232 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



of the northern two-thirds of the United States, where, grown in rotation 

 with corn and the cereals, it so helpfully serves for pasture and hay 

 production and for the maintenance of soil fertility. Clover is chiefly 

 seeded in combination with timothy, 19,349,405 acres of mixed clover 

 and timothy being grown for hay in the United States in 1919, compared 

 with only 3,160,415 acres of clover alone. Red clover does best on well- 

 drained soils rich in lime, being intolerant of a water-logged or acid 

 soil. A short-lived perennial, but few plants live over 3 years, and the 

 crop is usually treated as a biennial. 



Thruout the clover-growing districts red clover generally yields a 

 heavy first crop of hay, with a second cutting which is usually much 

 lighter and which is often allowed to mature for seed. In the southern 

 states, where it does not thrive during the heat of summer, red clover is 

 sometimes grown as a winter annual, the first crop being cut in the spring 

 and the second in early summer. At the northern limits of its culture 

 but one cutting is produced. The average yield of clover hay per acre, 

 according to the census of 1920, was 1.31 tons, but under favorable 

 conditions much higher returns are secured, the yield in 2 cuttings 

 ranging from 2 to 4 tons or even more per acre. 



On all stock farms in the eastern United States there should be a 

 well-planned rotation of crops, such as corn, followed by either wheat, 

 oats, or barley, and this in turn by a legume, preferably red, alsike, or 

 mammoth clover, grown either alone or with the grasses, some of the 

 fields being grazed by the stock. 



Under such a rotation, when proper use is made of the farm manure, 

 reinforced by phosphate and potash fertilizers when necessary, the 

 humus and fertility of the soil on the whole farm are maintained or even 

 increased, the weeds are held in check, and the maximum yield of crops 

 is economically produced on all the fields. Because alfalfa fields are 

 usually difficult to establish and should be maintained for many years, 

 the alfalfa plant does not particularly favor a short rotation of crops. 

 In their eagerness to grow alfalfa, ambitious farmers in the East are 

 apt to neglect the clovers, which are so vitally helpful in maintaining 

 fertility of the whole farm in short-time crop rotations. In many cases 

 the growing of red or mammoth clover has been abandoned on account 

 of failure to secure stands. Such "clover sickness" of the soil may be 

 due to certain diseases, but in most cases it means that lime and phos- 

 phate, and possibly potash are needed. Farmers who willingly prepare 

 fields thoroly for alfalfa often fail to exercise reasonable care to get 

 good stands of clover. 



346. Development of nutrients. Immature clover, like all young 

 plants, is exceedingly watery. At the Wisconsin Station 21 Woll found 

 but 8.2 per ct. dry matter in green clover cut long before it had reached 

 the proper condition for making hay. Such clover contained more water 

 than skim milk. This explains why clovei* when cut too early is such 



Wls. Rpt. 1889. 



