At 08:40 AM 6/4/03 -0500, you wrote:
>At 05:26 PM 6/3/2003 -0400, Jim wrote:
>>>REPLY: Alice white clover is a variety produced by Barenbrug USA. They
>>>describe it as being large leafed, but do call it white clover rather
>>>than ladino. They say there are only two types of white clover, but
>>>there really is three: small, intermediate, and large
>>>(ladino). Grassland Huia from New Zealand is described as an
>>>intermediate type along with Louisiana White and Louisiana S-1. I
>>>suspect that Alice is probably an intermediate type or a cross between
>>>ladino and an intermediate. The intermediate type is larger-leaved than
>>>the wild white clover often found in pastures that is the small type and
>>>tends to be more persistent than ladino. Will, Jumbo, Regal, and Oseola
>>>are large (ladino) clovers. Jumbo is said to be more persistent than
>>>the other ladino clovers,but I have not seen it in trials. The
>>>intermediate white clovers are more heat tolerant than ladinos.
>
>I overseeded some newly cleared ground, in 1998, with 'Will' white clover,
>and got a good stand, which still persists well today. Ran out of 'Will'
>seed before I got to the last paddock, and bought some 'Seminole'. It has
>outperformed the Will, but I must add the caveat that I blew out a knee,
>and my wife had to walk the seed onto that 5-acre plot, and she
>misunderstood my instructions of 1-2 lbs per acre - she probably put on
>somewhere between 5 & 10 lbs - so, I got a TREMENDOUS stand.
>
>Have also been very pleased with the production and persistence of Marion
>annual lespedeza on this same 20 acres or so, overseeded in the spring of
>'99. Still very evident in the sward.
>
>REPLY: Lucky,
Thanks for your response. It always good to hear from people who try
varieties on their farm where the rubber meets the road so to
speak. Something on a small research trial can look great but fail
miserably on a larger field and under a less controlled situation.
Something in your management of those fields is allowing the Marion to
throw some seed evidently. Standard recommendation is to let it grow
ungrazed for 30 days before the season ending killing frost to allow it to
set seed. If you think you might want to plant annual lespedeza again,
there is a new variety out now called Legend that is supposed to yield
about a third more than Marion. It is a taller plant, about 6 to 8 inches
taller than Marion. A website for Legend is:
http://www.cutting-edgeproducts.com/legend.html
Jim Cropper
James B. Cropper
Forage Management Specialist
Pasture Systems & Watershed Management Research Unit
Curtin Road
University Park, PA 16802-3702
814-863-0942
814-863-0935 FAX
jbc9@psu.edu
