6 



FARMERS BULLETIN 797. 



first season ; this reserve food enables the plants to make a rapid and 

 vigorous growth early the following spring. 



Toward the end of the growing season of the first year a number 

 of buds, which serve to produce the second year's growth (fig. 4), are 

 formed on the crowns of the plants. After these buds are formed 



FIG. 3. White sweet-clover plants collected from a plat six weeks from the date of 

 seeding. An extensive root system such as is shown here is often developed before 

 much growth is made above ground. 



the plants may be clipped quite close to the ground, as the buds are 

 not developed until the plants have made sufficient growth to live 

 through the winter. 



During the second season sweet clover makes a rapid, erect, 

 stemmy, branching growth from 5 to 10 feet in height, the plants 



