RED CLOVER INOCULATION 15$ 



feet into -the earth, and, branching, fills the upper soil 

 pretty full of fibrous roots. The roots are well covered 

 with nodules inhabited by nitrogen-securing bacteria. 

 Most of the roots of this clover are found in the upper 

 layers of soil. The top branches and many stems are sent 

 from one root ; vigorous plants in favoring soil may send 

 up as many as 40 or more stems. If the soil and season 

 favor, red clover makes a very dense mat over the earth, 

 quite effectually smothering out weeds and perhaps favor- 

 ing the accumulation of nitrogen by its very shade. 



The nodules on red clover roots are much more easily 

 found than on alfalfa and some other legumes, since they 

 are more firmly attached and on larger roots. There are 

 now few soils that are not inoculated with red clover 

 bacteria, though once on prairie lands of Illinois, Iowa 

 and other western states red clover repeatedly failed till 

 finally by natural causes inoculation came. Red clover is 

 grown everywhere throughout eastern America and 

 westward till it meets alfalfa in middle Kansas and 

 Nebraska. It is found in use along the seacoast in north- 

 ern California and the states above. It is a lover of tem- 

 perate climes, and in the South, while it will grow and 

 yield fairly well, it is inferior to crimson clover as a 

 winter-growing plant, and to alfalfa in summer. There 

 are regions where red clover is supplanted by alsike clover. 

 There are two causes that may make alsike clover more 

 vigorous: one is a lack of carbonate of lime in the soil 

 and the other the bacterial disease of red clover found 

 in Tennessee and parts of Kentucky. The systematic 

 rotation of crops corrects many soil troubles. 



