LEGUMIXIFER^. 39 



the free part very short, trianprular, acuminated into a slender 

 awn-like point, and marked witli anastomosinc^ veins. Flower- 

 heads 1 to 1^ inch in diameter, sometimes in pairs, sessile or very 

 shortly stalked beyond the uppermost pair of leaves, which are of 

 iinc^qual size, with the stipules dilated so as to he as broad as long, 

 and embracing the head of flowers. Calyx-tube with 10 distinct 

 elevated nerves, sometimes glabrous ; teeth very slender, from a 

 triangular base, not very unequal in length. Corolla f inch long, 

 dull purplish-pink, or more rarely ochreous-white, turning bi-own 

 as it fades ; petals united into a tube at the base. Pod small, 

 opening by an operculum. Seed ovoid, smooth. Plant more or 

 less hairy. Leaflets frequently with a curved transverse white 

 mark in the middle. 



Var. 3, which is the common wild state of the plant, is smaller 

 in all its parts, the stems being rarely above a foot long, and less 

 erect, sometimes indeed procumbent, and always more or less 

 curved towards the base ; the stipules, especially, are much smaller, 

 being from j to J inch long. The plant is generally more hairy, 

 especially on the calyx ; and as the calyx-teeth spread more la 

 fruit, the fruiting heads look rougher. The flowers generally are 

 of a deeper purple. 



Var. 7 has the flowers very much smaller than either in a or 3, 

 and the i^rojecting calyx-teeth give a bristly aspect to the heads, 

 which does not belong to either of the others. 



Marl Grass, Soneysuckle Trefoil, Bed Clover, Honeystalks. 



French, Trifie des Fres. German, Both Klee. 



The red Clover is perhaps the best known and commonest of our field crops, and 

 is most important to the farmer as a fodder plant in this country. In its wild state it 

 is perennial, but when grown artificially, it seldom lasts many years. It is usually 

 sown, with corn, in the spring, and allowed to grow up after the crop is reaj)ed ; pas- 

 tured by sheep and cattle, and either cut for hay the following year or mowed several 

 times like lucerne, and employed for soiling or feeding in the farmyard. Rye-grass is 

 commonly sown with Clover, being considered to correct the heating properties of hay 

 made from Clover alone. Clover succeeds best on a deep sandy, but rich soil, which is 

 favourable to its long roots ; but it will gi'ow on any soil, provided it be dry. Marl, 

 lime, or chalk, is very congenial to Clover — containing much alkaline matter and 

 lime ; it will not flourish on land that has been exhausted of these substances, and 

 which, consequently, becomes, in agricultural phrase, "clover-sick." Hence, it ought 

 not to be grown without allowing some years to elapse between each crop. On good 

 Boils fitted for its production, Red Clover will yield upwards of three tons of hay per 

 acre. Like most plants of the kind, it is very succulent, and requires careful drying 

 before it is stacked. In some parts of Russia it is allowed to ferment in heaps before 

 drying, and cattle are said to relish it in this condition. To obtain clover-hay iu its 

 most nutritive state, it is desirable to cut it before it is in full flower, — a rule which 

 applies to all similar crops. The nutritive qualities of Red Clover, according to Sir 

 Humphry Davy, are as follows : — In 1,000 parts he found 39 of soluble or nutritive 

 matter, 31 of starch or mucilage, 3 of sugar, 2 of gluten, and 3 of insoluble matter 



