134 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[From the Agricaltural Keport for 1S6-5.] 



Alsike Clover. 



[Translated from the "Hand-Book of Swedish. Agriculture," 

 by J. AnuHENins, Secretary to the Eoyal Academy of Agri- 

 culture, and lato Superintendent of the TJItuna Agricultural 

 Institute.] 



Alsike CLOvER(trifolium liybridum) is a pale- 

 red perennial species of clover, which, mixed 

 with grass, is cultivated with great advantage 

 on permanent grass land, whether employed 

 for pasture or mowing. This species of clover 

 thrives best on marly clay with a somewhat 

 moist bottom. 



Alsike clover has obtained its name from the 

 parish of Alsike, in Upland, where it was first 

 discovered, and where it grows in the greatest 

 abundance in every field ditch. Besides this, 

 it is found wild with us from Skane up to Hel- 

 singland, and also in Norway and Finland, 

 where, on fallow land, we have seen it growing 

 luxuriantly. This species of clover is conse- 

 quently native to our country, and proves it- 

 self, both here and in the border countries, to 

 be a hardy plant, especially adapted to cultiva- 

 tion in our rigorous climate. It was not until 

 the beginning of the present century that this 

 species of clover was cultivated by us, and in 

 1834 it was introduced into England by Mr. 

 George Stephens, under the name of Alsike 

 dover. Both by this name, as well as by that 

 of Sioedish clover, it is now known not only in 

 England and Scotland, but also in Denmark, 

 Germany, and France, into which countries 

 it is now annually imported from Sweden. 



This species of clover has pale red flowers, 

 a somewhat lank stalk, and oval obtuse leaves, 

 which are less and of a lighter green than those 

 of red clover. The flower-head, growing from 

 the upper leaf joint, is globular, and formed 

 of fragaut blossoms supported by stems. 

 Those blossoms are at first whitish and 

 upright, and subsequently of a pale red, which 

 when the flowering has passed, become brown 

 and somewhat bent. The caly:^is smooth, and 

 its tags of equal length. The seed pods, con- 

 taining three or four grains of seed, extend out 

 of the calyx, surrounded by the withered crown. 

 The seed is much less than that of red clover, 

 is in the form of a kidney, and dark green or verg- 

 ing somewhat towards violet. Yellow green seed 

 of this plant is not ripe. 



Alsike clover does not attain its full luxuri- 

 ance until the second or third year after it has 

 been sown, and during the first year seldom ar- 

 rives at any great degree of growth. It is there- 

 fore best adapted to mixture with grass, for 

 permanent grass land. It yields, on suitable 

 and fruitful soil, rich and good fodder. It loves 

 clayey soil, especially marly clay, with a some- 

 what moist position; but it also thrives on cul- 

 tivated fens and marshes. Alsike clover grows 

 but little after mowing, and no second crop 

 can be expected from it, as is the case with red 

 clover. Both in this respect, as well as in the 

 longer time it requires before it yields a full crop, 

 Alsike clover stands after red clover. Its great 

 and undeniable advantage, on the other hand, 



lies in the fact that it is far more Jiardy than 

 red clover, and can be cultivated on moist soil, 

 and land that is flooded at certain times of the 

 year, on which red clover will not grow. If 

 Alsike clover be mixed with white clover and 

 suitable grass, it yields rich and certain crops, 

 and when cultivated on arable land common 

 red clover may and should be mixed with the 

 seed with which the field is sown, by which 

 the gr-eat advantage is gained that, the first 

 year after sowing, two crops of fodder may be 

 gathered, chiefly consisting of red clover; and 

 that the following years, in the same proportion 

 as the red clover declines the Alsike clever ap- 

 pears in its place, and yields rich and certain 

 crops, together with the grass with which it is 

 sown. 



With reference to cultivation and tending, 

 the same prescriptions will apply, in the main, 

 that are usually given with respect to red clover, 

 with the addition of the following : Alsike 

 clover, in full vegetation, has a greaf tendency 

 to lodge, it should always, when cultivated for 

 fodder, be sown together with grass — by pre- 

 ference with meadow or fox-tail grass on marshy 

 land, and with timothy grass on drier soil. The 

 crops by this means become much richer, and 

 the grass supports the Alsike clover, so that 

 it does not fall down to the ground and rot. 



As Alsike clover seed is not more than about 

 half the size of red clover seed, no more than 

 about half as much, in measure, of the former 

 is required as of the latter, and may be sown 

 winnowed or in its pods like red clover. Every 

 farmer will soon learn by observation what quan- 

 tity of seed is required to the acre. If he uses 

 the unwinnowed, or seed in the pod, the 

 C[uantity required is four or five times greater 

 than if he used the clean seed. 



The quality of grass and other kinds of seed 

 that should be mixed with Alsike clover in 

 sowing, when it is cultivated for fodder, we 

 will specify below. Alsike clover seed, both 

 winnowed and unwinnowed, may be sown in 

 the autumn, directly after the sowing of autumn 

 grain, or in the spring. When the seed is 

 unwinnowed it is considered best to sow it in 

 the autumn; it may, however, also be sown in the 

 spring on the last snow. From the time Alsike 

 clover first Ijegan to be cultivated by us, it has- 

 been found "the unwinnowed seed produces a 

 stronger growth than the winnowed," which 

 has been rightly attributed to the fact that 

 "the tender shoot derives, in part, its first 

 nourishment from the husks that surround the 

 seed." (Annals of the Academy of Agriculture 

 for the year 1819, 2d vol., p. 223.) 



The yield of mixed grass and Alsike clover 

 seed is, on good and rich soil, very considerable. 

 Lundstorm (Hand Book for Farming, p. 294,) 

 considers that it should yield, with certainty, 

 from two to three tons per acre. At Frotuua, 

 in Nerike, in four year.s, one of which was a 

 very dry year, the average yield was nearly 

 two tons of Alsike clover and timothy hay per 

 acre; the largest crop, on well manured and 

 lime-strewed soil, amounted to between four 

 and five tons per acre, (Farming Transactions, 

 2d vol., p. 104,) a yield that certainly cannot 

 be expected, excepting on very rich soil and in 



