RED CLOVER. 10 I 



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. 



