788 CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK AND COMPLETE STOCK DOCTOR. 



Alsike clover — often called Swedish clover — does well on most soils. 

 and will hear considerahle flooding, if the flooding is not too long contin- 

 ued. We consider it as altogether superior to White cU)ver for pasture, 

 and on soils too wet for Red clover it makes good hay for cattle. 



VI. Alfalfa or Luzerne. 



Alfalfa or Luzerne — its tnie name — is a valuable barn forage; it should 

 be cut and fed fresh or partly wilted. It thrives on deep, dry soils, which 

 are not subject to hard freezing in winter. It has become thoroughly 

 naturalized in California, does exceedingly well on the Western plains 

 in Texas and in New Mexico, as it has done in some of the Southern 

 States east of the Mississippi. It is no longer an experiment. 



Vn. Clovers Not Generally Valuable. 



What we have previoush'^ written under this head, we have since seen 

 no reason to change. There are many other species of clovers, some of 

 them indigenous to the West, which we only mention as a caution against 

 their being sown. These two species of so called Buffalo clover — the 

 upright and the running Buffalo clovers — the upright or yellow clover, 

 and the low hop clover, a half-creeping variety. There is only one more 

 variety worth mentioning, and this simply as a warning to farmers not to 

 sow it, except for bee pasturage, and then only when it may not become a 

 troublesome weed. We have reference to the tree clover or Bokhara clo- 

 ver, specifically the white-flowered melliotus. It has been recommended 

 as valuable for soiling, that is, for cutting green for feeding to stock in 

 stables. We give the same advice about sowing this clover that the 

 crabbed lawyer did to a young client who asked his advice about getting 

 married — Don't. 



If there are bee men near, your hedge rows and waste places will be 

 well seeded with this Bokhara clover. At least such seems to be the 

 case, much to the disgust of the general farming community. It does 

 make good bee pasture — no doubt of it — but it is a nuisance in every 

 other respect. 



VIII. Forage and Feeding Plants. 



We have already spoken of the value of forage plants, and, in a pre- 

 ceding chapter of root crops. Turnips, rape and mustard, so valuable in 

 England and some other parts of Europe, belong to what botanists call 

 cruciferous plants. The ruta-baga, the kohl-rabi and the cabbage are the 

 principal plants of this tribe that are valuable to the farmers in the United 

 States ; and, in the West, these are not especially valuable for feeding. 

 Of the other special fruit and root crops, the gourd family includes 



