36 



Montana than in either Colorado or Wyoming, and its cultivation is 

 chiefly confined to rich valleys and bench lands near the mountains 

 where there is a good supply of moisture or where irrigation is prac- 

 ticed. It is usually grown with timothy and other meadow grasses, 

 and is cut for hay or used as a soiling crop. Very fine crops are raised 

 in central and southwestern Montana and in northern and central Colo- 

 rado, and it is occasionally seen elsewhere in these States. Bed clover 

 is not generally grown in Wyoming, though it is being tried in many 

 localities with very fair success. During the past season it was 

 observed in successful cultivation in Crook, Johnson, Bighorn, and 

 Uinta counties. 



ALSIKE. 



Although less commonly grown than red clover, alsike is certainly a 

 valuable crop for many jjarts of tliis region. Many farmers who have 

 grown them side by side prefer the alsike to the red clover as a forage 

 crop for their respective localities. For example, Mr. C. C. Willis, of 

 Horse Plains, Mont., writes that he much i)refers alsike on account 

 of its heavier yield of forage and greater drought-enduring qualities. 

 Excellent fields of alsike and timothy were seen in 1890 in the Gallatin 

 Valley, and reports of the successful growing of this clover have been 

 received from various points in central and southwestern Montana, 

 northern Wyoming, and northern and central Colorado. As a general 

 thing the alsike seems to be hardier than red clover and is better 

 adapted for permanent meadows, and some maintain that it does better 

 on the heavy '' gumbo " soil found in so many i^laces in the Northwest. 

 It has also given good results in many parts of the Dakotas, where it 

 has received a thorough trial. It deserves more attention from farmers 

 and ranchmen in the Northwest generally. 



WHITE CLOVER. 



It is rarely that this clover is sown in this region excei)t on lawns 

 or in dooryards, but its ability to gain a foothold and maintain itself 

 among other vegetation is well shown in the fact that it is found 

 everywhere in patches of various sizes along the margins of irrigating 

 ditches, in waste places, and in pastures and meadows. Beports from 

 several counties in central and western Montana and central Colorado 

 indicate that it is occasionally sown in i)astures and is growing in favor, 

 more particularly for use in i)astures i'or sheep and dairy stock. In 

 extended trips through this region in both 1890 and 1897 the writer 

 found but very few instances of its having been sown ])urp()sely in pas- 

 tures, though it was often present even in native pastures in greater or 

 less quantities. 



The excellent sliowing made by this clover during the season of 1897 

 was very notic«'able throughout the West and Northwest generally, 

 particularly in the older-settled districts. In eastern South Dakota, 

 northwestern Iowa, and eastern Nebraska this clover made a remark- 



