SWEET CLOVER 



H. 8. CoE, 



Assistant Agronomist, Forage Crop Investigations, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



The acreage of sweet clover in the United 

 States has increased very rapidly in recent 

 years. The value of tbis plant as a soil im- 

 prover, together with the fact that it will 

 produce more pasturage from early spring 

 until late fall than other legiimes in the 

 East, has been the principal cause for this 

 increased acreage. Ordinarily, it does not 

 produce so good a quality of hay as does red 

 clover, but when carefully handled, hay of 

 good quality may be secured. Experiments show that sweet clover 

 compares favorably with red clover and alfalfa as a feed. 



It is questionable wdiether the seeding of sweet clover is justi- 

 fied on lalid that will produce excellent stands of red clover or 

 alfalfa. However, sweet clover may be profitably grown on soil 

 that is too poor to grow clovers or alfalfa, and it is upon this type 

 of land that the cultivation of sweet clover will prove most 

 profitable. 



Sweet clover is an excellent plant to precede alfalfa, as the large 

 roots will do much toward breaking up and providing better aera- 

 tion of the soil. Aside from adding much humus to the soil, it 

 will serve as a medium for increasing the organisms that inoculate 

 alfalfa. 



Three species of sweet clover are grown under cultivation in 

 the United States. However, only white sweet clover {Melilotus 

 alba), shown in Fig. 689, should be cultivated in the East, as this 

 species will produce a larger root growth, as illustrated in Fig. 

 690, and more forage than the biennial yellow species {Melilotus 

 officinalis). White sweet clover seed demands a higher price on 

 the. market than seed of the yellow species. Annual yellow sweet 

 clover {Melilotus indica), should be grown only in the extreme 

 south and southwest. 



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