BOTANICAL CHARACTERS OF CLOVER. 87 



cultivation, and giving very copious directions about its 

 growth and treatment. 



At the beginning of the next century, Lisle, in his 

 Observations on Husbandry, tells ns that clover was to 

 be seen in general cultivation in Hampshire, Wiltshire, 

 Gloucestershire, and the surrounding districts. It rapidly 

 spread itself throughout the midland and northern districts* 

 and from this period it seems to have kept its place as a 

 regular crop wherever tillage husbandry was practised 

 and stock was kept, the strong clay soils of the dairying- 

 districts only refusing admission to the new and valuable 

 plant. 



CLOVER, as well as many others of our forage plants, 

 belongs to the order LEGUMINOS^E, of which it forms a 

 distinct and important genus, > TRIFOLIUM. The genus is 

 a very numerous one, and includes several species which 

 are cultivated in this country for forage and feeding pur- 

 poses, while many of the others are met with in the natu- 

 ral pastures, both at home and abroad, and add to the 

 value of their produce, whether consumed in a fresh state, 

 or cut and made into hay. 



This genus, which is met with largely dispersed all over 

 the temperate zone, has always been a very difficult one 

 to define, and species have been admitted into or rejected 

 from it according to the views the particular botanist 

 may take of its true characters. Don enumerates no less 

 than 165 species, others again have reduced them to about 

 one-fourth of that number Although the different species 

 vary very much in their agricultural values, still none of 

 them are in any way noxious to cattle, or even trouble- 

 some as weeds. The common species are readily recog- 

 nized by their leaves and flowers ; the leaves are com- 

 posed of three leaflets, having generally a white streaky , 

 mark (subsagittate) in their centre ; the stems are herba- 

 ceous, not twining; the flowers form a compact globular 



