110 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 
Cultural conditions: Alsike prefers localities where moisture 
is abundant in the soil and in the air. The most suitable soil is a 
moist clay loam or clay. Like Red Clover, it requires time for its 
development. In central Ontario certain gravelly clay soils, rich in 
lime, are especially well adapted to it. It can be grown to advantage 
where the soil is too wet for ordinary Red Clover. On poorly drained 
land, where Red Clover would be a certain failure, Alsike will succeed, 
provided other conditions are suitable. 
Climate: Alsike has not been successfully grown in Manitoba 
and Saskatchewan. This may be due either to the severe winter or 
to the dry growing season, or to both. European experience indi- 
cates that the dry summers may be the chief cause of the failure of 
Alsike in the Prairie Provinces. Prolonged drought prevents the 
young plants from making a good growth before cold weather and thus 
renders them susceptible to winter-killing. Even old, well-established 
plants are more seriously affected by drought than is Red Clover. 
This is doubtless due to the rather shallow root system of Alsike; it is 
not able to collect the moisture from the subsoil. In dry districts 
which are irrigated good returns are obtained. 
Habits of growth: Under favourable conditions Alsike will 
flower late in the autumn of the season it is sown. Commonly, 
however, the plants enter the winter in the same stage of develop- 
ment as do those of Red Clover. The following spring the plants 
start comparatively late and do not bloom as early as ordinary Red 
Clover. Usually they are two weeks later and blossom about the 
same time as Mammoth Clover. If cut for hay, the aftermath 
develops quickly but is rarely sufficient to warrant a second cutting. 
Agricultural value: When grown for hay Alsike is generally 
mixed with Red Clover and grasses such as Timothy and Red Top; 
on account of its spreading growth, it is liable to lodge if grown alone. 
When in mixtures, the stronger-growing grasses and clovers support 
the Alsike and the hay produced is of a finer quality. The common 
mixture in Ontario is two pounds of Alsike, eight of Red Clover and 
four of Timothy to the acre. As a rule ordinary Red Clover is used 
although it is earlier than the other two. If the mixture is cut for 
hay when Red Clover is at the proper stage, Alsike and Timothy are 
not ready, and if cut when the latter are at their best the feeding 
value of Red Clover has decreased. Aliske should be cut for hay 
when it is in full bloom or a little later; that is, when the earliest 
flowering heads begin to turn brown. Late cutting will not lessen 
the value of Alsike hay as much as that of Red Clover, as Alsike 
