Book: Clovers and How to Grow Them

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




Usually it is not necessary to apply much farmyard manure in order to
induce growth in nearly all varieties of clover, and after free growth
is obtained, it is not usually necessary to supply any subsequently for
the specific purpose named. In some soils, however, alfalfa is an
exception. It may be necessary to enrich these with a liberal dressing
of farmyard manure to insure a sufficiently strong growth in the plants
when they are young. Having passed the first winter, further dressings
are not absolutely essential, though they may prove helpful.

Farmyard manure applied on the surface will always stimulate the growth
of clovers, but it is not common to apply manure thus, as the need for
it is greater in growing the other crops of the farm. When thus applied,
it should be in a form somewhat reduced, otherwise the coarse parts may
rake up in the hay. It is better applied in the autumn or early winter
than in the spring, as then more of the plant food in it has reached the
roots of the clover plants, and they have also received benefit from the
protection which it has furnished them in winter.

In a great majority of instances, soils are sufficiently well supplied
with the more essential elements of fertility to grow reasonably good
crops of clover, hence it has not usually been found necessary to apply
commercial fertilizers to stimulate growth, as in the growing of
grasses. In some instances, however, these are not sufficiently
available, especially is this true of potash. Gypsum or land plaster has
been often used to correct this condition, and frequently with excellent
results. It also aids in fixing volatile and escaping carbonates of
ammonia, and conveys them to the roots of the clover plants. It is
applied in the ground form by sowing it over the land, and more commonly
just when the clover is beginning to grow. The application of 50 to 200
pounds per acre has in many instances greatly increased the growth,
whether as pasture, hay or seed. The following indications almost
certainly point to the need of dressings of land plaster: 1. When the
plants assume a bluish-green tint, rather than a pea-green, while they
are growing. 2. When the plants fail to yield as they once did. 3. When
young plants die after they have begun to grow in the presence of
sufficient moisture. 4. When good crops can only be grown at long
intervals, as, say, 5 to 8 years. It has also been noticed that on some
soils where gypsum has long been used in growing clover the response to
applications of the plaster is a waning one, due doubtless to the too
rapid depletion of the potash in the soil.

Potassic fertilizers give the best results when applied to clovers, but
dressings of phosphoric acid may also be helpful. Applications of
muriate or sulphate of potash or kainit may prove profitable, but on
many soils they are not necessary in growing clover. Wood ashes are also
excellent. They furnish potash finely divided and soluble, especially
when applied in the unleached form. When applied unleached at the rate
of 50 bushels per acre and leached at the rate of 200 bushels, the
results are usually very marked in stimulating growth in clover.

=Seasons for Sowing.=--Clovers are more commonly sown in the springtime
in the Northern States and Canada than at any other season and they are
usually sown early in the spring, rather than late. On land producing a
winter crop, as rye or wheat, they can be sown in a majority of
instances as soon as the snow has melted. That condition of soil known
as honeycombed furnishes a peculiarly opportune time for sowing these
seeds, as it provides a covering for them while the land is moist, and
thus puts them in a position to germinate as soon as growth begins. Such
a condition, caused by alternate freezing and thawing, does not occur on
sandy soils. Where it does not so occur, sowing ought to be deferred
until the surface of the ground has become dry enough to admit of
covering with a harrow. As in sowing the seeds of certain grasses good
results usually follow sowing just after a light fall of snow, which, as
it melts, carries the seed down into the little openings in the soil.
But there are areas, especially in the American and Canadian northwest,
where in some seasons the young clover plants would be injured from
sowing the seed quite early. This, however, does not occur very
frequently. When sown on spring crops, as spring wheat, barley and oats,
the seed cannot, of course, be sown until these crops are sown. The
earlier that these crops are sown the more likely are the clovers sown
to make a stand, as they have more time to become rooted before the dry
weather of summer begins. In a moist season the seed could be safely
sown any time from spring until mid-summer, but since the weather cannot
be forecast, it is considered more or less hazardous to sow clovers in
these northern areas at any other season than that of early spring. If
sown later, the seed will more certainly make a stand without a nurse
crop, since it will get more moisture. If sown later than August, the
young plants are much more liable to perish in the winter.

In the States which lie between parallels 40 deg. and 35 deg. north, and between
the Atlantic and the 100th meridian west, clover seeds may be sown in
one form or another from early spring until the early autumn without
incurring much hazard from winter killing in the young plants, but here
also early spring sowing will prove the most satisfactory. The hazard
from sowing in the summer comes chiefly from want of sufficient moisture
to germinate the seed.

In the Southern States the seed is sown in the early spring or in the
autumn. If sown late, the heat of summer is much against the plants.
Seeds sown in the early autumn as soon as the rains come will make a
good stand before the winter, but there are some soils in the South in
which alternate freezing and thawing in winter, much more frequent than
in the North, would injure and in some instances destroy the plants.

In the Western valleys where irrigation is practiced, clover seeds may
be sown at any time that may be desired, from the early spring until the
early autumn. The ability to apply water when it is needed insures
proper germination in the seed and vigor in the young plants.

=Methods of Sowing.=--Clover seed may be sown by hand, by hand machines,
and by the grain drill, with or without a grass-seed sowing attachment.
These respective methods of sowing will be discussed briefly here, but
since they are practically the same as the methods to be followed in
sowing grass seeds, and since they are discussed more fully in the book
"Grasses and How to Grow Them" by the author, readers who wish to pursue
the subject further are referred to the book just named.

When clovers are sown by hand, usually but one hand is used. Enough seed
is lifted between the thumb and two forefingers of the right hand to
suffice for scattering by one swing of the same. On the return trip
across the field the seed should be made to overlap somewhat the seed
sown when going in the opposite direction. In other words, the seed is
sown in strips or bands, as it were, each strip being finished in one
round. Some sowers, more expert at their work, sow with both hands and
complete the strip each time they walk over the field. When the ground
is plowed in lands of moderate width the furrows will serve to enable
the sower to sow in straight lines. Where the sowing is done on land
sown to grain by the drill, the drill marks may be made to effect the
same result. When sown on light snows, the foot-marks will serve as
guides. In the absence of marks it will be necessary to use stakes to
guide the sower. Four stakes are used, two of which are set at each end
of the field, and these are moved as each cast is made. At each round
made over the field, from 12 feet to 15 feet may be sown by the sower
who sows only with one hand. The sower with two hands will accomplish
twice as much.

A comparatively still time should be chosen for sowing the seed by hand,
more especially when grass seeds, which are usually lighter, are sown at
the same time. In hand sowing much care is necessary in scattering the
seed, so that each cast of the seed will spread evenly as it falls,
leaving no bare spaces between the cast from the hand or between the
strips sown at one time. Hand sowing, especially in the Western States,
is in a sense a lost art, owing to the extent to which machine sowing is
practised; nevertheless, it is an accomplishment which every farmer
should possess, since it will oftentimes be found very convenient when
sowing small quantities of seed, and in sowing seeds in mixtures which
cannot be so well sown by machines.

Hand machines are of various kinds. Those most in favor for ordinary
sowing consist of a seeder wheeled over the ground on a frame resembling
that of a wheelbarrow. It sows about 12 feet in width at each cast of
the seed. It enables the sower to sow the seed while considerable wind
is blowing and to sow it quite evenly, but it is not adapted to the
sowing of all kinds of grass and clover mixtures, which it may be
desirable to sow together, since they do not always feed out evenly,
owing to a difference in size, in weight, in shape and in the character
of the covering.

When clover seed is sown with the grain drill, it is sometimes sown
separately from grain; that is, without a nurse crop, and is deposited
in the soil by the same tubes. But it is only some makes of drills that
will do this. Clover seed, and especially alfalfa, may be thus sown with
much advantage on certain of the Western and Southern soils, especially
on those that are light and open in character, and when the seed is to
be put in without a nurse crop. Eastern soils are usually too heavy to
admit of depositing the seed thus deeply, but to this there are some
exceptions.

When sown with a nurse crop, the seed is in some instances mixed with
the grain before it is sown. In some instances it is mixed before it is
brought to the field. At other times it is added when the grain has been
put in the seed-box of the drill. This method of sowing is adapted to
certain soils of the Western prairies and to very open soils in some
other localities, but under average conditions it buries seeds too
deeply. There is the further objection that they all grow in the line of
the grain plants and are more shaded than they would be otherwise.
Nevertheless, under some conditions this method of sowing the plants is
usually satisfactory.

One of the most satisfactory methods of sowing clover seeds along with a
nurse crop is to sow the clover with a "seeder attachment;" that is, an
attachment for sowing small seeds, which will deposit the same before or
behind the grain tubes as may be desired. The seed is thus sown at the
same time as the grain, and in the process is scattered evenly over the
surface of the ground. These seeder attachments, however, will not sow
all kinds of clover and grass mixtures any more than will hand-sowing
machines do the same.

=Depth to Bury the Seed.=--The depth to bury the seed varies with the
conditions of soil, climate and season. Clover seeds, like those of
grasses, are buried most deeply in the light soils of the prairie so
light that they sink, so as to make walking over them unusually tiresome
when working on newly plowed land, and in other instances so light as to
lift with the wind. On such soils the seeds may be buried to the depth
of 2 to 3 inches. On loam soils, a covering of 1 inch or less would be
ample, and on stiff clays the covering may even be lighter under normal
conditions.

Clover seeds are buried more deeply in dry than in moist climates, and
also more deeply in dry portions of the year than when moisture is
sufficient. While it may be proper in some instances to scatter the
seeds on the surface without any covering other than is furnished by
rain or frost, it will be very necessary at other seasons to provide a
covering to insure a stand of the seed.

When clover seed is sown on ground honeycombed with frost, no covering
is necessary. When sown on winter grain in the spring, the ground not
being so honeycombed, covering with the harrow is usually advantageous.
When sown on spring crops and early in the season, it may not be
necessary to cover the seed, except by using the roller, even though the
seed should fall behind the grain tubes while the grain crop is being
sown, or should be sown subsequently by hand. In other instances the
harrow should be used, and sometimes both the roller and the harrow.
Under conditions such as appertain to New England and the adjacent
States to Ontario and the provinces east and to the land west of the
Cascade Mountains, clover and also grass seeds do not require so much of
a covering as when sown on the prairie soils of the central portion of
the continent.

=Sowing Alone or in Combinations.=--Whether clover seed should be sown
alone or in combination with the seeds of other grasses will depend upon
the object sought in sowing it. When sown to produce seed, it is usually
sown without admixture, but not in every instance; when sown to produce
hay, it is nearly always sown in mixtures, but to this there are some
exceptions; when sown to produce pasture, it is almost invariably sown
with something else; and when sown to enrich the land, it is, in all,
or nearly all, instances, sown without admixture.

When sown primarily to produce seed, there are no good reasons why
timothy and probably some other grasses may not be sown with medium red
and mammoth clover, when pasture is wanted from the land in the season
or seasons immediately following the production of seed.

The presence of these grasses may not seriously retard the growth of the
clover plants until after they have produced seed, and subsequently they
will grow more assertively and produce pasture as the clover fails.
Moreover, should they mature any seed at the same time that the clover
seeds mature, they may usually be separated in the winnowing process,
owing to a difference in the size of the seeds. But timothy should not
be sown with alsike clover that is being grown for seed, since the seeds
of these are so nearly alike in size that they cannot be separated.

When hay is wanted, the practice is very common of sowing timothy along
with the medium red, mammoth and alsike varieties of clover. Timothy
grows well with each of these; supports them to some extent when likely
to lodge; matures at the same time as the mammoth and alsike clovers;
comes on more assertively as the clovers begin to fail, thus prolonging
the period of cropping or pasturing; and feeds upon the roots of the
clovers in their decay.

Next to timothy, redtop is probably the most useful grass to sow with
these clovers, and may in some instances be added to timothy in the
mixtures. Some other grasses may also be added under certain conditions,
or substituted for timothy or redtop. In certain instances, it has also
been found profitable to mix certain of the clovers in addition to
adding grass seeds when hay is wanted. The more important of these
mixtures will be referred to when treating of growing the different
varieties in subsequent chapters. When growing them, the aim should be
to sow those varieties together which mature about the same time. The
advantages from growing them together for hay include larger yields, a
finer quality of hay, and a more palatable fodder.

In the past it has been the almost uniform practice to sow alfalfa
alone, but this practice is becoming modified to some extent, and is
likely to become more so in the future, especially when grown for
pasture.

When sown to produce pasture, unless for one or two seasons, clover seed
is sown in various mixtures of grasses in all or nearly all instances.
The grasses add to the permanency of the pastures, while the clovers
usually furnish abundant grazing more quickly than the grasses. Several
of them, however, are more short-lived than grasses usually are, hence
the latter are relied upon to furnish grazing after the clovers have
begun to fail. In laying down permanent pastures, the seed of several
varieties is usually sown, but in moderate quantities. The larger the
number of the varieties sown that are adapted to the conditions, the
more varied, the more prolonged and the more ample is the grazing
likely to be.

When clovers, except the crimson variety, are sown for the exclusive
purpose of adding to the fertility of the land, they are usually sown
along with some other crop that is to be harvested, the clover being
plowed under the following autumn or the next spring. These are usually
sown without being mixed with other varieties, and the two kinds most
frequently sown primarily to enrich the land are the medium red and
crimson varieties. The former grows more quickly than other varieties,
and the latter, usually sown alone, comes after some crop already
harvested, and is buried in time to sow some other crop on the same land
the following spring.

=Sowing with or without a Nurse Crop.=--Nearly all varieties of clover
are usually sown with a nurse crop; that is, a crop which provides shade
for the plants when they are young and delicate. But the object in
sowing with a nurse crop is not so much to secure protection to the
young plants as to get them established in the soil, so that they will
produce a full crop the following season. Two varieties, however, are
more commonly sown alone. These are alfalfa and crimson clover.

Alfalfa is more commonly sown alone because the young plants are
somewhat delicate and easily crowded out by other plants amid which they
are growing. Because of the several years during which alfalfa will
produce crops when once established, it is deemed proper to sacrifice a
nurse crop in order to get a good stand of the young plants. The other
clovers are usually able to make a sufficient stand, though grown along
with a nurse crop. In some situations alfalfa will also do similarly,
as, for instance, where the conditions are very favorable to its growth.
Crimson clover is more commonly sown alone for the reason, first, that
it is frequently sown at a season when other crops are not being sown;
second, that it grows better without a nurse crop; and third, that if
grown with a nurse crop the latter would have to be used in the same way
as the clover.

Some have advocated sowing clovers without a nurse crop under any
conditions. Such advocacy in the judgment of the author is not wise. It
is true that in some instances a stand of the various clovers is more
certainly assured when they are sown without a nurse crop, but in such
situations it is at least questionable if it would not be better to sow
some other crop as a substitute for clover. But there may be instances,
as where clover will make a good crop of hay the year that it is sown,
when sowing it thus would be justifiable. In a majority of instances,
however, it will not make such a crop, because of the presence of weeds,
which, in the first place, would hinder growth, and in the second, would
injure the quality of the hay.

The nurse crops with which clovers may be sown are the small cereal
grains, as rye, barley, wheat and oats. Sometimes they are sown with
flax, rape and millet. They usually succeed best when sown along with
rye and barley, since these shade them less and are cut earlier, thus
making less draft on moisture in the soil and admitting sunlight at an
earlier period. Oats make the least advantageous nurse crop, because of
the denseness of the shade, but if they are sown thinly and cut for hay
soon after they come into head, they are then a very suitable nurse
crop. One chief objection to flax as a nurse crop is that it is commonly
sown late. The chief virtue in rape as a nurse crop is that the shade is
removed early through pasturing. The millets are objectionable as nurse
crops through the denseness of the shade which they furnish and also
because of the heavy draught which they make on soil moisture. Peas and
vetches should not be used as nurse crops, since they smother the young
clover plants through lodging in the advanced stages of their growth.

=Amounts of Seed to Sow.=--The amounts of clover seed to sow are
influenced by the object sought in sowing; by combinations with which
the seeds are sown, and by the relative size of the seeds. The soil and
climate should also be considered, although these influences are
probably less important than those first named.

When clovers are sown for pasture only, or to fertilize the soil
speedily and to supply it with humus, the largest amounts of seed are
sown. But for these purposes it is seldom necessary to use more than 12
pounds of seed per acre. These amounts refer to the medium red and
mammoth varieties, which are more frequently used than the other
varieties for the purposes named. They also include the crimson sown
usually to fertilize the soil. When sown to provide seed only, 12 pounds
per acre of the medium red, mammoth and crimson varieties will usually
suffice. Half the quantity of alsike will be enough, and one-third the
quantity of the small white, or a little more than that. Whether alfalfa
is grown for seed, for hay or for pasture, about the same amounts of
seed are used; that is, 15 to 20 pounds per acre. When sown with nurse
crops and simply to improve the soil, it is customary to sow small
rather than large quantities of seed, and for the reason that the hazard
of failure to secure a stand every season is too considerable to justify
the outlay. From 4 to 5 pounds per acre are frequently sown and of the
medium or mammoth variety.

When the mammoth and medium varieties of clover are sown for hay with
one or two kinds of grass only, it is not common to sow more than 6 to 8
pounds of either per acre. The maximum amount of the seed of the alsike
required when thus sown with grasses may be set down at 5 pounds per
acre. These three varieties are chiefly used for such mixtures. With
more varieties of grass in the mixtures, the quantities of clover seed
used will decrease. When clovers are sown with mixtures intended for
permanent pastures, it would not be possible to name the amounts of seed
to sow without knowing the grasses used also, but it may be said that,
as a rule, in those mixtures, the clovers combined seldom form more than
one-third of the seed used.

The seeds of some varieties of clover are less than one-third of the
size of other varieties. This, therefore, affects proportionately, or at
least approximately so, the amounts of seed required. For instance,
while it might be proper to sow 12 pounds of medium or mammoth clover to
accomplish a certain result, less than one-third of the quantity of the
small white variety would suffice for the same end.

The influences of climate and soil on the quantities of seed required
are various, so various that to consider them fully here would unduly
prolong the discussion. But it may be said that the harder the
conditions in both respects, the more the quantity of seed required and
_vice versa_.

=Pasturing.=--When clover seed is sown in nurse crops that are matured
before being harvested, the pasturing of the stand secured the autumn
following is usually to be avoided. Removing the covering which the
plants have provided for themselves is against their passing through the
winter in the best form. In some instances the injury proves so serious
as to result in a loss of all, or nearly all, the plants. The colder the
winters, the less the normal snowfall and the more the deficiency of
moisture, the greater is the hazard. But in some instances so great is
the growth of the clover plants that not to graze them down in part at
least would incur the danger of smothering many of the plants,
especially in regions where the snowfall is at all considerable.

But when the seed is sown alone or in mixtures of grain and even of
other grasses in the spring, grazing the same season will have the
effect of strengthening the plants. This result is due chiefly to the
removal of the shade that weeds and other plants would furnish were
they not thus eaten down, but it is also due in part to the larger share
of soil moisture that is thus left for the clover plants. Pasturing
clover sown thus should be avoided when the ground is so wet as to poach
or become impact in consequence. Unless on light, spongy soils which
readily lose their moisture, such grazing should not begin until the
plants have made considerable growth, nor should it be too close, or
root development in the pastures will be hindered.

It would not be possible to fix the stage of growth when the grazing
should begin on clover fields kept for pasture subsequent to the season
of sowing. The largest amount of food would be furnished if grazing were
deferred until the blossoming stage were reached and the crop were then
grazed down quickly. But this is not usually practicable, hence the
grazing usually begins at a period considerably earlier. In general,
however, the plants should not be grazed down very closely, or growth
will be more or less hindered.

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