IMPORTANCE OF RED CLOVER 357 



and is usually considered simply a large variety of red clover. 

 It differs from the ordinary type only in that it makes a 

 ranker growth and matures somewhat later. Red clover is 

 claimed by some botanists to be a perennial, but ordinarily 

 it is a biennial, since the plant seldom lives more than two 

 years on account of the numerous insects and diseases which 

 attack it. 



Numerous leafy stems are produced from a crown; these 

 reach a height of from 1 to 2 feet, depending on the rain- 

 fall and the soil. Usually the taller plants do not stand erect, 

 so that the crop seldom appears to be more than 18 inches 

 high. The leaflets usually have a pale spot in the center. 

 The flowers are borne in dense heads, which often contain 

 one hundred or more individual flowers. They are similar 

 in shape to pea flowers, but much smaller, and have a long 

 tube. The length of the flower is about one-half inch, and 

 the width only about one-sixteenth inch. The pods are 

 small and membraneous, enclosing the kidney-shaped seeds, 

 which are about one-twelfth of an inch long. The seeds 

 vary in color from yellow to purple. 



453. Importance of the Crop. According to the Census 

 report, there were 21,979,000 acres devoted to the production 

 .of clover and mixed clover and timothy in the United States 

 in 1909. Only four of our farm crops occupied a larger area, 

 these being corn, wheat, oats, and cotton. Of this area, 

 however, only 2,443,000 acres were in clover alone, the 

 remainder being used for the production of mixed hay. 

 With the exception of small areas in other states, clover pro- 

 duction is confined to the North Atlantic and North Central 

 states, the region extending from Maine to Virginia and 

 westward to the eastern portion of the Dakotas, Nebraska, 

 and Kansas. There are also considerable areas devoted to 

 clover in western Oregon and western Washington. Alfalfa 



