68 PEEMANENT AND TEMPOEAEY PASTUEES. 



Trifolium pratense is quite unsuited for permanent pastures, 

 but should form a large proportion of an alternate mixture. The 

 great root-growth made during its two years' existence is the 

 best possible preparation for the following wheat crop. 



This Clover is incapable of self-fertilisation, and the Humble 

 Bee is almost exclusively the medium by which pollen is conveyed 

 from anther to stigma. In Australia and New Zealand, where 

 until recently the Humble Bee was unknown, seed has rarely 

 been ripened, and the Eed Clover sown in those colonies has all 

 been imported, principally from England. 



The character and culture of Eed Clover are so well under- 

 stood as to render further remark needless. 



The botanical description and chemical analysis are given on 

 page 166, facing an illustration. 



Trifolium pratense perenne {Perennial Red Clover). — I 

 believe this Clover originated in a cross between Trifolium pra- 

 tense or Broad Clover, and Trifolium medium or Zigzag Clover. 

 The latter has never been in commerce, nor has it been grown 

 as a crop, yet some writers have fallen into the error of con- 

 fusing it with Cow Grass as known in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, 

 Hampshire, and Wiltshire. The farmers of these counties recog- 

 nise the true Trifolium pratense perenne as Cow Grass, and this 

 plant enters largely into the rotation of their arable land. They 

 lind it of immense importance' to them, and are astonished that 

 it should remain unknown in other parts of England, except for 

 the use made of it in permanent pastures. 



Trifolium pratense perenne differs from Broad Clover in 

 having a somewhat taller, smoother, and except in its very 

 young state a less hairy stem, and a stronger, less fibrous, and 

 more penetrating root. It carries its flowers some way above 

 the foliage, surpasses Broad Clover in succulence and weight of 

 crop, and stands frosts much better. 



The root of Perennial Eed Clover reaches down into the 

 subsoil, enabling it to obtain moisture and nourishment in the 



