Book: Clovers and How to Grow Them

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




In many instances, simply scarifying the ground has been found a
sufficient preparation for the seed. Any implement that will pulverize
the surface for a few inches downward will answer for such work. In very
many instances, seed, of course, self-sown has become rooted and grown
vigorously on unplowed land.

=Sowing.=--Japan clover is more commonly sown in the spring, but it is
sometimes sown in the autumn. There is more or less of hazard in sowing
it in the autumn north of the Gulf States, since when the plants are
young they will not stand much frost. For the same reason, there is the
element of hazard in sowing it too early in the spring. Spring sowing
stands highest in favor, taking the whole area into account, in which
the clover is grown. While it is possible to sow the seed too early in
the spring, it will be readily apparent that the earlier it may be sown
without hazard to the young plants, the better will be the returns,
because of the growth secured before the advent of dry weather.

The seed may be sown by any of the methods adopted when sowing medium
red clover. (See page 78.) The method which is most labor-saving,
however, when sown with a nurse crop, is that which sows it with an
attachment to the grain drill used in sowing the nurse crop. If allowed
to fall in front of the drill tubes, it will not usually need any other
covering than that furnished by the drill tubes followed by the roller.

It may be sown with any of the small cereals, whether these are grown
for pasture, for hay, or for grain. When these are fall sown and the
clover seed is not sown until the spring, it will be well worth while,
when the weather and soil will admit of it, to cover the seed with the
harrow. It may also be advisable to sow the seed in pastures, as, for
instance, along with orchard grass, or with tall oat grass, as it would
tend to fill the vacancies in the land.

When sown alone, 10 pounds of seed per acre will usually suffice. But
where there is much seed in the land that has been self-sown, a less
quantity will suffice. Where hay crops are wanted from year to year on
the same land, it may be obtained by simply disking the land and
re-sowing. If the hay is allowed to approach maturity before being cut,
sufficient seed will fall to re-sow the land for the next year's crop,
but the quality of hay so ripe is not so good as if cut earlier. In
pastures, the grazing must not be too close when self-seeding is wanted.

=Pasturing.=--Japan clover is much used in providing grazing in the
South. Some writers have spoken of it as being the most valuable grazing
plant that grows in the South. Viewed from the standpoint of
productiveness, this would be assigning it too high a place, since
Bermuda grass produces more grazing, but taking productiveness and the
probable influence exerted on soil fertility together, the estimate may
be correct. The ease with which Japan clover may be propagated is also a
strong point in its favor.

Since it starts late in the spring, it only provides grazing during the
summer and autumn months, from May, June or July onward, according to
the locality, and it fails with the appearance of the first heavy
frosts. In moist situations, it will furnish grazing during all the
summer and autumn, if not allowed to seed, but in time of drought, it
may wither on dry, thin soils and come on again when the rains of autumn
begin to fall. In order to keep the grazing tender and palatable, it
should be reasonably close. If allowed to mature much seed before
grazing begins, the plants will then die, to the great injury of the
grazing.

That stock do not take kindly to it at first, as they do to alfalfa and
some other plants, cannot be doubted. But they can soon learn to relish
it. It has been praised both for milk and meat production; hence, the
aim should be to have it in all permanent pastures. In some of these it
may be necessary to sow a few pounds of seed per acre at the first. If
the grazing is not too close, the plants thereafter will sufficiently
re-seed the land. It has been found quite possible in short rotations to
secure pasture from Japan clover without sowing it on land on which it
has once grown. But to accomplish this effectively, the grazing must not
be so close as to preclude a self-seeding. By growing such plants for
winter and spring grazing, as turf oats and sand vetches, and then
grazing the Japan clover, which will grow later on lands thus managed,
grazing may be furnished indefinitely from year to year.

=Harvesting for Hay.=--Japan clover is a good hay plant when grown on
strong soils. The quality is good also when grown under adverse
conditions, but the quantity is deficient. On good soils, the yield is
from 1 to 2 tons per acre, the average being about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 tons.
The hay is also quite merchantable in Southern markets. It is considered
superior to baled timothy--timothy brought in from the North--especially
when fed to cows producing milk. Japan clover is best cut when the
plants are in full bloom. But harvesting is frequently deferred to a
period somewhat later where self-seeding of the land is desirable. Late
cutting, however, lowers the quality of the hay, both as regards
palatability and digestibility. Much that has been said as to the
curing of medium red clover will also apply to Japan clover.

Successive crops of hay may be grown from year to year on the same land,
as already intimated. (See page 285.) But where other crops are wanted
on the same farm, it would be wiser to grow these in some sort of
alternation or succession with the clover crops, so that the former
could feed upon the nitrogen brought to the land by the clover.

=Securing Seed.=--Japan clover is ready for being harvested when the
major portion of the seeds are ripe. This is late in the season. The
seed crop is more easily gathered when grown on good land, owing to the
more upright habit of growth. The self-rake reaper is probably the best
implement for cutting, since it lays it off in loose sheaves, and on
well-prepared land it may be made to cut so low as to gather the bulk of
the seed. But it may also be cut with the field mower as small white
clover is frequently cut. (See page 275.) Owing to the lateness of the
season at which the seed matures, careful and prompt attention may be
necessary to secure the seed crop without loss, owing to the moistness
which characterizes the weather at that season.

When Japan clover is to be harvested for seed, care should be taken to
prevent weeds from ripening their seeds in the same. With a view to
prevent this, it will be found helpful in many instances to run the
mower over the field some time after the clover has begun to grow freely
in the late spring or early summer. Such clipping will also have the
effect of securing more uniformity in the ripening of the seed.

The seed may be threshed in much the same way as other clover seed. (See
page 107.) The yields per acre should run from 3 to 8 bushels. It weighs
20 pounds per bushel.

=Renewing.=--Since Japan clover is an annual, it is not necessary to
renew it, in the sense in which more long-lived clovers are renewed, as,
for instance, the alsike variety. (See page 216.) About the only renewal
practicable is that which insures successive crops of pasture, hay or
seed from the same land where the crop has once been grown. (See page
285.) But the growth may, of course, be stimulated by the application of
dressings of fertilizer, such as gypsum, or those that may be termed
potassic in character.




CHAPTER X

BURR CLOVER


Burr Clover (_Medicago maculata_) is sometimes called Spotted Medick and
sometimes California clover, also Yellow clover. The name burr clover
has doubtless arisen from the closely coiled seed pod, which, being
covered with curved prickles, adhere to wool more or less as burrs do.
The name Spotted Medick has been given because of the dark spot found in
the middle of the leaflets, in conjunction with the family of plants to
which it belongs. The name California clover is given because of the
claim that it was much grown in California after having been introduced
there from Chili, and the name yellow clover, from the color of the
blossoms. After its introduction into the United States, seedsmen sell
California and Southern burr clover as two varieties, but the
correctness of the distinction thus made has been questioned. Many
persons were wont to confuse it with alfalfa, or, as it is frequently
called, lucerne, but the latter is much more upright in its habit of
growth, grows to a greater height, has more blossoms, blue in color, and
seed pods more loosely coiled. It is also to be distinguished from a
variety (_Medicago denticulata_) which bears much resemblance to it, and
which, growing wild over portions of the plains and foothills of the
West, affords considerable pasture.

Burr clover may properly be termed a winter annual, since the seed comes
up in the autumn, furnishes grazing in the winter and spring, and dies
with the advent of summer. It is procumbent or spreading and branched.
On good soil some of the plants radiate to the distance of several feet
from the parent root. They have been known to overlap, and thus
accumulate until the ground was covered 2 feet deep with this clover,
thus making it very difficult to plow them under. It is only under the
most favorable conditions, however, that the plants produce such a mass
of foliage. The leaves are composed of three somewhat large leaflets.
The flowers, as previously intimated, are yellow, and there are but two
or three in each cluster, but the clusters are numerous; hence, also the
pods are numerous. They are about 1/4 of an inch broad, and when mature
are possessed of considerable food value.

Burr clover grows chiefly during the winter, and is at its best for
pasture during the months of March and April, and in the Gulf States
dies down after having produced seed in May. Though it is frequently
sown, it has the power of self-propagation to a marked degree, which
makes it possible to grow many crops in succession without re-seeding by
hand.

It is not considered a good hay plant, but its value for pasture is
considerable, although, as a rule, animals do not take kindly to it at
first, as they do to alfalfa or medium red clover, but later they become
fond of it, but less so, probably, in the case of horses than of other
animals. Being a legume, it is helpful in enriching the land, and being
a free grower, it improves the soil mechanically through its root
growth, and also through the stems and leaves, when these are plowed
under.

=Distribution.=--Burr clover is said to be native to Europe and North
Africa, but not to North America, although it has shown high adaptation
in adapting itself to conditions as found in the latter.

Although this plant is hardy in the South, and, as previously stated,
makes most of its growth in the winter, it is not sufficiently hardy to
endure the winters far northward. Its highest adaptation is found in
States around the Gulf of Mexico. It also grows with more or less vigor
as far north as North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas. For these States
its adaptation is, on the whole, higher than crimson clover, although
where the latter will grow readily it is considered the valuable plant
of the two.

For Canada, burr clover has no mission, owing to the sternness of the
winter climate in that country.

=Soils.=--While burr clover will grow with more or less success on
almost any kind of soil possessed of a reasonable amount of fertility
and moisture, it is much better adapted to soils alluvial in character
and moist, as, for instance, the deposit soils in the bottom of rivers.
Its power to fight the battle of existence on poor lands is much less
than that of Japan clover, but on soils that grow crops, such as corn or
cotton, it may be made to render a service which the other cannot,
since it grows chiefly in winter and early spring, whereas Japan clover
grows in the summer and early autumn, when cultivated crops occupy the
land.

=Place in the Rotation.=--Burr clover is grown more in the sense of a
catch crop and for pasture than in that of a crop to be marketed
directly. Since it is grown in the winter and spring, it may be made to
come in between various crops. On good producing lands of the South it
has given satisfaction as a pasture plant for winter for many successive
years without re-sowing by hand, when sown in conjunction with crab
grass (_Panicum sanguinale_) for hay. Dr. Phares grew it thus in
Mississippi for about 20 years. In June crab grass sprang up on the
ground, and being cut when in blossom, produced a good crop of hay in
August. A lighter cutting was again taken in October. The clover then
took possession of the land and was grazed until spring, but not so
closely as to prevent re-seeding in May, after which the plants died
down.

By thus allowing the plants to mature seed, any crop may follow that can
be grown after May. By following burr clover with cow peas, land may be
much fertilized in one year. By reversing the process on land low in
fertility, that is, sowing the peas first and the clover later, a much
better growth of the clover will be secured. The seed may also be sown
in corn and cotton crops, with a view to enriching the land. But it is
only in the Gulf States that much attention is given to growing burr
clover thus, and for the reason, probably, that the winters are too
cold to admit of the plants furnishing a sufficiency of grazing at that
season.

Burr clover is sometimes grown with Bermuda grass. The latter furnishes
summer grazing. There is some merit in the plan, if the seed of the burr
clover were sown from year to year. When the re-seeding of the plants is
depended on from season to season there is difficulty in adjusting the
grazing so as to admit of the plants properly re-seeding for the growth
that is to follow. If the Bermuda grass is not closely grazed many of
the burrs which contain the seeds may not reach the ground in time to
germinate.

=Preparing the Soil.=--Since burr clover has much power to re-seed the
land without preparation, it is more commonly reproduced thus. But, as
with all other plants, it will grow more quickly and more luxuriantly on
a well-prepared seed-bed, where it may be thought worth while to thus
prepare the land. The cultivation given to such crops as corn, cotton or
cow peas makes an excellent preparation of the soil on which to sow burr
clover.

=Sowing.=--Usually, burr clover is allowed to re-seed itself after it
has once become established in the soil. In this respect it is not
unlike small white clover and Japan clover, but it does not grow so well
as these on poor soil. Where not yet established, it must, of course, be
sown where it is desired to grow it.

The seed is commonly sown in September or early October, but some
growers recommend sowing in the burrs as early as June or July, that the
tough surrounding which encloses the seed may have time to decay. When
seed separate from the burr is used, it is sown in the months named.
When sown on well-prepared soil, grazing should be plentiful from
February onward.

Burr clover is more commonly sown in the burr. The burrs are usually
scattered by hand and on land that has been pulverized, but it is easily
possible, when the conditions are favorable, to obtain a stand on land
that has not been plowed. Where seed is scarce, the burrs are sometimes
planted in squares 3 feet apart each way, a limited number of burrs
being dropped at one time. When thus planted, 1 bushel of burrs will
plant several acres. The plants will soon possess all the ground, but to
enable them to do so, pasturing must be deferred for one season. Whether
sown in the burr or otherwise, it is better to cover the seed with the
harrow.

One bushel of burrs weighs from 10 to 12 pounds. It has been stated 1
bushel of clean seed weighs 60 pounds. When sown in the burr, it is
usual to sow 3 to 5 bushels per acre, but in some instances less is sown
and in some more. When seed apart from the burr is sown 12 pounds per
acre should suffice. In some instances it is sown on Bermuda sod, but
the attempts to grow it thus have not always proved satisfactory. At the
Louisiana Experiment Station it was found that the burr clover remained
long enough and grew large enough to injure the Bermuda. Possibly closer
grazing would have prevented such injury. When sown on Bermuda grass,
June, July or August are the months chosen for scattering the seed.

Burr clover is also sometimes sown in corn and cotton to provide winter
grazing, but when thus sown the object more frequently sought is to
enrich the land. Both ends may be accomplished in some degree.

=Pasturing.=--Opinions differ as to the palatability of this grass. All
are agreed that stock do not take kindly to it at first, but that they
come to relish it at least reasonably well when accustomed to it. It is
said to be relished less by horses and mules than by other domestic
animals. It has been praised as a pasture for swine. It is more
palatable in the early stages of its growth, and will bear close
grazing, and also severe tramping. It will provide pasture for six
months, but not so bountifully in the first months of growing as later.

=Harvesting for Hay.=--Burr clover is not a good hay plant. Owing to the
recumbent character of the growth it is not easily mowed, nor has it
much palatability in the cured form. The yield is said to be from 1/2 to
1 ton per acre.

=Securing Seed.=--In the Gulf States the seed matures in April and May.
The plants grow seed profusely. Sown in October, stock may usually be
allowed free access to it until March, and if then removed, it will
spring up quickly and mature seed so profusely that when the plants die
and partially decay seed may sometimes be collected in hollows, into
which it has been driven by the wind. It is more commonly sown in the
burr form, the form in which it is usually gathered. The more common
method of saving the seed, as given by Mr. A. H. Beattie of Starkville,
Mississippi, is to first rake off the dead vines so as to leave the
burrs on the ground and then sweep them together with a suitable wire or
street broom. It is then lifted and run through two sets of sifters of
suitable mesh by hand to remove the trash swept up in gathering the
seed. It is probable that other methods more economical of labor are yet
to be devised when harvesting the seed crop. As much as 100 bushels of
burrs have been obtained from an acre, but that is considerably more
than the average yield of seed.

=Renewing.=--Since this plant is an annual, it cannot be renewed in the
sense in which renewal is possible with a perennial. But as has been
shown above (see page 294), it may be grown annually for an indefinite
period in the same land and without re-sowing by hand. It has also been
shown that by sowing the seed in certain crops at the proper season,
from year to year, it may be made to grow from year to year where the
rotation will admit of this. (See page 295.) When the ground is well
stored with seed, the plants will continue to come up freely in the soil
for at least two or three years, even without any re-seeding of the
land.

=As a Fertilizer.=--The growing of burr clover exercises a beneficial
influence on the land. Its value for this purpose, since it can be grown
as a catch crop, is probably greater than its value in providing food
for stock. Like all plants that are more or less creeping in their habit
of growth, it shades the soil and keeps it moist, which, in conjunction
with the influence of the roots, puts it in a friable condition. When
the plants grow rankly, it is not easy to bury them properly with the
ordinary plow, but in such instances, if cut up with a disk harrow, the
work is facilitated. The plants quickly die down so as to make plowing
easily possible, but the aim should be to have such decay take place
within the soil rather than above it.




CHAPTER XI

SWEET CLOVER


Sweet clover is so named from the sweet odor which emanates from the
living plants. It is of two species. These are designated, respectively,
_Melilotus alba_ and _Melilotus officinalis_. The former is also called
Bokhara clover, White Melilot and Tree clover. It is possibly more
widely known by the name Bokhara than by any other designation. The
latter is sometimes called Yellow clover. The difference between these
in appearance and habits of growth does not seem to be very marked,
except that the blossoms of the former are white and those of the latter
are yellow.

Sweet clover is upright and branched in its habit of growth. It attains
to a height of from 2 to 8 feet, according to the soil in which the
plants grow. The somewhat small and truncate leaves are not so numerous,
relatively, as with some other varieties of clover, and the stems are
woody in character, especially as they grow older. The blossoms are
small and white or yellow, according to the variety, and the seed pods
are black when ripe. The roots are large and more or less branched, and
go down to a great depth in the soil; especially is this true of the
main, or tap root.

The plants, according to Beale, are annual or biennial, but more
commonly they are biennial. They do not usually blossom the year that
they are sown, but may blossom within a year from the date of sowing.
For instance, when sown in the early autumn, they may bloom the
following summer. They are exceedingly hardy, having much power to
endure extremes of heat and cold, and to grow in poor soils and under
adverse conditions. In some soils they take possession of road sides and
vacant lands, and continue to grow in these for successive years. The
impaction of such soils by stock treading on them seems rather to
advance than to hinder the growth. They start growing early in the
spring and grow quickly, especially the second year. They come into
bloom in June, early or later, according to the latitude, and ordinarily
only in the year following that in which they were sown. Because of the
fragrant odor which is emitted from the plants as they grow, they are
sometimes introduced into gardens and ornamental grounds.

[Illustration: Fig. 9. Sweet Clover (_Melilotus alba_)
Tennessee Experiment Station]

The uses of the plants are at least three. It has some value as a food
for live stock. It has much value as a fertilizer. It has probably even
more value as a food for bees. It has also been used in binding soils.
Its value as a food for stock has probably been overestimated. It is
bitter, notwithstanding the fragrant odor that emanates from it; hence,
it is not relished by stock, insomuch that they will not eat it when
they can get other food that is more palatable. As hay, it is hard to
cure and of doubtful palatability when cured. As a fertilizer, its value
does not seem to have been sufficiently recognized, and the same is
probably true of it as bee pasture, although many bee-keepers are alive
to its great merit for such a use.

This plant does not seem to find much favor with many. The United States
Department of Agriculture has spoken of it as a "weedy biennial,
concerning which extravagant claims have been made." The laws of some
States proscribe it as a weed, and impose penalties directed against any
who allow it to grow. Legislatures should be slow to class a legume as a
weed, especially one that has much power to enrich soils. The author
cherishes the opinion that this plant has a mission in the economy of
agriculture and of considerable importance to farmers, especially in
soils that are poor and worn, as soon as they come to understand it
properly.

=Distribution.=--Sweet clover is probably indigenous to the semi-arid
regions of Asia. The name Bokhara would seem to indicate as much, but it
is also found in many parts of Europe, and if the facts were known, was
doubtless brought from Europe to North America by the first settlers.
For many decades it has been represented in many flower gardens in all
parts of the country.

The plant will endure almost any amount of cold when it is once
established. It has stood well the winters of Manitoba. It can also
endure extreme summer heat, since it thrives well in some parts of
Texas. It grows most vigorously where the rainfall is abundant, as in
Western Oregon, and it makes a strong growth in the dry areas of Western
Kansas and Nebraska.

Sweet clover will grow vigorously in some part or parts of every State
in the Union. Of course, it has higher adaptation for some conditions
than others. In some of the Central and Southern States, it has
multiplied to such an extent without cultivation as to have assumed the
character of a weed; hence, the legislation against it. When it is
called to mind that this plant is a legume, and when the further fact is
recognized that it may be used not only in enriching soils, but at the
same time improving them mechanically, in addition to other benefits
that it may be made to render, surely the enactments which prohibit its
growth should be repealed in any State where these exist. In the
Northern States, with a normal rainfall, the mission of this plant is
likely to be circumscribed, for the reason that other legumes possessed
of a much higher food value may be grown in these. In the Southern
States, its mission will be more important, since it may be used in some
of these with decided advantage in binding soils and in renovating them,
even when too poor to produce a vigorous growth of cow peas. It is
likely also that it may yet be made to render good service in the
semi-arid country west of the Mississippi River, where other clovers
cannot be grown.

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