Distribution
Category:
ALFALFA
White clover is certainly indigenous to Europe and to
the Northern States, and probably Western Asia. It grows in every
country in Europe, but with greatest luxuriance in those countries which
border on the North Sea, the climates of which are very humid, and more
especially in the Netherlands and Great Britain. It stands in high
favor in Holland, but is not regarded so highly in England, owing,
probably, to the great variety of grasses grown there in permanent
pastures. It is generally thought that it was not indigenous to the
Southern States, but has reached these from those farther north. It
would seem to be capable of growing in all countries well adapted to the
keeping of cattle; hence, it follows in the wake of successful
live-stock husbandry.
White clover seems able to adapt itself to a great variety of climatic
conditions. Nevertheless, it is certainly better adapted to a moderately
cool climate than to one that is hot, and to a moist, humid climate than
to one that is dry. It has much power to live through dry seasons, but
it will not thrive in a climate in which the rainfall is too little for
the successful growth of small cereal grains. Where snow covers it in
winter, this clover will grow on timber soils as far north as any kind
of cereal can be made to mature; and it will also grow as far south as
the Mexican boundary on the higher grounds, when there is enough
moisture present to sustain it.
It would probably be correct to say that this plant is found in every
State in the Union, and that it succeeds well in nearly all the Northern
States, from sea to sea. Although it grows well in certain parts of the
Southern States, especially in those that lie northward, the general
adaptation in these is not so high as in those further north. The
highest adaptation in the United States is probably found in the Puget
Sound region and in the hardwood timber producing areas of the States
which lie south from the Great Lakes and in proximity to them, as
Northeastern Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and New York.
But the adaptation is also high in the more elevated of the mountain
valleys of the Northwestern States when irrigated waters may be led on
to these lands. The areas lowest in adaptation are those that lie within
the semi-arid belt. The low-lying lands of the South, where hot weather
is prolonged in summer, are likewise low in their adaptation, but not so
low as the former. The prairie areas of the Northern Mississippi basin
have an adaptation for growing white clover that may be termed
intermediate, but where hardwood forests grow naturally on these the
adaptation is high. In New England the climatic conditions are very
favorable, much more so than the soil conditions.
In Canada, conditions are found highly favorable to the growth of this
plant in the country lying eastward from Lake Huron, north of Lakes Erie
and Ontario and also on both sides of the St. Lawrence River. Adaptation
is also high along the Pacific and in the mountain valleys not distant
from the Pacific. In all the areas of Canada, which once produced
forests, this plant will grow well. But north from Lakes Huron and
Superior, the soil conditions are against it, because of their rocky
character. Certain forest areas west from Lake Superior, and also in
other parts, the sandy soils of which sustain a growth of Jack Pine
(Pinus murrayana) trees, do not grow white clover with much vigor.
The prairie areas of Canada, westward from Lake Superior to the
mountains, do not grow white clover with much success, and the
adaptation for its growth would seem to lessen gradually until the Rocky
Mountains are approached.
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White Clover
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