34 



FOURTEENTH ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE 



PROF. J. G. MOSIER. 



of a paper, and if at any time there 

 are any questions you desire to ask, 

 or discussions on the subject, anything 

 that you would like to bring up, I 

 should be glad to have you do so. 



SWEET CLOVER. 



(By J. G. Mosier.) 



Sweet clover has been growing for 

 many yearsalong our roadsides, ditches 

 and in waste places. Men have been 

 slow to recognize its possible agricul- 

 tural value. By most farmers it was 

 looked upon as a very undesirable 

 weed and that it must be kept out of 

 our cultivated ifields at all hazards. 

 The greatest surprise has been that it 

 has not spread into our cultivated 

 fields to any • extent, due probably to 

 lack of inoculation and the ease with 

 which it is killed by plowing. 



Sweet clover is a legume and is 

 found generally distributed over Illinois 

 with the exception of the southern 

 unglaciated area and the lower Illinoian 

 glaciation. There are two species 

 found in the state, both of which are 

 biennials and cultivated to some extent. 



The white flowered species (Melilotus 

 alba) is most common and the most 

 desirable on the f^rm because of the 

 larger productiveness both organic 

 matter and seed. The yellow floweied 

 species (Melilotus officinalis) is found 

 in various places of the state but is 

 not so commonly distributed as the 

 other and is not so desirable for the 

 farm. Other species are known but re- 

 quire no attention here. The two 

 species mentioned differ in their habit 

 of growth, the yellow being more dif- 

 fuse or spreading. 



Soils. 



Sweet clover will grow on almost any 

 kind of soil that is not acid and that is 

 fairly well drained, proyided the proper 

 bacteria are present, if^cidity is^fatal 

 to sweet clover, especially if this is 

 present in any considerkble quantity. 

 It will not do its best on soils that are 

 even slightly acid.> It grows vigorously 

 in abandoned limestone quarries, gravel 

 pits and on ston^ hillsides when there 

 is an abundance of limestone present, 

 and is to be found growing on prac- 

 tically every type of soil in the northern 



