| Show sweet clover profitable crop sweet clover which is so common I 1 along dong road sides and in waste places in many parts of the country is rapidly gaining in favor as a cultivated er crop op this is due to its value for soil improvement for pastures and for hay bay there are three species of sweet clover commonly found in the united states the biennial yellow flowered species lotus lis and the biennial white flowered species alba are valuable over a wide area white while the annual yellow flowered species indica is of little economic importance except in the extreme south and southwest where il is grown a winter cover and green manure crop with the exceptions of a few local localities white sweet clover is grown al most entirely this due to the fact that it yields more forage and pio duces larger roots than the other species the white flowered species is ordinarily leferrec lef jef erred to as sweet don cr while the other two species are called yellow sweet clover sweet clover resembles alfalfa when young but can be from it by its bitter taste its smooth shin leaves and liter when in bloom by the long loose spike like arrangement of white flowers in contrast to the close purple clusters of alfalfa flowers there are few plants which will put waste lands or rundown run down farms into condition conditi oy for producing crops as quickly as sweet clover its value for this purpose is recognized in alabama and mississippi and also in in parts of kentucky and ohio on account of the root development of this plant large quantities of vegetable matter are added to the soil when a field of sweet clover is plowed the root system alone has been estimated to be about 20 tons of green weight per acre for a good growth of sweet clover in some parts of the country it has been aed en in a small way as a green manure crop the second years growth being dunder by turning under a crop of sweet clover or only the stubble marked gains are obtained in the following chop sweet clover is a very good winter cover crop in that it prevents the bolls from galil gulfing ing and washing tir it also tikes up large quantities of available fertilizers which would probably leach out of tho soil during luring the winter on oil account of the kirge taproots of sweet clover plants potassium and phosphorus may be taken up hi in the subsoil and dep deposited osite at least in part in the surface soil when the roots decay sinco since sweet clover is a biennial like red clover it is readily adapted to similar rotations sweet clover will undoubtedly provo a valuable crop aa a a substitute for red clover in the ordinary farm farni rotation where red clover will no longer gi ow it may be seeded in the spring on grain as red clover Is sown when seeded in this manner some pasture will bo be produced that fall in the north and pasturage or a bay bar crop in the south ane following season it two crops in the north and three crops in the south it may be handled in a manner similar to red clover sweet clover hay Is rapidly coming co ming into favor as a feed for all classes of livo live stock especially in places where more de desirable types of hay will not gro grow w successfully GAina rily some trouble is experienced experienc ed in getting stock to eat sweet clover a at t first on account of its bitter taste but after they hive been accustomed to eating it fc no trouble is experienced e A high percentage af digestible protein is contained in the hay sweet clover has the ability to thrive on poor clay soils as well as ms on poor sandy oils but it will make a better growth on soil it prefers soil of limestone organ or feln clay soils which are acid should be limed before sweet clover is sown sweet r lover is also very resistant to alkali and plants may be found in the west growing on soils xo so alkaline that little else than salt grass is able to survive |
