112 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



but the bulk is intermediate between these two extremes. As in Red 

 Clover, these different colours do not generally indicate that some 

 seeds are riper than others. Alsike, like Red Clover, consists of a 

 great number of types, which differ not only in the general appear- 

 ance of the plants but also in the colour of the seed. If all the seeds 

 from a single plant are collected, it will be found that, irrespective of 

 age, they are all the same colour. In some plants the seeds are 

 yellowish green, in some they are black, and in others they are green 

 at one end and greenish black at the other. The mixed colour of an 

 ordinary sample is therefore as a rule not due to the seed having been 

 gathered at different stages of development, but to the different types 

 that are mixed together. 



The legal weight of a bushel is sixty pounds. 



Impurities: Alsike as a rule contains more weed seeds than 

 does Red Clover, this being due to the fact that Alsike seed is taken 

 from the first crop, whereas Red Clover is secured from the second. 

 The noxious weed seeds found in Alsike are Night-flowering Catch- 

 fly, Bladder Campion, Canada Thistle, False Flax, Curled Dock and 

 Ribgrass. Other weeds common in it are Green Foxtail, Lamb's 

 Quarters, Sheep Sorrel, Mayweed and Chickweed. Although Black 

 Medick cannot be considered a noxious weed, it is an undesirable 

 impurity when itis as common as it often is in Alsike. 



WHITE SWEET CLOVER {Melilotus alba Desr.) 

 Seed, Plate 27, Fig. 33. 

 Other English name: Bokhara Clover. 



Botanical description: Sweet Clover is biennial with a strong 

 taproot and numerous leafy stems. The latter, which are generally 

 much branched and spreading, reach a height of from two to five 

 feet. When the plants are young they look like Alfalfa, but are 

 readily recognized by their peculiar sweet odour. The leaves are 

 similar to those of Alfalfa but not so numerous. When in bloom 

 the plants are easily identified by their white flowers arranged in 

 long, narrow and spike-like racemes. The flowers are small and 

 more simple in construction than those of Red Clover and Alfalfa; 

 they are more open and consequently give easier access to pollen- 

 gathering insects. The pod is brown when ripe and generally con- 

 tains only one or two seeds. Like that of Trefoil it falls off without 

 breaking. 



