CHAP. n. COW GRASS AND TRIPOLI UM. 935 



Cow GRASS (Trifolium pratense perenne) is a variety of the Red 

 Clover, which is much slower in coming to maturity than the common 

 form. It grows a very heavy crop, which is fit for mowing some 

 weeks later than the ordinary red, and hence yields but little after- 

 math, as the season is too far advanced for it to make a second heavy 

 growth, it is therefore called a single- cut clover. The seed is indis- 

 tinguishable from that of the common red, and the cultivation is exactly 

 similar. It is, however, better suited for long leys, and is recom- 

 mended in mixtures selected for sowing down land. It is not so 

 liable to be affected by clover-sickness as the common variety, but it is 

 not unusual for crops to be destroyed by this malady. Its chief value 

 in arable culture arises from the fact that it is at its best at the period 

 when the common variety has been cut, and is not fit to stock again. 

 A few acres of Cow Grass are therefore especially useful at a critical 

 time in a droughty season. 



ALSIKE (Trifolium hybridum, L.) has come into prominence during 

 the last thirty or forty years, but it is not likely that its cultivation 

 will extend. It is a single-cut crop, and its chief value arises from its 

 immunity from clover-sickness, which renders it useful as a change 

 crop in the clover rotation. It grows freely on most soils, but is 

 perhaps grown to the greatest advantage on the medium loams. The 

 seed should be of a dark green colour, as the lighter-coloured samples 

 are weaker in their powers of germination. It is a seed which is 

 often sold with a large quantity of impurities, such as sorrel, wild 

 geranium, and wild pansy (Viola sp.) seed. It is sown at the same 

 times as are the clovers previously mentioned, and from 12 to 16 Ib. 

 are seeded to the acre. Alsike is named after the village of Syke, near 

 Upsala, in Sweden. 



CRIMSON CLOVER (Trifolium incarnatum, L.), or Italian clover, 

 commonly called " trifolium," is emphatically a single -cut clover, for, 

 whereas some of those so-called are often allowed to grow a small after- 

 math, this is never left for a second cut. It is most commonly grown 

 as a catch-crop. In Wilts and Hants, where the climate and soil are 

 particularly suited to its cultivation, it is grown to some extent on all 

 farms, but in colder and later districts it is only occasionally sown, 

 and in the extreme North it is never cultivated. The land requires 

 less preparation for this crop than for any other grown on the farm. 

 All that is necessary is for the seed to be sown on a cereal stubble, 

 after which it only requires harrowing in : ploughing is prejudicial to 

 its growth, as it requires a firm root-hold near the surface. The 

 sowing should be commenced as soon after the corn crop is harvested 

 as possible, and the trifolium will be fit for feeding in May. From 

 18 to 24 Ib. of seed are sown per acre. This plant is not affected by 

 clover-sickness ; and, as it matures so quickly, it is found to be very 

 useful for re-placing any plants of clover sown in the spring which 

 have failed during summer, whether the loss of plant is due to drought 

 or to smothering by the corn crop. 



