HARVESTING RED CLOVER 403 



makes a very vigorous growth the following season, and the land can 

 be plowed the next year to be put back to grain. It has been dem- 

 onstrated that clover, once in four years, will ordinarily maintain the 

 nitrogen and organic supply of the soil, under grain farming. 



Roots of Clover. Red clover has a branching tap root. The 

 main roots usually penetrate to a depth of four or five feet. While 

 about 75 per cent of the clover roots are in the upper eight inches, 

 they are not so concentrated in the upper soil strata as grass roots. 

 Red clover is thought to draw considerable more of its moisture and 

 plant food from the lower soil strata than grass. 



The amount of root residue in the soil has been determined a 

 number of times. The data usually vary from 1000 to 5000 pounds 

 per acre of dry weight. Most of the figures, however, will aver- 

 age not far from 1000 pounds. The proportion of roots to stems 

 has frequently been estimated, with great variation in result, 

 but in general there is about one pound of root to two pounds above 

 ground. 



Stems and Leaves. Red clover has a rather high proportion of 

 coarse stems. A mature plant usually has about 60 per cent stem, 30 

 per cent leaves, and 10 per cent flower heads. The relative value of 

 these different parts varies. The average protein content of the dif- 

 ferent parts has been determined to be about as follows: 



Stems 8.6 per cent 



Leaf stalks 11.2 per cent 



Flower heads 18.2 per cent 



Leaves 24.6 per cent 



It may be also stated that the large stems contain a great deal 

 of woody matter and are not highly digestible. 



Harvesting Red Clover. In general, clovers reach their maxi- 

 mum yield when in full bloom, after which they usually decline, 

 probably due to loss of leaves. There is also a decline in quality 

 as the stems become more woody. In this respect clover differs from 

 grass, since grass usually increases in weight at least one-fourth after 

 the blooming period. The only serious drawback to the mixing of 

 red clover with timothy is the fact that red clover matures about two 

 weeks ahead of the timothy and has usually declined in quality by 

 the time the timothy is ready to cut. 



