THE SELECTION OF GEASSES AND CLOVERS. 67 



auo-ment its growth, as also do dressings of marl or vegetable 

 ash. 



There is a Longhaulmed Diitcli or Wild White Clover 

 whicli is prized for the heavy crop it produces, but much of the 

 seed offered under this name is unreliable, and the best of it will, 

 after a few years' growth in an unsuitable locality, revert to the 

 original type. 



The botanical description and chemical analysis are given on 

 page 164, facing an illustration. 



Trifolium pratense {Bed, or Broad Clover) is said to be 

 indigenous in every country in Europe except Greece. In a 

 wild state its presence is a fair indication of the fertility of the 

 soil. Although a strong-land plant it will grow on almost any 

 soil, and contains so much moisture that only one-fifth of tlie 

 weight of the green crop is found in the liaystack. 



Winter and spring frosts are very injurious to Eed Clover, 

 and to save tlie plant it is often necessary to give a top-dressing 

 of long manure, for which, however, there is a return in due 

 time. 



A considerable diversity can be discerned in the various 

 strains of Eed Clover. Seed is imported from all parts of Europe, 

 and large quantities from JSTorth America. Each country has 

 one or two well-defined types of this plant, and altliough growers 

 may be careful to avoid buying any but so-called English seed, 

 the fact that the stock may only have been imported two years 

 previously will account for the differences which are every j-ear 

 displayed in our crops of Eed Clover. The prejudice existing 

 against foreign seed, especially that from America and France, 

 is well founded. Experience has proved tliat both produce a 

 smaller crop tlian seed saved from a stock which has been 

 acclimatised in England for many years, and tliere is also the 

 great danger of Dodder to be considered. Tlie seed grown in 

 Styria and in some districts of North Germanv, however, is as 

 robust and linrdy as tlie Englisli. 



p 2 



