292 CLOVERS 



Burr clover may properly be termed a winter an- 

 nual, since the seed comes up in the autumn, fur- 

 nishes grazing in the winter and spring, and dies 

 with the advent of summer. It is procumbent or 

 spreading and branched. On good soil some of the 

 plants radiate to the distance of several feet from 

 the parent root. They have been known to overlap, 

 and thus accumulate until the ground was covered 

 2 feet deep with this clover, thus making it very 

 difficult to plow them under. It is only under the 

 most favorable conditions, however, that the plants 

 produce such a mass of foliage. The leaves are 

 composed of three somewhat large leaflets. The 

 flowers, as previously intimated, are yellow, and 

 there are but two or three in each cluster, but the 

 clusters are numerous; hence, also the pods are 

 numerous. They are about ^4 of an inch broad, 

 and when mature are possessed of considerable food 

 value. 



Burr clover grows chiefly during the winter, and 

 is at its best for pasture during the months of 

 March and April, and in the Gulf States dies down 

 after having produced seed in May. Though it .is 

 frequently sown, it has the power of self-propaga- 

 tion to a marked degree, which makes it possible to 

 grow many crops in succession without re-seeding 

 by hand. 



It is not considered a good hay plant, but its 

 value for pasture is considerable, although, as a rule, 

 animals do not take kindly to it at first, as they do 

 to alfalfa or medium red clover, but later they be- 

 come fond of it, but less so, probably, in the case 



