Sweet clover grows successfully on soils in the West which apparently
are too alkaline for grains or alfalfa. The Wyoming Agricultural
Experiment Station reports that it has obtained good yields of sweet
clover on seepage land which is so strongly alkaline that no other
plants except some of the native grasses will survive, while the
California Agricultural Experiment Station found that sweet clover will
withstand alkali to a remarkable degree. Prof. F. S. Harris, agronomist
of the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station at Logan, claims that it is
one of the most alkali-resistant crops grown in Utah, and that in and
1913 and 1914 quite an industry developed in some parts of that State
in growing sweet clover for hay and seed on land too alkaline for other
crops.
In reply to a circular letter on the culture of sweet clover,
approximately 100 county agents and extensive growers of this crop
located in many parts of the West state that this plant is one of the
most alkali-resistant plants grown in their respective districts. In
Crook County, Oreg., a good stand was obtained from April seeding in
1915 on a 20-acre demonstration field of sandy loam bottom land so
strongly alkaline from black alkali that only salt grass was growing on
it before it was planted to sweet clover. This field pastured from 18
to 28 head of calves, cows, and horses from June 1 to October 1 without
being irrigated. Sweet clover generally will grow on soils where salt
grass[6] will survive, and it is very much superior to this grass as
pasture. After the drainage of water-logged land on which there is a
surface accumulation of alkali, it is the common practice in parts of
Utah to grow sweet clover for several years before planting alfalfa. It
is often stated that alkali land will grow less tolerant crops after
sweet clover has been grown on it for a few years. The long roots
will open up the subsoil and cause better drainage, thereby affording
an excellent means for removing the salts from the soil, as they are
readily soluble in water.
[6] _Distichlis spicata_.