112 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 
but the bulk is intermediate between these two extremes. As in Red 
Clover, these different colours do not generally indicate that some 
seeds are riper than others. Alsike, like Red Clover, consists of a 
great number of types, which differ not only in the general appear- 
ance of the plants but also in the colour of the seed. If all the seeds 
from a single plant are collected, it will be found that, irrespective of 
age, they are all the same colour. In some plants the seeds are 
yellowish green, in some they are black, and in others they are green 
at one end and greenish black at the other. The mixed colour of an 
ordinary sample is therefore as a rule not due to the seed having been 
gathered at different stages of development, but to the different types 
that are mixed toegther. 
The legal weight of a bushel is sixty pounds. 
Impurities: Alsike as a rule contains more weed seeds than 
does Red Clover, this being due to the fact that Alsike seed is taken 
from the first crop, whereas Red Clover is secured from the second. 
The noxious weed seeds found in Alsike are Night-flowering Catch- 
fly, Bladder Campion, Canada Thistle, False Flax, Curled Dock and 
Ribgrass. Other weeds common in it are Green Foxtail, Lamb’s 
Quarters, Sheep Sorrel, Mayweed and Chickweed. Although Black 
Medick cannot be considered a noxious weed, it is an undesirable 
impurity when it is as common as it often is in Alsike. 
WHITE SWEET CLOVER (WMelilotus alba Desr.) 
Seed, Plate 27, Fig. 33. 
Other English name: Bokhara Clover. 
Botanical description: Sweet Clover is biennial with a strong 
taproot and numerous leafy stems. The latter, which are generally 
much branched and spreading, reach a height of from two to five 
feet. When the plants are young they look like Alfalfa, but are 
readily recognized by their peculiar sweet odour. The leaves are 
similar to those of Alfalfa but not so numerous. When in bloom 
the plants are easily identified by their white flowers arranged in 
long, narrow and spike-like racemes. The flowers are small and 
more simple in construction than those of Red Clover and Alfalfa; 
they are more open and consequently give easier access to pollen- 
gathering insects. The pod is brown when ripe and generally con- 
tains only one or two seeds. Like that of Trefoil it falls off without 
breaking. 
