152 PRINCIPAL INTRODUCED NONGRASSLIKE FORAGE HERBS 



The Clovers. — Stockmen often use the word " clover " to 

 designate various herbaceous plants of several genera of the pea 

 family, but here the term is coniined to species of the genus 

 Trifolium. About 275 species of clover have been discovered, 

 yet not more than about half a dozen are extensively cultivated 

 in the United States. They are annual, biennial, and perennial 

 and occur most abundantly in the temperate parts of the Northern 

 Hemisphere. Among those valuable as pasture forage, Alsike 

 clover and white clover are of first importance. Of less pasture 

 value are red clover {Trifolium pratense) and crimson clover 

 (r. incarnatum) , but as hay plants they are second to none. 



Alsike or Swedish Clover. — Alsike clover {Trifolium hybrid- 

 um) is a tall, slender-stemmed, long-lived perennial, similar in 

 habit of growth to red clover, except that the stems are more 

 slender and less erect. The main distinction between Alsike 

 and white clover is that the white clover has stolons and " creeps " 

 along the ground. The Alsike does not have these stolons or 

 rooting stems at the nodes or joints of the stems; it is erect or 

 ascending. Alsike also has large, conspicuous stipules at the 

 base of the leaf stalks, whereas those of white clover are small 

 and inconspicuous. The leaflets of Alsike are rounded at the 

 apex, and those of white clover are heart-shaped-notched at the 

 apex (Fig. 48). Alsike clover has long been cultivated in Sweden. 

 The earliest attempts to grow it in the United States were soon 

 after 1839, when the editors of the New Genesee Farmer, of 

 Rochester, New York, brought some seed to this country and 

 distributed it to the readers of that paper. ^ 



The best growth is obtained in cool climates on moist or 

 moderately wet soils. It is commonly seeded with timothy and 

 red clover, but sometimes pure stands are grown. When sown 

 alone, 5 to 8 pounds of seed should be used to the acre. Being 

 long-lived and adapted to a variety of soils, Alsike clover is com- 

 monly used in pasture mixtures. The leafage is relished by all 

 classes of stock. 



1 Pieters, A. J., "Alsike Clover." U. S. Dept. of Agr. Farmers Bui. 1151, 

 p. 4, 1920. 



