ALSIKE CLOVER. 111 
plants keep green and succulent for a comparatively long time. 
Usually only one crop of hay can be taken in a season. Harvesting 
can be done as for Red Clover. As a rule, however, the curing is 
less difficult, especially if the Alsike is grown with grasses. 
Pasture: Although not eaten with the same eagerness as is 
Red Clover, Alsike is highly esteemed for pasture on account of its 
high feeding value. Grazing can begin as soon as the plants have 
made a good start and it should never be delayed long enough to 
let them blossom. Given favourable weather, early grazing will 
make the pasture last longer than if the plants are allowed to develop 
more. On account of being perennial, it is preferable to Red Clover 
for permanent pastures. When grown alone, six to eight pounds of 
seed should be used to the acre. 
Seed growing: Growing Alsike for seed is quite a profitable 
business where conditions are favourable. The plants produce a 
large number of heads and the flowers are pretty certain to be fer- 
tilized as both bumble bees and ordinary honey bees are at work. 
The soil should contain a reasonable amount of lime, potash and 
phosphates and must not be too wet. Very moist soil produces 
rank growth and plants liable to lodge. As a result the seedcrops 
will be comparatively light and of poor quality. The seed is gener- 
ally secured from the first crop. Sometimes the fields are clipped 
or pastured early in the season. This delays ripening but enables 
the plants to be better stocked and to produce a larger amount of 
seed. To prevent lodging, which lessens the seed on the prostrate 
branches, as much as six pounds to the acre is sometimes sown with 
good results. This heavy seeding is recommended by seed growers 
for heavy, comparatively moist soil. 
Alsike is ready to cut for seed when most of the heads are brown 
and the flowers can be easily stripped off. As the blossoms fall off 
separately when the seed is ripe, care in harvesting is necessary to 
prevent shelling. The danger is greatest when the heads are per- 
fectly dry and it is therefore advisable to cut when the plants are 
wet with dew. For the same reason the subsequent handling of the 
crop must be careful. The threshing should be done during dry 
weather. As a rule, only one crop of seed is taken from a field; 
sometimes, however, seed can be advantageously harvested for two 
or even three successive years. 
/ 
‘Quality of seed: Commercial seed in bulk is greenish or yellow- 
ish, or sometimes very dark. Every sample contains different 
coloured seeds; some of them are yellowish green, others almost black, 
