60 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODVCfS 



of clover or its equivalent from the rotation leads rapidly to a run- 

 down farm and unprofitable crop yields. 



It should be emphasized, however, that the mere introduction 

 of red clover into the farm rotation is not in itself a sufficient pro- 

 cedure to maintain indefinitely the productivity of the farm. The 

 clover plant adds only the nitrates to the soil and removes large 

 quantities of potash, phosphorus, and lime from the soil, especially 

 when cut for hay and the manure resulting therefrom is not returned 

 to the land. 



Description of the Red Clover Plant. The accompanying illus- 

 trations indicate the general appearance of the red clover plant. 

 The plant is entirely herbaceous and is composed of numerous leafy 

 stems arising from a crown. It usually lives only two years and for 

 this reason is especially adapted to short rotations. The flowers are 

 borne in compact clusters or heads at the tips of the branches. There 

 may be a hundred or more flowers to a single head. The flowers 

 are rose-pink, somewhat similar in shape to pea flowers but much 

 more elongated and smaller, being one-half inch in length and 

 one-sixteenth inch in width. The pods bear little resemblance to 

 the pods of most other legume-bearing plants ; they are small, short, 

 and break open transversely instead of longitudinally as do pea and 

 bean pods. The kidney-shaped seeds are one-twelfth of an inch 

 long and vary in color from yellow to purple. The stems comprise 

 about three-fifths of the total weight of the plant above ground and 

 are usually somewhat hairy. Each leaf is divided into three oblong 

 leaflets, usually with a pale spot in the center of each. The roots 

 are much branched but usually deep feeding and are ordinarily 

 well supplied with the nitrogen-gathering tubercles. 



Adaptability to Various Soils and Climates. Red clover is the 

 staple leguminous forage crop in the North Central and Northeastern 

 States. Although it is grown principally in the States bordering the 

 Great Lakes, a great deal is also raised in North Dakota, South 

 Dakota, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and the/ Southwestern 

 States. It does not give its best returns in the extreme South nor is 

 it always quite able to withstand the more severe winters in North 

 Dakota and Minnesota. 



In irrigated sections clover can be grown, but usually it can 

 not compete with alfalfa, which makes more cuttings in a season and 

 lasts much longer from one seeding than the red clover plant. In 

 some irrigated sections red clover is preferred, as in high mountain 

 valleys where the growing season is too short for three crops of 

 alfalfa and especially where a leguminous hay crop is desirable in 

 connection with the customary grain crop. It makes its best growth 

 on rich, fertile, well-drained soil containing an abundant quantity 

 of lime and reasonably free from weeds; but it is not so exacting 

 as alfalfa in these respects. Tc low, poorly drained soils it is not 

 so well adapted as alsike clover. Alsike will also succeed on the 

 so-called clover-sick lands upon which for one reason or another 

 red clover can no longer be successfully grown. 



Choice of Seed. It is important that considerable care be taken 



