FORAGE PLANTS 71 



pasture, and honey. Its small heads are white, 

 with a tinge of rose. Its stalks are slender and 

 branched. The honey-bees have no trouble in 

 getting the nectar. 



White clover creeps into pastures of grass, and 

 lifts its small, white heads on long, unbranched 

 stems. It is wild all over this northern half of the 

 United States, and nobody pays much attention 

 to it, -as a rule. 



The most beautiful species is the crimson clover, 

 with long, crimson heads on slender, tall plants. 

 It is used as a cover crop in orchards, and as forage, 

 but is not a heavy crop. So it is less frequently 

 sown than other kinds. It grows wild in parts of 

 southern Europe, and is a staple forage crop in 

 parts of Italy. 



Berseem, the yellow-flowered clover of Egypt, is 

 one of the plants recently introduced that promises 

 well as a forage crop for dry regions and unprom- 

 ising alkali soils. 



Clovers will not thrive on sour soils. Such 

 must be sweetened with applications of lime. 

 There must be phosphorus and potash added. 

 Then the roots pasture greedily, plow the soil, 

 unlock the mineral foods the earthy particles hold, 

 and make the soil swarm with nitrogen-gathering 

 bacteria, so that it is literally alive. 



