SWEET CLOVER I GROWING THE CROP. 



producing only a moderate number of leaves, which drop as the seed 

 matures. A large number of loose racemes bearing white flowers 

 (see fig. 2) are produced during the flowering period, which usually 

 lasts from three to five weeks. 



Before sweet clover has made a growth of 12 to 18 inches it closely 

 resembles alfalfa. The plants may be distinguished from alfalfa by 

 the absence of pubescence on the under side of the leaves and by 

 their bitter taste. When they are in bloom they may be identified 

 easily by their long, loose racemes of white flowers and their open, 

 coarse growth. Unlike alfalfa, the seeds are ordinarily found singly 

 in the pods. Two seeds 

 may occasionally be 

 found, and very rarely 

 three, in a single pod. 



STRAINS 



OF WHITE 

 CLOVER. 



SWEET 



A number of different 

 strains of white sweet 

 clover are to be found 

 in the average field, but 

 most of them are not 

 as marked or as con- 

 spicuous as the different 

 strains of red clover. 

 The principal differ- 

 ences between strains of 

 sweet clover are in leafi- 

 ness, habit of growth, 

 and date of blooming. 



Occasional plants are 

 especially h e a v y seed 

 producers and bear 

 many pods containing 

 more than one seed. 

 Other plants bloom ear- 

 lier than the average 

 date for white sweet clover, and it ma} 7 be possible by selecting such 

 strains to find one which matures early enough to produce two crops a 

 season at high altitudes in the northern sections of the United States. 



Fields of an exceptionally early blooming strain were found in 

 Illinois, Iowa, and Xorth Dakota in the summer of 1916. The 

 plants were different in type of growth from the ordinary white 

 sweet clover, being most conspicuous from the fact that they were 



FIG. 4. Buds produced on the crown of a sweet-clover 

 plant at the end of the first season's growth. These 

 buds will produce the first crop the second season. 



