234 



CLOVER 



CLOVER 



of the clovers, particularly on moist and cool 

 lands, both for pasture and hay ; also an excellent 

 bee plant. Alsike is the name of a parish in 

 Sweden. 



Alsike clover is especially valuable for hay, 

 either grown alone or in combination with grasses 

 or with mammoth clover. It 

 produces a very fine, soft hay 

 that is likely to be nearly 

 all consumed 

 by live-stock. 

 On well-pre- 

 pared and 

 adaptable 

 land and 

 heavily seed- 

 ed (about fif- 

 teen pounds 



Fig. 335. 

 Alsike clover 



to the acre), it makes a 

 dense and heavy cover two 

 feet deep. It is very hardy 

 and may be sown early in 

 spring, but as the seed is 

 small it should not be cov- 

 ered very deep. Usually, 

 only one cutting is secured in the northern regions, 

 where it thrives best. A good yield of seed per 

 acre is four bushels. 



White clover (T. repens, Linn.) (Figs. 336, 337) 

 is a low creeping perennial, bearing its small 

 fragrant white heads on slender peduncles that 

 spring directly from the stem that roots along the 

 surface of the ground ; leaves long-stalked, the 

 leaflets obcordate and more or less small-toothed. 

 Useful for pasture, and for bees, and prized by 

 many on lawns. 



White clover thrives in cool climates, or the 

 cool part of the year, and on lands that are 

 retentive of moisture. It is very hardy, and it 

 spreads rapidly when once established. It with- 

 stands grazing well, and is prized for pastures 

 in those regions and on those lands that are 

 adapted to it. It is rarely sown as a meadow 

 plant for hay, but it often works into moist mead- 

 ows, making excellent "bottom." It is often sown 

 in pastures. It should be sown very early, so that 

 it may become established before warm weather. 

 About ten to twelve pounds of seed is sown to 

 the acre. On lawns, twice or more than this 

 quantity may be sown if one is fond of the plant. 

 For seed purposes, as much as four pounds may be 

 sown ; the yield of seed will range from two and 

 one-half to six bushels per acre. 



The Ladino clover, mentioned on page 75, is 

 a variety of white clover (var. latus) much grown 

 in mountain valleys of Italy, especially under irri- 



gation. It is distinguished from the ordinary 

 white clover by having much larger leaflets and 

 taller stems, yielding about twice as much at each 

 cutting. It is said to be the chief forage and hay 

 crop of a large part of the irrigated regions of the 

 Po valley, in which region it is reputed to out- 

 yield alfalfa and to make a better crop of hay. 

 Owing to the prostrate stem, the hay consists 

 entirely of leaves and ilowers. From the fact that 

 the tips of the stems are not cut off it revives 

 very quickly after being mown, blossoms usually 

 appearing within ten days. Four or five cuttings 

 are made each season at intervals of thirty-five to 

 forty days. Owing to the fact that the roots are 

 comparatively shallow, it will succeed on thin land 

 under irrigation where alfalfa fails. This clover has 

 been tested to a very limited extent in the United 

 States, but with promising results. The seed is four 

 times as expensive as that of common white clover. 

 This is called "giant broad-leaved white clover," 

 "an improved variety of the common white clover" 

 from northern Italy, in Bulletin No. 98 of the North 

 Carolina Experiment Station. " The plant is much 

 more robust and has larger leaves than the common 

 species, but produces very little seed." 



Crimson clover (21 inearnatum, Linn.) (Fig. 338) 

 is an annual, erect, soft-hairy plant, strong-grow- 

 ing and standing erect, two to three feet high, 

 with oblong, dense heads (becoming two to three 

 inches long) of brilliant crimson flowers ; leaves 

 long-stalked, the leaflets broadly obovate and 

 obtuse, and small-toothed. Now much used for 

 cover-cropping [see Cover-crops and Fruit-growing] 

 and also for forage. 



Although annual, it survives the winter if sown 

 in late summer or early fall. It should become 

 well rooted before winter set^ in. Crimson clover 

 requires considerable heat in its early stages, and 

 therefore, it usually does not thrive in Canada 



Fig. 337. 

 White clover seedCTri- 

 foliwm r epens , 

 Linn,). Greatly 

 enlarged. For pic- 

 tures of red, alsilse 

 and crimson clo- 

 ver seeds, see Chap- 

 ter VII (page 140). 

 See Figs. 333, 335, 



Fig. 336. White clover. 



and the northern states. About fifteen to twenty 

 pounds of seed is used to the acre if the crop 

 is sown alone. When well established, crimson 

 clover may be pastured in the fall and again in 

 spring. Cut before it arrives at full bloom it 



