CLOVER CULTURE. 13 



wherever the peculiar geological formation of the Appalachian 

 range appears, and they disappear with this formation. 



The peculiar composition of the drift soil that covers the 

 prairies of most of the Western states gives these varieties a 

 very wide distribution. It is well known that most of these 

 soils are not made in situ; in other words, they are not the result 

 of decomposition of the rocks that underlie these states, al- 

 though in many places modified by them. This drift is the 

 result of the decomposition of rocks far distant and is min- 

 gled so thoroughly that scarcely any section may be found 

 in the Western states in which there is not abundance of car- 

 boniferous or calcareous matter to develop a luxuriant growth 

 of clover. The calcareous soils of the Missouri Valley, the 

 deposit of the calcareous formations of the Upper Missouri, 

 furnish material for the growth of clover in the greatest abun- 

 dance. 



We have for several years past been endeavoring to locate 

 in crude outline the western limit of the medium and mam- 

 moth clovers. Without coming to any very definite conclu- 

 sions and leaving the matter as yet undetermined, it is safe to 

 say that in ordinary seasons these varieties may be grown suc- 

 cessfully on fair soils as far west as the longitude 96 40 m. west 

 from Greenwich, and in favorable seasons there is practically 

 no western limit; in other words, the limit is determined not 

 by the structure of the soil, which on good lands is favorable 

 for clover everywhere, but by the rainfall. Magnificent ex- 

 amples of common red and mammoth, white and alsike have 

 been sent us this year from the extreme western boundary of 

 Nebraska, longitude 102 3om., showing conclusively that the 

 soil conditions are of the best on the edge of what is known 

 as the desert, and all that is lacking is the rainfall. The 

 northern limit of the growth of these clovers has not yet been 

 determined. It is safe, however, to say that the reports of 

 the destruction of these crops by freezing during the severe 

 winters in many cases are the result of not understanding the 

 nature of the plant, which is that of a biennial or short peren- 

 nial and when used as a hay crop would naturally disappear 

 at the second year whether the winters were favorable or un- 

 favorable. * 



The white, trifolium repens^ has even a wider distribu- 

 tion than the mammoth and common red, (trifolium pratense), 



* NOTE. It is more than probable that under the name of common red 

 clover we have several varieties of trifolium, some of which are biennials 

 and some short oerennials. 



