LEGUMES FOR FORAGE 



185 



mined by comparing the composition and price with those of other 

 feeds. Many mixed feeds, discussed in Chapter XI, contain more or 

 less alfalfa meal. 



II. Red Clover 



Medium red clover. — This clover, commonly known simply as red 

 clover, is the most important legume in the humid sections of the 

 northern two-thirds of the United 

 States, where, grown in rotation 

 with corn and the cereals, it so 

 helpfully serves for hay and pas- 

 ture production and for the main- 

 tenance of soil fertility. Clover is 

 chiefly seeded in combination with 

 timothy, 19,542,000 acres of mixed 

 clover and timothy being grown 

 for hay in the United States in 

 1909, compared with only 2,443,- 

 000 acres of clover alone. Eed 

 clover does best on well-drained 

 soils rich in lime, not thriving on 

 a water-logged or acid soil. But 

 few plants live over 3 years, and 

 the crop is usually treated as a bi- 

 ennial. 



Eed clover generally yields a 

 heavy first crop of hay, with a 

 lighter second cutting, which is 

 often allowed to mature for seed. 

 In the southern states, where it does not thrive during the heat of 

 summer, red clover is sometimes grown as a winter annual, the first 

 crop being cut in the spring and the second in early summer. The av- 

 erage yield of clover hay per acre, according to the census of 1910, was 

 1.29 tons, but under favorable conditions much higher returns are se- 

 cured, the yield in 2 cuttings ranging from 2 to 4 tons or even more per 

 acre. Where it flourishes, alfalfa out-yields red clover. However, red 

 clover is better adapted for short-time rotations with other crops like 

 corn and the cereals than the longer-lived alfalfa, which is often diffi- 

 cult to establish and is therefore grown in the same field for many 

 years, if possible. In their eagerness to grow alfalfa many eastern 

 farmers are unfortunately neglecting the clovers, which are vitally 

 helpful in keeping up the fertility of the whole farm thru short-time 

 rotations. In many cases the growing of red or mammoth clover has 



Fig. 51. — A Young Eed Clover Plant, 

 Showing the Tubercles on the 

 Roots. (From U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture.) 



