196 



PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL BOTANY 



reflexed on the peduncle of the head. Cross pollination by insects is neces- 

 sary for the production of seeds. The small pods are usually four seeded. 

 Utility. The plant is adapted only for pasturage, as it does not attain 

 sufficient height to be mown for hay. Some attribute the fine flavor of 

 the mutton from the Southdown breed of sheep in England, as due to the 

 animals feeding on the white clover pasturage of the chalk downs of the 

 south-eastern part of that country. However, that may be, white clover is 



a plant which can withstand the close crop- 

 ping to which turf is subjected by flocks of 

 sheep feeding in the open. White clover is 

 frequently used in lawn mixtures, but on 

 golf courses, it is not usually welcomed. 

 The good points of white clover as a turf 

 plant are its ability to grow on poor soil, to 

 form a close, dense mat, and to withstand 

 very close clipping. On putting greens, 

 white clover is looked upon as a weed. 



Rotation. The seed crop matures in July 

 and August in the northern states and the 

 yield of seed varies from two to six bushels 

 per acre. A two-year rotation of barley one 

 year followed by white clover for seed the 

 second is common in eastern-central 

 Wisconsin. Elsewhere, it is seeded with 

 bluegrass, and rarely, if ever, causes bloat 

 as red clover is apt to do. The giant white, 

 or Ladino clover (Trifolium repens var. lata) 

 is a tall-growing variety of white clover 

 originally from Italy affords good pasturage. 

 Sweet Clover (Melilotus alba). The 

 ordinary, white sweet clover is a biennial 

 plant developing from a heavy tap-root with lateral branches and with 

 small white tubercles on the smaller rootlets and near the crown of 

 the root. During the first year, it is an erect, stemmy plant with some- 

 what scattered leaves. These leaves are petioled and pinnately trifoliate 

 and at their bases are large stipules. The flowers are small borne in long, 

 slender racemes (Fig. 83). The calyx teeth are short and subequal. 

 The standard is obovate, or oblong, the wings oblong and the keel short 



Bot., U.S. Dept. of Agriculture) 



Experiment Station, Iowa State 

 College, 1903, p. 352.) 



