932 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER BOOK x 



sowing the corn, but if the laud is weedy it is better to hoe the corn 

 first and then sow the seed. When sown without admixture with other 

 seeds, from 12 to 14 Ib. are required per acre. It is best sown broadcast, 

 but may be drilled if the coulters are placed not more than 5 inches 

 apart. It should not be buried deeply, therefore it is best harrowed in 

 with very light seed-harrows. As it is not affected by clover-sickness, 

 it supplies a very good change in the clover sub -rotation of an ordinary 

 rotation. It is benefited by the direct application of manures, which 

 is not the case with all clovers. It is rarely possible, without going to 

 very first-class seedsmen, to get a sample entirely free from an ad- 

 mixture of cranesbill "seeds " (Geranium sp.), and, more frequently than 

 not, these are present in very great quantity. Dutch clover-seed 

 should be of a golden yellow colour, and somewhat heart-shaped : 

 the cranesbill is in form more kidney-shaped, and is of a ruddy-brown 

 to a liver colour. Sorrel " seed " is a common impurity, but may be 

 easily distinguished by the triangular shape, and hard, glabrous, brown 

 skin. White clover springs up naturally where land is rich, and where 

 there is a considerable quantity of lime present in the soil, and this plant 

 is one of the surest indications of a rich soil. It should always be sown 

 when land is laid down to grass. It is by far the most abundant legu- 

 minous species in the prime old grazing pastures of England, in which 

 it contributes materially to the formation of a close rich bottom herb- 

 age, thriving under continuous treading and grazing. Its specific name, 

 repens, refers to its creeping habit, numerous prostrate stems or stolons 

 being given off at the crown. 



RED OB BKOAD CLOVER (Trifolium pratense, L.) is known also as 

 purple clover or meadow clover. When the land will carry the crop 

 no opportunity should be lost of sowing this most valuable variety. 

 Unfortunately it cannot be grown with great frequency, as the land 

 becomes " clover-sick " and will not support it. Clover sickness is now 

 believed to arise from the attack of a minute eel-worm (Tylenchus 

 devastatrix, fig. 438), but it has hardly been satisfactorily proved 

 whether this parasite causes the disease, or whether, owing to the 

 enfeeblement of the plant from want of proper food, the pest invades 

 the plant when it is in a dying condition, the attack in the latter case 

 being the effect rather than the cause. However this may be, red 

 clover dies out if the land is too frequently cropped with it, whilst if 

 the land is in a healthy condition as regards draining, and has not 

 been cropped with this clover for a number of years, it can be relied 

 upon to afford an abundant yield. The lighter soils are the most 

 susceptible to clover-sickness, and on gravel-loams with an open 

 subsoil it is not safe to attempt to grow the crop more often than 

 once in 12 years. On strong loams with retentive subsoils it is 

 permissible as often as once in 8 years. Attempts are made to grow 

 it as frequently as once in each rotation of four or five courses, but 

 rarely with success. When the crop is taken with such frequency it is 

 in mixture with other seeds, such as ryegrass or the single-cut clovers. 



The best means of insuring a crop of clover in each rotation 



