Clovers and How to Grow Them

by Thomas Shaw

Crimson clover is much relished by farm animals, whether used as pasture, soiling food, silage or hay. Under some conditions it may be pastured autumn and spring, and even through much of the winter. As a soiling plant, its value is high, not only because it is a legume, but because it comes in season at a time when it may be fed with winter rye used as soiling. But the period is short during which it furnishes soiling food. Its value as hay will always be lessened by the difficulty in curing it so early in the season, and because of the danger from feeding it to horses when cut at a too advanced stage of growth. It is much in favor for furnishing chicken pasture in winter.

As a catch crop crimson clover may be made to do duty in seasons in which other clover crops may have failed. As a cover crop or a mulch for orchards, it is in high favor, as the growth which it produces protects the roots of the same. But its greatest use lies in the beneficial influence which it exerts upon soils by enriching them and also improving their mechanical condition. It is likely, therefore, to be grown more for this purpose than for any other. While growing it in many instances will not render unnecessary the use of commercial fertilizers, it will greatly reduce the quantity of these that would otherwise be necessary. Owing to the season at which it is grown, it will be found quite helpful in destroying weeds.

The behavior of crimson clover has thus far been somewhat erratic, even in areas where the conditions are looked upon as generally favorable to its growth. The opinions of practical men differ much with reference to its value. There have been many instances of success and failure in the same locality, and even in the experience of the same individual. These varied experiences are doubtless due in a considerable degree to a difference in seasons, to want of acclimation in the seed sown, to a difference in varieties and to want of knowledge on the part of the growers, whose work, heretofore, has been largely tentative. Five different varieties have been grown, and these have not shown equal degrees of hardiness. But the rapidly increasing sales of seed point to the conclusion that larger areas are being sown every year. The increase referred to may be expected to grow greater for many years to come; since, when the needs of the plant are better understood, the failures will be fewer.

Distribution.—Crimson clover is probably indigenous to certain parts of Europe, especially to the countries that lie southwest and south. It has been grown to a considerable extent in France, Germany and Italy. The name Egyptian would seem also to imply that it is grown in Egypt. It is not grown to any considerable extent north and west in Europe, owing, probably, to the too severe conditions of climate which characterize these. It is not indigenous to America, but was probably introduced from Europe two or three decades ago. Its late introduction accounts for the fact that its adaptation in some parts of the United States is as yet controverted.

This plant needs a climate rather mild and decidedly moist. It cannot withstand severe freezing when the ground is bare; hence, its uniformly successful growth cannot be relied on very far north of the Ohio and Potomac rivers. True, in certain winters of much snowfall it has come through in good form considerably north of the rivers mentioned, but in more instances it has failed. On the other hand, while it grows best in warm climates, the growth in these is made chiefly when the weather is cool, as in the autumn and spring, and in some instances in the winter. It would be about correct to say that the climatic adaptation of this plant is nearly the same as that of the peach. Climates too cold for fruitage in the latter would be too cold for the uniformly safe wintering of crimson clover. It would also seem correct to state that on suitable soils and with sufficient precipitation, this clover will do best in the United States when the climate is too warm for the medium red clover to grow at its best. In the United States, soil and climatic conditions taken together, would probably give Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Tennessee highest adaptation for the growth of this plant. Taking in a wide area, highest adaptation would lie in the States south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers and east of the Mississippi. Washington and Oregon, west to the Cascade Mountains, would probably furnish exceptions, but in these the necessity for growing crimson clover is not likely to be so great as in the area just referred to, owing to the ease with which other varieties of clover may be grown. In some parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan many farmers have succeeded well in growing crimson clover, but a larger number have failed. The failures have arisen largely through dry weather in the autumn, want of plant food in the soil and the severity of the winter weather. Westward from these States to the Mississippi, the adaptation is still lower, and the same is true of the New England States. In fact, it is so low in these that it is far more likely that it will fail than that it will succeed. Between the Mississippi and the Cascade Mountains, crimson clover is not likely to be much grown. It will not grow well in any part of the semi-arid belt. In the mountain valleys it would probably succeed, but in these alfalfa and some other varieties of clover will give far better returns.

Crimson clover will not grow well in any part of Canada, except in that narrow strip of land between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. The winter climate is too cold for it. Some crops have been grown successfully in the peach-producing areas of Ontario contiguous to Lakes Erie and Ontario, but even in these it is an uncertain crop. The attempt has been made to grow it in some of the provinces of Canada, and in several of the States, by sowing the seed in the spring. Some fairly good crops have been thus obtained, but usually not so good as can be grown by sowing certain other varieties of clover at the same season. It is but reasonable to expect, however, that adaptation in growing crimson clover will widen with the acclimation of the plant, and with increasing knowledge as to its needs on the part of those who grow it.

Soils.—Crimson clover though usually grown for the enrichment of soils will not, as a rule, make satisfactory growth on soils very low in the elements of fertility, whatsoever may be their composition or texture. On orchard lands liberally fertilized, in the Middle Atlantic States, excellent crops have been obtained, whereas on adjacent soils precisely similar they have failed. In the Southern States, however, better results, relatively, will be obtained from sowing this clover on comparatively infertile lands, owing to the longer season which it has for continuous growth. Where the winters are possessed of considerable severity and when the protection of snow is more or less wanting, unless the plants are strong when they enter the winter, they are almost certain to perish. Loam soils with reasonably porous subsoils are best adapted to its growth. Of these, sandy loams have a higher adaptation than clay loams, when equal to the former in fertility, as in the latter the plants can more quickly gather the needed food supplies, since the roots and rootlets can penetrate them more readily. Such soils are well adapted to the growth of orchards, especially peach orchards, and it is in such areas that crimson clover has been grown with highest success. In the alfalfa soils of the Rocky Mountain valleys it should also grow well, but on these it would be less profitable to grow than alfalfa, because of the permanency of the alfalfa. Even on sandy soils a good growth will be obtained when these have been fertilized and sufficient moisture is present. On stiff clays the growth is too slow to produce crops highly satisfactory either North or South, and in dry weather it is also difficult to obtain a stand of the plants. The alluvial soils of river bottoms in the South produce good crops. The vegetable soils of the prairie do not grow the plants very well, and the adaptation in slough or swamp soils is even lower. Good crops will not be obtained on soils underlaid with hardpan which comes up near the surface, whatsoever the nature of the top soil may be, since the roots cannot penetrate these.

Place in the Rotation.—It cannot be said of crimson clover, in the ordinary usage of the word, that it is a rotation plant. It has probably no fixed place in any regular rotation, and yet it can be used almost anywhere in the rotation that may be desired, and in any rotation whether long or short, regular or irregular. As previously intimated, it is usually grown as a catch crop, and primarily to fertilize the land; and since its growth is chiefly or entirely made in the late summer, autumn, winter and early spring, that is to say, when the land is not otherwise occupied, the only hindrances to using it anywhere in the rotation are such as arise from the nature of the weather, the mechanical condition of the land and the needs of the crops that are to follow. For instance, at the usual season for sowing it, the weather may be so dry as to preclude the hope of successful germination in the seed. This influence may also make it impossible to bring the land into that mechanical condition which makes a good seed-bed without undue labor, and ordinarily it would not be necessary to have crimson clover precede another leguminous crop; since the latter, under many conditions, can secure its own supply of nitrogen. To this there may be some exceptions. There may be instances, as on light, porous and leechy soils, when it might be proper to grow crimson clover as an aid in securing a stand of the medium red variety, or in growing a crop of peas for the summer market. Ordinarily, however, this crop is grown to increase the supply of plant food in the soil for crops which require nitrogen, and to give soils more or less porous, increased power to hold moisture and applied fertilizers. It is probably seldom grown to improve the mechanical condition of stiff soils, since on these it grows slowly. Some other plants can do this more effectively. It is pre-eminently the catch crop for the orchardist and the market gardener, and yet it may be made the catch crop also of the farmer, under certain conditions.

Crimson clover may be made to follow any crop, but it is seldom necessary to have it follow another leguminous crop which has brought nitrogen to the soil. Nor is it usually sown after a grass crop which has brought humus to the land. It is frequently sown after small cereal grain crops that have been harvested. It may be made to follow any of these. Sometimes it is sown in standing corn. But oftener than anywhere else probably, it is sown in orchards and on soils from which early potatoes and garden vegetables have been removed.

It is peculiarly fitted for being grown in orchards. In these it may be grown from year to year. It may be thus grown not only to gather nitrogen for the trees, but to make them more clean than they would otherwise be when the fruit is being gathered, to protect the roots of the trees in winter and to aid in the retention of moisture when plowed under. But this plant may also, with peculiar fitness, be made to precede late garden crops. It may be plowed under sufficiently early to admit of this, and when so buried it aids in making a fine seed-bed, since the roots promote friability in the land. When grown under what may be termed strictly farm conditions, it usually precedes a cultivated crop, as potatoes, corn, or one of the sorghums. It is equally suitable in fitting the soil for the growth of vine crops, such as melons, squashes and pumpkins.