Improved Sweetclover

There are several new varieties of sweetclover, some of which warrant more extensive farm use.

Evergreen, a superior variety of biennial white sweetclover, way developed by the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station. It is tall, rank growing, and late maturing. It is recommended for use in the Corn Belt, and the eastern edge of the Great Plains States for pasture and for plowing under for green manure. Evergreen yields from 1/2 ton to 1 ton an acre more than many other common white sweetclovers. It has particular value for pasture purposes because it gives an extra 3 or 4 weeks of grazing during the summer of the second year. Frequently, under humid conditions, Evergreen does not produce an abundance of seed. It has a long flowering period, but considerable seed shatters before and with harvesting operations.

Madrid is a new variety of biennial yellow sweetclover. It is superior to common varieties in that it matures slightly later and yields more. Besides, it has early seedling vigor and resists fall frost in the seedling year. Seed production is heavy and early enough to escape the hazard of drought common during the summer in the Great Plains. It is recommended for the Great Plains and Corn Belt States.

Spanish, a new variety of biennial white sweetclover, is recommended for the Corn Belt, Great Plains, and sections of the Intermountain region. It is midseason in maturity, higher yielding than most kinds of common biennial white sweetclover, and a heavy producer of seed.

Willamette, another biennial white sweetclover, was developed at the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station. It is midseason in maturity and a higher yielder. Of particular importance is its resistance to stem rot, a disease that frequently kills stands during the winter and early spring months in the Pacific Northwest.

Sangamon is a late-maturing variety of common biennial white sweet-clover developed by the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. It produces high yields and has the same advantages as Evergreen, except that it matures earlier.

Besides those, there are other less important varieties of sweetclovers. New superior ones that are resistant to Phytophthora root rot and black stem disease complex, common in the Corn Belt, are being increased and tested. A more leafy, fine-stemmed variety, more desirable for hay in the Great Plains than present varieties, is being increased for testing purposes. These varieties will be named and released when their value has been proved.

Improved Crimson and Sub Clovers

Dixie Crimson clover, a new hard-seeded variety, gives promise of eliminating a serious hazard in growing common crimson clover. The seed of common crimson has the undesirable characteristic of immediate germination. This may occur throughout the summer after seed is mature or after seeding in the fall. Light rains frequently provide sufficient moisture for germination, but fail to provide enough moisture to establish the seedling plants. For this reason, stands of common crimson clover are frequently lost. Dixie Crimson was developed by men in the Department in cooperation with the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station and the Georgia and North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Stations. It is a composite of three identified strains of similar growth habits and has the characteristic of hard seeds which delays germination. Dixie Crimson volunteers in the fall from shattered seed, either when used in rotations or in pastures in association with such grasses as Bermuda.

Sub clover, formerly called subterranean clover, presents an outstanding example of the value of a superior variety in the successful introduction of a new species. For the past 30 years, common sub clover seed has been widely tested in the Southeast and Pacific Northwest. The results from these tests were not encouraging, and it appeared that the species had little value in this country. In 1934 seed of a series of sub clover varieties were obtained from Australia and were extensively tested. Among them were the varieties Tallarook, which is late maturing, and Mount Barker, which matures in midseason. Tallarook and Mount Barker have grown so well in the Pacific Northwest that the acreage of sub clover is being increased rapidly. In the Southern States they are also the most promising varieties of sub clover.