260 CLOVERS 



roots are numerous and fibrous. They cannot go 

 down into the soil so deeply as the larger clovers; 

 hence, the dwarfing effect of dry seasons upon the 

 growth. 



This plant is exceedingly hardy. It comes out 

 from under the snow with a green tint, and the 

 leaves are not easily injured by the frosts of autumn. 

 The growth is not rapid until the general late rains 

 of spring fall freely. It then pushes on rapidly, 

 and, sending up innumerable flower stems, turns 

 the pastures in which it abounds into immense 

 flower gardens in the months of May and J 1i ne, ac- 

 cording to the latitude of the locality. The bloom 

 remains out for a considerable time, and free graz- 

 ing has the effect of prolonging the period of bloom. 

 Under such conditions, blossoms continue to form 

 and mature seeds during much of the summer. 

 \Yhen these escape being grazed, they fall down 

 upon the land and aid in forming additional plants. 

 Hence it is that when white clover has once pos- 

 sessed a soil, it so stores the land with seed pos- 

 sessed of so much vitality that subsequently white 

 clover plants grow, as it were, spontaneously on 

 these lands when they have been thus grazed even 

 for a limited term of years. 



The power of this useful plant to travel and 

 possess the land is only equalled by that of blue 

 grass. When timber lands are cleared, white clover 

 plants soon appear, and in a few years will spread 

 over the whole surface of the land. But the amount 

 of grazing furnished by it varies greatly with the 

 character of the season. Some seasons its bloom 



