Recommended rates of application 
vaty widely; consult your county 
agricultural agent or State agricultural 
experiment station for recommenda- 
tions for your fields. 
ine sand™ fertilizer generally are 
applied shortly before the seedbed 
is prepared; they are then worked 
into the soil during seedbed prepara- 
tion. 
DISEASES AND INSECTS 
Many organisms produce diseases 
of white clover that reduce yields and 
persistence. Diseases of the foliage 
are the most conspicuous, but usually 
they are not as destructive as diseases 
of the roots and stolons. 
Fungi cause foliage diseases and 
stolon, root, and crown rots. 
Several viruses infect white clover. 
Some viruses are spread by insects, 
and the degree of infestation may de- 
pend on kind and number of insects 
present. 
Species of root-knot nematodes are 
among the most common of the many 
kinds of nematodes that parasitize 
white clover. Nematodes cause swell- 
ings or galls on the roots that resemble 
the nodules produced by nodule bac- 
teria. 
Few disease control measures can 
be recommended. Two general rec- 
ommendations are— 
@ Grow adapted varieties. 
® Rotate crops when feasible to 
control root and stolon rots and 
nematodes. 
Many foliar diseases can be con- 
trolled if livestock are permitted to 
graze heavily enough to prevent ac- 
cumulation of heavy top growth. 
Grazing or clipping foliage heavily 
attacked by leafspot organisms often 
reduces the number of diseased leaves 
inthe regrowth. Damage from crown 
rot can be reduced somewhat by graz- 
ing or clipping in late fall to remove 
infected leaves and reduce the amount 
of foliage that mats down on the 
stolons and crowns over winter. 
Insects that damage white clover 
include the clover leaf weevil, the 
lesser clover leaf weevil, the clover 
head weevil, lygus bugs, the potato 
leafhopper, the garden fleahopper, the 
clover root curculio, and the green 
June beetle. 
Spider mites often damage white 
clover. 
Slugs, although not insects, may 
cause damage. 
For information regarding the con- 
trol of white clover insects, consult 
your county agricultural agent or your 
State agricultural experiment station, 
or write to the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, 25, De: 
SEED PRODUCTION 
Seed. setting usually is -heavy., i@ 
there is an abundance of bees for cross- 
pollination, and if weather is warm 
and dry during the flowering period. 
The white clover flower 1s self- 
sterile; 1t will not develop seed unless 
it is cross-pollinated. Bees, in col- 
lecting nectar and pollen, do the 
cross-pollinating. Cloudy, rainy 
weather over prolonged periods te- 
duces flowering and retards bee visits 
to flowers. 
Northern varieties do not flower, or 
flower only sparsely, in the central and 
southern parts of the region. Most 
frequently in the southern part of the 
region, northern varieties do not even 
set enough seed during the summer to 
establish a stand of volunteer plants 
in the fall. 
If the crop is grazed, during, tie 
7 
bo 
