﻿354 
  Ever-sporting 
  Varieties 
  

  

  and 
  erect 
  and 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  hairy, 
  and 
  has 
  

   stouter 
  leaves 
  than 
  other 
  kinds 
  of 
  clover. 
  It 
  

   has 
  oblong 
  or 
  cylindrical 
  heads 
  with 
  bright 
  

   crimson 
  flowers, 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  considered 
  as 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  most 
  showy 
  types. 
  As 
  an 
  annual 
  it 
  has 
  

   some 
  manifest 
  advantages 
  over 
  the 
  perennial 
  

   species, 
  especially 
  in 
  giving 
  its 
  harvest 
  of 
  hay 
  

   at 
  other 
  seasons 
  of 
  the 
  year. 
  

  

  I 
  found 
  some 
  stray 
  quaternate 
  leaves 
  of 
  this 
  

   plant 
  some 
  years 
  ago, 
  and 
  tried 
  to 
  win 
  from 
  

   them, 
  through 
  culture 
  and 
  selection, 
  a 
  race 
  that 
  

   would 
  be 
  as 
  rich 
  in 
  these 
  anomalies 
  as 
  the 
  red 
  

   clover. 
  But 
  the 
  utmost 
  care 
  and 
  the 
  most 
  rigid 
  

   selection, 
  and 
  all 
  the 
  attention 
  I 
  could 
  afford, 
  

   failed 
  to 
  produce 
  any 
  result. 
  It 
  is 
  now 
  ten 
  

   years 
  since 
  I 
  commenced 
  this 
  experiment, 
  and 
  

   more 
  than 
  once 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  willing 
  to 
  give 
  it 
  

   up. 
  Last 
  year 
  (1903) 
  I 
  cultivated 
  some 
  hun- 
  

   dreds 
  of 
  selected 
  plants, 
  but 
  though 
  they 
  yielded 
  

   a 
  few 
  more 
  instances 
  of 
  the 
  desired 
  anomaly 
  

   than 
  in 
  the 
  beginning, 
  no 
  trace 
  of 
  a 
  truly 
  rich 
  

   race 
  could 
  be 
  discovered. 
  The 
  experimental 
  

   evidence 
  of 
  this 
  failure 
  shows 
  at 
  least 
  that 
  stray 
  

   " 
  four-leaves 
  : 
  may 
  occur, 
  which 
  do 
  not 
  indi- 
  

   cate 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  a 
  true 
  1 
  1 
  four- 
  " 
  or 
  ' 
  ' 
  five- 
  

   leaved 
  " 
  variety. 
  

  

  This 
  conception 
  seems 
  destined 
  to 
  become 
  of 
  

   great 
  value 
  in 
  the 
  appreciation 
  of 
  anomalies, 
  as 
  

   they 
  are 
  usually 
  found, 
  either 
  in 
  the 
  wild 
  state 
  

  

  