RED CLOVER 101 
Soil: Red Clover can be successfully grown on many kinds of 
soil, the most suitable being clay loams with a certain amount of 
lime and plenty of organic matter. Sandy loams also give good 
returns, especially on limestone foundation; but generally speaking, 
Red Clover prefers the heavier soils. It can be grown even on stiff 
clay, provided the subsoil is open. For its proper development Red 
Clover, like Alfalfa, depends a good deal upon the subsoil. This 
must be open and well-drained. Stagnant water near or on the 
surface is decidedly injurious. Water-soaked soil excludes the air 
necessary for the respiration of the roots and is in a bad physical 
condition to meet the alternate thawing and freezing of early spring. 
As is well known, water expands when changing into ice, and if the 
surface soil contains an abundance of water it will consequently 
expand when freezing. The overground parts of the plants will be 
lifted up with the freezing soil. As the lower roots are anchored in 
the subsoil and therefore unable to follow the upward movement, 
they will be stretched and sometimes broken. The disastrous effects 
of alternate freezing and thawing make it evident that one of the 
first conditions of successful clover growing is well-drained soil. 
Habits of growth: Being a biennial, Red Clover devotes the 
first season’s growth to the development of its root system and the 
accumulation of strength to meet the winter’s hardships. It there- 
fore produces a strong tap root, which, if soil and weather are favour- 
able, penetrates to a considerable depth. The overground parts of 
the plants consist at first of only a few, short, upright stems which 
carry leaves but no flowers. Later in the season, short leafy shoots 
are developed which generally lie flat on the ground and are known 
as the winter tuft. At the same time the tap root begins to contract 
until its original length is reduced by more than ten per cent. As 
the end of the root is firmly anchored in the ground, the result is 
that the overground parts of the plant are pulled down. This process, 
which has been observed in other plants such as carrots and parsnips, 
is evidently meant to bring the stems and leaves into close contact 
with the ground where they are best protected against frost and 
wind. Early in the spring of the second year the branches of the 
winter tuft develop into flower-bearing stems, which, if not cut or 
pastured, produce seed and late in the fall die. The great mass of 
clover plants are thus biennial. Red Clover types exist, however, 
which show a decided tendency to live longer, especially if the plants 
are kept from seeding by continual cutting or pasturing. The best 
known of these perennial types is Mammoth Clover. 
