Soils on which sweet clover is aggressive are almost invariably
alkaline or but slightly acid. This plant is often found in valleys of
streams in localities where the soils are supposedly acid, but such
streams generally have their origin in limestone areas or flow through
limestone regions, and calcium carbonate is thus deposited in these
valleys during flood periods with the sedimentary deposits from flood
waters. Sweet clover often appears in deep cuts along highways or
railroads in localities where the soil is known to be acid and where
sweet clover has not previously grown. In many of these cuts the acid
soil has been removed and neutral or alkaline subsoil exposed, or
limestone has been used in ballasting or road making and the dust has
blown on the exposed soil. It is a very common occurrence to find sweet
clover making an abundant growth along macadamized roads from which the
wind has scattered the finely pulverized limestone.
An application of burnt lime or finely ground limestone has made the
difference between success and failure in most experiments which have
thus far been conducted on decidedly acid soils. (Fig. 7.)
A number of sweet-clover experiments were performed on acid soils and
on adjacent plats or fields of the same type of soil that had received
applications of limestone varying from 1 to 4 tons to the acre. There
was a marked difference in the stands obtained and in the growth of the
plants on the limed and unlimed areas. In some cases the difference in
growth was so marked that the last round of the lime spreader could be
distinguished at some distance from the plats. The stands were much
heavier on the limed areas and the plants made from two to three times
more growth than those on the unlimed plats. Yields of hay were doubled
on soils that received only sufficient limestone to neutralize the
acids in the surface soil, although the yields were further increased
when more limestone was added.
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