LEGUMINOUS FORAGE CROPS 147 



been kept with care in corked bottles for twelve years. 1 Red 



clover seed is not greatly subject to injury during storing from 



vermin or insect enemies, and consequently is deemed by some 

 a desirable article to buy and store when prices are low. 



153. Varieties. Aside from mammoth clover there are no 

 recognized varieties of red clover cultivated in America. (177) 

 Red clover sometimes has white flowers when it has been re- 

 ferred to as a distinct variety, but it is not cultivated as such. 2 

 Red clover seed obtained from various American and European 

 sources has been tested at different stations. At the Maine 

 Station plants from American and south European seeds 

 respectively were the first to mature and gave the largest yields. 

 The second year's growth demonstrated the superior hardiness 

 and vigor of plants from American grown seed. 3 The stems 

 and leaves of the plants grown from European seed were char- 

 acterized by the lack of hairiness, which was taken as an ex- 

 planation of the greater cleanliness of European clover hay as 

 compared with hay from American clover seed. Seed of this 

 type of clover has been introduced into America from the 

 "Black Earth" region, in the eastern part of the Orel govern- 

 ment of Russia, under the name of hairless Orel clover. In 

 addition to the dustlessness of its hay, this plant is said to be 

 more erect, leaner, more palatable, and to mature ten days or 

 two weeks earlier than the ordinary American red clover.* The 

 North Dakota Station found the plants from American grown 

 seed to be superior to plants from foreign seeds, the chief 

 difference being in the production of plump and valuable 

 seed. 



On the other hand, the German Agricultural Society tested 

 seeds from 15 different sources, and after two years it was found 



1 Soc. Prom. Agr. Sci., 1894. 



2 Buckman: Science and Practise of Farm Cultivation. 



:: Maine Sta. Bui. No. 113 (1905), pp. 28-36. 



4 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. PI. Ind. Bui. No. 95 (1906). 



