Legumes white clovers

Forage legumes, of which white clover is the most important, are particularly sensitive to calcium deficiency and will not thrive. Ideally, soil pH should be maintained between 5.8 and 6.5. Heavy-textured soils such as clay require more lime than sandy soils to raise pH, because the higher levels of clay and organic matter act as a buffer against change, and the same is true of peaty soils. 

White clover is the pivotal legume in organic grassland. It fixes... 

Legumes such as alfalfa, clover, and vetch work with beneficial bacteria to convert atmospheric nitrogen gas into a form usable by plants,. some of which is available to plants grown around them or after they are harvested. While often viewed as a weed in lawns, white clover actually helps supply nitrogen to the grass around it. 

Most forage legumes are affected including white clover and lucerne. There are a number of distinct races. Some legumes are host to more than one... 

The important perennial forage legumes used by farmers in the UK are red and white clovers and lucerne. Sainfoin, birdsfoot trefoil and alsike are less important. A detailed description of each is given in Table 19.3. 

Legumes (eg., birdsfoot trefoil, white clover, veteh)... 

The answer to the absence of fast-acting nitrogen fertilisers, with arable crops and grassland, has been threefold first, to make much greater use of farmyard manure, and to make sure that it is properly stored and not allowed either to be washed down the drains or to volatilise into the air second, to make much greater use of the legume for its power of nitrogen fixation, particularly white and red clover... 

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