MEDIUM RED CLOVER 67 



the same time be moist and reasonably well stored 

 with humus. On such a soil, in a climate with suf- 

 ficient rainfall and properly distributed, a stand of 

 clover should be looked upon as reasonably certain 

 any season when properly sown. It would also be 

 correct to say that on the volcanic soils of the moun- 

 tain States in the West, clover will grow equally 

 well when supplied with moisture, and in these it is 

 also very tenacious of life. 



Next in adaptation are what may be termed loam 

 soils, also underlaid with clay. The proportion of 

 the clay in them will exercise an important influence 

 on the growth of the clover. Loamy sands will 

 grow clover better than sandy loams, although 

 both are very suitable, the other conditions being 

 right. 



It would seem to be correct to assign third place 

 to stiff clays, whether of the white or red cast. The bet- 

 ter that these are supplied with vegetable matter, and 

 the more moist the season, the better is the stand of 

 the clover likely to be. In seasons that are generally 

 favorable, excellent crops of clover may be obtained 

 from such soils, but in dry seasons it is easy to secure 

 a good stand of the plants. They are also consid- 

 erably liable to heave in these soils in the spring of 

 the year from the action of the frost. The more per- 

 fectly they are drained, the less will be the injury 

 from this source, but it is scarcely possible to drain 

 such lands so perfectly that there will be no loss of 

 clover plants in these from the source named in the 

 winters, characterized by frequent rains, accompa- 

 nied by frequent alternations of freezing and thaw- 



