THE CLOVERS 175 



It makes an excellent pasture grass, and is also often used 

 in lawn mixtures. 



Alsike clover. Alsike clover is named from a town 

 in Sweden, where it is said to have originated. It resem- 

 bles red clover but is of a finer, more delicate type, and 

 therefore does not yield so well. While red clover will 

 produce two crops each season, alsike clover will grow 

 but one. This clover is especially suited to wet heavy soil 

 which will not grow red clover, and in such regions proves 

 a valuable crop. 



TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION 



1. How many acres or clover are now growing on 

 your father's farm? Make a comparison for all the farms 

 represented in the school. What other legumes are raised 

 at your home? Is the clover grown alone, 'or with other 

 hay crops? What are they? 



2. How long have your father's clover fields been 

 down? Ask your father whether clover that has been 

 down two or three years begins to die out? What is the 

 oldest field of clover in the vicinity ? 



3. Secure several samples of red or crimson clover seed. 

 These may be taken from the supply intended for sowing, or 

 from the barn floor where clover is fed. Study these sam- 

 ples with reference to the qualities named in the text for 

 clover seed. What proportion of the seed turns out to be 

 weed seed instead of clover? Can you identify the dif- 

 ferent weeds represented? 



4. Make a seed tester out of two plates and pieces of 

 Canton flannel. Place one hundred seeds of clover be- 

 tween the plates, dampen the cloth and keep warm for four 

 or five days. How many of the seeds have sprouted? What 

 percentage failed to grow? Is it probable that some of the 

 seeds were "hard" ? 



5. If clover seed such as you tested is selling at 

 eight dollars a bushel, what would the good seed in your 

 sample really cost the purchaser? Would a farmer better 



13 



