Distribution
Category:
ALFALFA
Mammoth clover has long been grown in several of the
countries of Europe and Western Asia. It is also grown in certain parts
of Siberia. It was doubtless introduced into the United States from
Europe by emigrants from that continent, but when exactly is not known.
It has probably been many years since its introduction into America, but
it is only within the more recent of the decades that it has attracted
general notice. In some areas in this country it grows with great
luxuriance, fully equaling, if not exceeding, the crops grown in any
part of Europe.
Mammoth clover calls for climatic conditions about the same as those for
medium red clover. (See page 61.) It flourishes best in moist climates
of moderate temperature, and it will endure more drought than the medium
red variety and possibly more cold.
The distribution of mammoth clover covers nearly all the States of the
Union, but as with medium red clover the adaptation for it is relatively
higher in the Northern than in the Southern States of the Union. The
highest adaptation for mammoth clover is probably found in certain parts
of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the northern valleys of the Rocky
Mountain States, the elevated portions of those further south and the
country around Puget Sound. The adaptation is also high in much of New
York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. In
the Southern States that lie northward, good crops may be grown in some
locations, but not in all. As the semi-arid belt is approached, mammoth
clover will grow further west than the medium red, but in the greater
portion of this region it will not succeed. The adaptation of the North
Atlantic States, including those of New England, is not of a high order,
but rather more so, probably, than for the medium red.
In Canada also the adaptation of medium and mammoth clover is much the
same as for the medium red. In some parts of Ontario, especially Western
Ontario, it grows remarkably well; but in the maritime provinces it does
not grow so well; nor does it thrive in the provinces of the Canadian
Northwest as it does in Ontario.
As with medium red clover, the distribution of this variety has not been
fully determined in either the United States or Canada, more especially
on soils of the prairie, where it does not succeed well at present. It
is probable that under some conditions on these soils, and also in the
South, the absence of the requisite bacteria in the soil may account, in
part, at least, for failure in attempts made to grow it. With the
introduction of these, the area of successful cultivation may be
considerably extended.
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Mammoth Clover
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