402 



THE CLOVERS 



Rate of Sowing. About eight pounds per acre is the standard 

 rate of sowing when mixed with timothy, or ten to twelve pounds 

 when sown alone. About four-fifths of the red clover is sown as a 

 mixture with timothy. On lands where red clover is apt to fail more 

 or less, due to lack of lime, it is a common practice to mix red clover 

 with alsike at the rate of five pounds to three. Alsike clover will 

 grow on portions of the field deficient in lime. The use of red 

 clover in mixtures has been fully discussed in another place (see 

 page 317). 



Fertilizers for Clover. In fertilizing clover, it is usually not 

 necessary to provide nitrogen, as the plant is capable of gathering its 

 own nitrogen supply. Clover plants seem to respond especially to 



Pio. 175. Red clover seed and common weeds often found in it. (1) Wild carrot, (2) 

 daisy, (3) buckhorn, (4) dodder, (5) red clover. 



potash, and on many soils phosphate also is required. In fertilizer 

 trials it has generally been noted that where large amounts of 

 nitrogen were applied, the grasses would tend to run out the clover ; 

 on the other hand, where potash was applied in relatively large quan- 

 tities, the clover tends to run out grass. As clover is usually sown 

 with small grain, the fertilizer is applied to the grain crop, and 

 seldom directly to the clover crop. 



Clover in Rotation. The principles of crop rotation and the 

 use of clover have been fully discussed in a previous chapter. Red 

 clover fits better than other legumes into the kind of rotation suitable 

 for grain farming. It can be sown with a grain crop, so that the 

 land is not out of use while the clover is becoming established. It 



