GRASS AND HAY 79 



marshy ones in the Middle and New England States. In the South 

 it is not so successful, nor so highly valued. This clover will thrive 

 where the soil is quite wet, and will even stand flooding without 

 being killed, whereas red clover is quickly destroyed by stagnant 

 water. The foliage is slightly bitter, and it is not relished by cattle 

 as well as that of the red and white clovers. The seed is much 

 heavier than that of any of the other clovers, varying from 94 to 100 

 pounds per bushel. It is never advisable to sow this clover alone, 

 because a better and larger amount of forage is produced when it is 

 grown with grasses. Red top and alsike are as much a standard mix- 

 ture for wet meadows as timothy and red clover for the better and 

 drier uplands. (F. B. 166.) 



The seed is sold under the name alsike clover and sometimes 

 with the additional names hybrid clover and Swedish clover. The 

 identity of the sample Is easily recognized through its mixed green 

 colors. Individual seeds have much the same form as those of 

 white clover, although in some specimens the extremity of the 

 caulicle is relatively more prominent. The colors of the seeds vary 

 from yellowish green to very dark green. The lightest specimens 

 are uniformly colored. The darker colored ones are usually light- 

 est about the scar-bearing extremity, and many of them are mottled 

 with spots of light green. The surface of the lighter seeds is smooth, 

 while that of the darker ones is often finely uneven or roughened 

 All are comparatively dull. Specific means of adulteration do not 

 seem to be employed beyond the use of very weedy, or low-grade, 

 seed of the same kind. Other clover seeds are too light colored to 

 escape detection. 



WINTER BUR CLOVER. 



This plant is gradually taking the commons and roadsides at 

 many places in Texas, growing on all grades of land from the poor 

 sands to the stiff, black waxy lands. The bur clover has two species 

 growing in this country, the Medicago denticulata and Medicago 

 maculata, or spotted leaf kind. The former, also called California 

 clover, is most generally found in Texas. It is growing about almost 

 all the towns from Houston to Dallas. The other kind the writer has 

 seen at Palestine, Jacksonville and Nacogdoches. As the name 

 "Medicago" would indicate, bur clover is closely related to alfalfa 

 instead of the true clovers. While alfalfa, being mostly a summer 

 grower, requires choice land and almost ideal conditions, bur clover 

 grows in winter and early spring, and will thrive on any kind of land 

 with rainfall enough to bring up the seed in the fall, and without 

 any particular effort in the way of preparation. Alfalfa will prob- 

 ably not grow profitably on the great majority of rather thin, sandy 

 or clay uplands of East and South Texas. Bur clover is perfectly at 

 home on these locations after once getting a start. 



Nutritive Value. This plant is probably equal to alfalfa in 

 nutrition ; but since it completes its growth and dies by April or May, 

 it is not generally considered of much value for hay. It would give 

 only one crop of hay, and that not a heavy one. Therefore, it is gen- 

 erally grazed through winter and early spring. It is not relished es- 



