Do you think that clover would make
one or more cuttings without water?
Red and white clover are less tolerant of drought than alfalfa, which,
being a deep-rooting plant, is especially commended in dry-farming
undertakings. Red clover will grow better on low wet lands than will
alfalfa, but the land must not dry out or the red clover will die during
the dry season. None of the plants will stand much alkali.
Clover for Wet Lands.
What kind of alfalfa will do best on sub-irrigated land which is very
wet? I have sown it in alfalfa and it grows finely for two or three
years, but then the roots rot and die.
It is impossible to make any kind of alfalfa grow well on very wet land,
that is, where the water comes too near the surface. Alfalfa has a
deep-running tap root which is very subject to standing water. You can
get very good results from the Eastern red clover on such land, because
the red clover has a fibrous root which is content to live in a shallow
layer of soil above water. But red clover will not stand drought as well
as alfalfa, because it is shallower rooting. It is necessary, therefore,
that water should be permanently near the surface or surface irrigation
be frequently applied, in order to secure satisfactory growth of red
clover in the drier sections of California. It is also necessary that
neither land nor water carry alkali.
Frosted Grain for Hay.
Pages:
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210