the
presence of white clover in hay intended for horses or cattle, lest it
should induce in them more or less salivation. The author leans to the
opinion that in cured hay injury from the source named will in no
instance prove serious, owing to the small amount, relatively, of white
clover in average hay crops.

The amount of seed to sow will vary with such conditions as soil,
climate and the nature of the pasture, but in any event it need not be
large. The seeds of white clover are small, considerably smaller than
those of alsike. For ordinary grazing along with other grasses, or
grasses and clovers, it will seldom be necessary to sow more than 1
pound of seed per acre. Sometimes a less quantity will suffice, as when
there is more or less of seed in the land, and, as already intimated,
because of the store of seed in the land in many instances, it is not
necessary to sow it at all. Especially is this true of sections which
have been tilled for some time. When sown with alsike clover to provide
hay, 2 pounds of seed per acre would be a maximum amount, and 4 pounds
when sown alone to provide seed.

When sown in newly cleared forest lands or on prairie sod, the methods
to be followed will depend upon circumstances. More commonly when thus
sown the seed is not covered artificially; consequently, much of it in
dry seasons may not grow. The plan, therefore, of sowing small amounts
of the seed on such lands two years in succession would be safer than to
sow twice the amount of the same in one year. In time this clover would
find its way into such areas. It comes through such agencies as birds,
hay fed to teams engaged in lumbering, and the overflow of streams; and
as soon as it gets a foothold its distribution is further accelerated by
the droppings of cattle which contain the seeds, and by the winds.

The power of this plant to increase is simply wonderful. This is owing
to: 1. The relatively large number of seedheads produced from the
plants. 2. The power which these have to multiply by means of rootlets
from the incumbent stems, which fasten into the soil. 3. The prolonged
season during which the heads form. 4. The habit of growth in many of
the heads, because of which they are not grazed off. 5. The strong
vitality of the seed. And 6. The great hardihood of the plants.

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

It is pre-eminently the complement of a blue-grass pasture. When these
grow together, the two will furnish grazing in a moist year through all
the season of grazing. Both have the property of retaining their hold
indefinitely in many soils and of soon making a sward on the same
without being re-sown, when the cultivation of the ground ceases. The
blue grass grows quickly quite early and late in the season, and the
clover grows likewise during much of the summer. As the older plants of
the clover fail, fresh ones appear, and the blue grass feeds on the
former in their decay. They thus furnish humus and nitrogen for the
sustenance of the blue grass.

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

While this plant furnishes good grazing for all kinds of domestic
animals kept upon the farm, as a pasture for horses and mules, there is
the objection to it that it will in a considerable degree so salivate
them that much "slobbering" follows. This is sometimes produced to such
an extent as to be seriously harmful. The trouble from this cause
increases as the seed-forming season is approached. It has been known
thus to salivate cattle, but the danger of injury to them from this
source is slight. These injurious results to horses will be obviated in
proportion as the other grasses are allowed to grow up amid the clover;
in other words, in proportion as the pasture is not grazed closely early
in the season. The animals which then graze on these pastures must take
other food with the clover.

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

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

Under some conditions it would be easily possible to grow white clover
for hay alone, and in some instances with profit, more especially in
providing what would be a matchless fodder for young lambs and young
calves. It might be so grown in the clover lands that lie immediately
southward from Lakes Superior and Huron, in the northern Rocky Mountain
valleys and on the valley lands around Puget Sound. On these lands in a
favorable season, it would be quite possible to cut not less than 2 tons
per acre, while on average land white clover alone would not yield more,
probably, than 1/2 ton per acre. But even when grown for the purpose
named, some alsike clover sown along with the white clover would add to
the yield of hay, and without in any considerable degree lessening its
value for the use named.

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

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

Where a seed crop is grown every care should be exercised to have it
free from foul weeds. The aim should be to grow it on clean land.
Sometimes, however, the seed is self-sown; that is, it comes into the
land without being sown, but even in such areas it is safer to sow 3
pounds of seed per acre in the early spring along with a nurse crop. The
best seed crops in Wisconsin and Michigan are grown on a reasonably
stiff clay soil. To get a full crop of seed, it should be pastured for a
time in the spring, or the crop should be run over with the mower about
June 1st, setting the mower bar so as to cut 3 or 4 inches high. No harm
will follow if some of the tops of the clover should be cut off. The
grass and weeds thus cut are usually left on the ground, but sometimes
it may be necessary to remove them. In a short time the field should be
one mass of bloom.

The crop is ready for being harvested when the bulk of the heads have
turned a dark brown and when the bulk of them have assumed a reddish
brown tint, notwithstanding that some of the later heads may still be
in full flower. Vigorous crops may be cut with the self-rake reaper set
to cut low, otherwise many of the heads will not be gathered. To
facilitate this process, the ground should be made quite smooth even
before sowing the seed. But the seed crop is more commonly cut with the
field mower, to the cutter bar of which a galvanized platform is bolted,
the sides of which are about 6 inches high. From this the clover is
raked off into bunches with a rake. These bunches should not be large,
and since nearly all the heads in them will point upward, they should
not be turned over if rained on, but simply lifted up with a suitable
fork and moved on to other ground.

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

The yields of seed will run all the way from less than 3 bushels per
acre to 5 bushels, and some crops have been harvested in Wisconsin which
gave 7 bushels per acre. Four bushels would probably be about an average
yield. As the price is usually relatively high compared with other
clovers, the seed from white clover would be quite remunerative were it
not that in a dry season the yield is disappointing. In some instances
two crops are grown in succession; in others, one crop is reaped. The
land is then sown to barley the next year, and the following year clover
seed may be reaped again without sowing a second time. Usually, after
two successive crops of seed have been cut, blue grass crowds the
clover.

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

=Renewing.=--White clover is probably more easily renewed than any plant
of the clover family. In fact, it seldom requires renewal in a pasture
in which it has obtained a footing as long as it remains a pasture. This
arises from the abundance of the seed production and from the power of
the same to retain germinating properties for a long period.
Nevertheless, there may be instances when it may be wise to scatter more
seed in the early spring in a pasture in which white clover may not be
sufficiently abundant. It is also renewed, in a sense, when suitable
fertilizer is applied on the pastures. A dressing of potash will greatly
stimulate the growth of any kind of clover on nearly all soils; hence,
the marked increase in the growth of the clover that usually follows the
application of a dressing of wood ashes, especially in the unleached
form. Top-dressings of farmyard manure are also quite helpful to such
growth.

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

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

As lawns are usually small, and a dense sward is desired as quickly as
it can be obtained; the seed should be sown thickly on lawns, at the
rate of not less than 5 pounds of seed to the acre. The early spring is
the best time for sowing the seed, but in mild climates it may be sown
at almost any season that may be convenient, providing the ground is
moist enough to germinate the seed. In cold climates, the seed should
be sown not later than August, unless when sown too late for autumn
germination. This in some instances may not only be proper, but
commendable.

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




CHAPTER IX

JAPAN CLOVER


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

Japan clover is an annual, but owing to its remarkable power to retain
its hold upon the soil, through the shedding of the seed and the growing
of the same, it has equal ability with many perennials to retain its
hold upon the soil. It does not start until late in the spring, nor can
it endure much frost; but its ability to grow in and retain its hold
upon poor soils is remarkable, while its powers of self-propagation in
the South would seem to be nearly equal to those of small white clover
(_Trifolum repens_) in the North. It is, therefore, one of the hardiest
plants of the clover family. Where it has once obtained a foothold, in
some soils, at least, it has been known to crowd out Bermuda grass and
even broom sage.

The form of the plants is much affected by the character of the soil in
which they grow. On poor soils, the habit of growth is low and
spreading; on good soils, it is more upright. But it is always more or
less branched, and the stems are relatively stiffer than those of other
clovers. They rise but a few inches above the ground in poor soils, not
more than 2 to 4; but in good rich soils it will attain to the height of
2 feet. About 1 foot may be named as the average height. The leaves are
trifoliate. The flower produced in the axils of the leaves are numerous,
but quite small. They appear from July onward, according to locality,
but are probably more numerous in September, and vary from a pink to a
rose-colored or purplish tint. The seed pods are small, flattish oval in
shape and contain but one seed. The tap roots are strong in proportion
to the size of the plant and are relatively deep feeding; hence, the
ability of the plant to survive severe drought. The roots have much
power to penetrate stiff subsoils.

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

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

[Illustration: Fig. 8. Japan Clover (_Lespedeza striata_)
Tennessee Experiment Station]

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

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

Since the introduction of Japan clover into the United States in 1849,
or, as some think, somewhat earlier, it has spread over the entire
South, from the Ohio River to the Gulf, from the Atlantic to the
Mississippi, and also to the States of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas
beyond the Mississippi. It was early introduced into Georgia, and came
into much favor there. It reached Tennessee in 1870, and soon spread
over many counties. It came later into Louisiana, but soon became very
popular there, largely through the efforts of Colonel J. Burgess McGhee
of West Feliciana, who gave much attention to cultivating it and placing
it before the public. While it will grow readily in any part of the
South, it renders better service in the Gulf States than in those
farther north, owing to the longer season for growth. North of the Ohio
River it is not likely to be cultivated, since in the Northern States it
is not needed, because of the abundance of the red clovers and also the
small white. It is a less abundant producer than the red clovers, and is
also less palatable. Moreover, the season for growing it is much shorter
in these States than in those south; a fact which greatly lessens its
adaptation to northern conditions.

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

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

=Place in the Rotation.=--Japan clover can scarcely be classed as a
rotation plant in the strict sense of the term, since it more frequently
comes into the fields, as it were, spontaneously, and owing to the
uncommon degree to which it has the power of re-seeding itself, it is
frequently grown and grazed for successive years on the land upon which
it has been allowed thus to grow. Nevertheless, since it is a nitrogen
gatherer, when it has fertilized the land sufficiently by bringing to it
a supply of nitrogen and by putting humus into it, crops should follow
such as require much of growth to grow them in best form. Such are
cotton, corn and the small cereal grains. Owing to its power to grow on
worn and even on abandoned soils, and to crowd weeds that grow on them,
on such soils it comes in between the cessation of cultivation and the
resumption of the same. It frequently grows as a volunteer crop along
with Johnson grass, and where it comes, it tends to crowd grasses of but
little value, as brown sage.

Where pasture is desired winter and summer, it should be quite possible
in some localities to obtain it by sowing such crops annually, as winter
oats and sand vetches (_Vicia villosa_) every autumn, and the seed of
Japan clover on the same. The crops first named would provide winter and
spring grazing, and the clover, summer and autumn grazing. The clovers
and the vetches would both aid in fertilizing the land.

=Preparing the Soil.=--While careful preparation of the land will result
in more certain and uniform germination in the seed, and more rapid
growth in the plants, careful preparation of the seed is not so
necessary with Japan clover as with many other pasture and hay plants.
The seeds are strong in germinating power and the plants are much able
to grow, even under adverse conditions, when they do germinate. Usually,
the preparation which is suited to nurse crops, amid which this clover
is sown, will be suited also to the clover when it is sown thus.

In many instances, however, it is allowed to re-seed itself where it has
been once sown, or even where it may have come into the soil without
sowing. In this way successive pasture crops have been obtained. But
usually where hay crops are wanted, it will prove more satisfactory, all
things considered, to sow the seed.

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