148 THE FORAGE AND FIBER CROPS IN AMERICA 



that German seed was superior, with Pennsylvania and Missouri 

 seed ranking fourth and eleventh respectively; while at Kiel, 

 Germany, in a similar experiment, Burchard found that clover 

 from American seed stood the winter most satisfactorily and 

 gave the largest yields. Nielsen in Denmark found at the end 

 of two seasons that average yields of red clover hay gave 

 Danish seed second rank with 98 per cent., and American seed 

 third rank with 95 per cent. Seed of red clover from Chile has 

 been introduced into Canada with good results. 



154. Distribution. Red clover is widely diffused through 

 Europe. It is successfully cultivated throughout the United 

 States and Canada east of the one hundredth meridian and 

 north of the Gulf states. In the region of the Great Lakes it 

 is replaced somewhat by alsike clover and in some places, 

 especially in certain limestone areas, it is replaced by alfalfa. 

 With these exceptions red clover and its variety, mammoth 

 clover, are cultivated for hay throughout the region named, 

 almost to the exclusion of any other leguminous forage plant. 

 It is also cultivated along the Pacific coast north of California. 



155. Duration. The plant is described by some as a biennial 

 and by others as a perennial of a few years' duration. The 

 plant varies considerably in this and other respects in different 

 localities. Assuming favorable conditions, it is usual when 

 timothy and clover are sown together for the first crop to be 

 largely clover, the second year (third from seed) about half 

 and half timothy and clover, and the third year largely if not 

 quite wholly timothy. If timothy is sown with the fall grain, 

 it is somewhat more predominant from the first. 



156. Adaptation. Red clover is adapted to a temperate cli- 

 mate. It will not stand as much cold and moisture as alsike 

 clover, nor as much heat and drought as alfalfa. It grows on 

 soils of all states of fertility except the poorest. The fertility of 

 the soil may be correctly ascertained by the appearance of the 



