( 68 ) 

 WHITE CLOVER ( Trijolium repens.) 



White clover has been lauded to the skies by some, and by others 

 depreciated as a vile weed. It is beyond question, next to blue- 

 grass, one of our most valuable grazing plants. Its analysis shows 

 it to be equal to red clover in most respects, and superior as a fat 

 producing plant. 



It is to the pasture what red clover is to the meadow, and is a 

 suitable food not only for cattle and horses, but for hogs. They 

 thrive amazingly on . . After the first flowering it salivates horses, 

 1<: but has no such effect upon cattle or sheep. 

 As a honey-producing flower, the white 

 clover is not surpassed by any plant, the 

 florets, some years, being almost full of 

 syrup. 



It varies very much in different years, 

 sometimes almost disappearing, then again, 

 another year, being thick in every pasture. 

 So much is this the case, that we have what 

 are called " white clover years." This is due 



to the presence or absence of rain. When 



there is a wet spring white clover appears in great luxuriance every- 

 where, and in dry weather it only shows itself in abundance on 

 moist lands. 



It is indigenous to both Europe and the United States, and, 

 though growing everywhere here, it has to be sown on the Northern 

 pastures. Here it comes spontaneously, almost taking every other 

 grass, and sometimes destroying other grasses. It is an invaluable 

 accompaniment of blue grass, especially triumphant where the blue- 

 grass is pastured too heavily. 



The comparative value of white and red clover, cut in bloom, 

 may be seen by the following analyses by Prof. Way : 



