GRASS MIXTURES WITH CLOVER 167 



other. In Europe it is esteemed a perennial. In our 

 own North and East it is said to be nearly a perennial. In 

 Ohio and southward it is, however, much shorter-lived. I 

 do not think it worth planting where red clover or alfalfa 

 thrives, except in mixtures where it seems to add to the 

 weight and quality of the hay. Alsike clover feeds bees, 

 which red clover does not usually, and it makes delicious 

 honey. It makes a good seed crop, and the seed is so 

 small that one may sow less than half the amount that 

 one would sow of red clover. The seed is in the first 

 crop, though it may be pastured for a time in spring. It 

 is better to sow alsike clover with timothy, as it is then 

 less apt to go down and be hard to mow. A good mix- 

 ture is timothy 1 5 pounds, red clover 6, and alsike clover 

 4 pounds w r hen cut for hay. A favorite mixture, and one 

 in general practice in middle Tennessee, is 5 pounds or- 

 chard grass, 5 pounds meadow oatgrass, 4 pounds redtop, 

 and 4 pounds alsike. 



Alsike clover has come into disrepute in certain sec- 

 tions because horses and mules pastured on it exclusively 

 have been troubled by eruptions of the skin. Unless the 

 vital organs are affected, animals recover all right on be- 

 ing removed from such pasture. This has affected more 

 animals which have white feet or noses. The cause of 

 this malady is obscure, and so far as observed no cases 

 have originated in pastures having grasses mixed with 

 clover. I have not heard of animals being affected by 

 eating the hay; the disease originates in pastures. 



Crimson Clover (Trifoliwn incarnatimi). This clover 

 is often called scarlet clover or carnation clover, and in 



