GRASSES, GRAINS, AND PLANTS. 571 



Trifolium Repens (White Clover; Dutch Clover). This is a 

 small perennial species, with prostrate stems which take root 

 strongly at the joints. It is said to be the shamrock of Ireland. 

 It is a native of Europe and Northern Asia, and has been intro- 

 duced into, and naturalized in, many other countries. It is said 

 that, although indigenous in England, it only began to be culti- 

 vated at the beginning of the eighteenth century. On account 

 of its creeping habit, when once established, it soon covers the 

 ground and spreads extensively. 



Medicago Saliva (Alfalfa). This plant is called Lucerne, 

 medick, Spanish trefoil, French clover, Brazilian clover, and 

 Chilian clover. It is not a true clover, though belonging to the 

 same natural family as the clovers. Alfalfa, the name by which 

 it is commonly known in this country, is the Spanish name, 

 which came into use here from the fact that the plant was in- 

 troduced into cultivation in California from South America, 

 under the name of alfalfa, or Brazilian clover. The plant had 

 previously been introduced into the Eastern and Southern 

 States, but attracted little attention until its remarkable success 

 in California. In Europe it is generally known as Lucerne, 

 probably from the canton of Lucerne, in Switzerland, where it 

 was largely cultivated at an early day. It has been known in 

 cultivation from very ancient times, and was introduced from 

 Western Asia into Greece about 500 B.C. 



Lespedeza Striata (Japan Clover). This plant was intro- 

 duced in some unknown way, over forty years ago, from China 

 into the South Atlantic States. It was little noticed before 

 the war, but during the war it extended north and west, and 

 has since spread rapidly over abandoned fields, along roadsides, 

 and in open woods, and now furnishes thousands of acres of 

 excellent grazing in every one of the Gulf States, and is still 

 spreading northward in Kentucky and Virginia, and westward 

 in Texas, Indian Territory, and Arkansas. It is an annual, and 

 furnishes pasture only during summer, and until killed by frost 

 in the fall. 



Wheat! There are three kinds of grain on which mankind 

 principally feed, wheat, rice, and Indian corn. Of these, 

 wheat is chiefly confined to the colder regions, and in the 

 United States is second in importance to corn. It belongs to 



