DUTCH OR WHITE CLOVER 653 



red clover : about 90 per cent, should be expected. Hard seeds 

 average 9 per cent. 



^Veighi'. — The weight of 1000 seeds varies considerably; a 

 minimum of 0446 gram and maximum of O'S gram are recorded. 

 In a good sample it should be about o-6S gram. The bushel- 

 weight is 66 lbs. 



Dutch or White Clover {Trifolhm repem L.). — There 

 appear to be two varieties of this plant in the market, the Wild 

 White and Ordinary White Clover. The former is more per- 

 manent than the latter, but the seeds cannot be distinguished from 

 each other. 



Form and Size. — Like alsike, white clover seeds are 

 heart-shaped. The radicle, which is not quite so 

 straight as in alsike, generally reaches nearly the 

 length of the cotyledons and projects outwards (Fig. 

 204). The size is variable, but usually very slightly 

 smaller than alsike. A common defect is want of s°ed°o~ 

 plumpness, some of the seeds appearing fiat and white dover. 

 thin through imperfect development and pressure in the 

 pod. 



Colour .and Brightness. — The colour of well-ripened fresh 

 seeds is a pale golden yellow. Yellowish-brown seeds are 

 common also, as well as some of a bright canary tint. Immature 

 specimens incline to a greenish-yellow hue. Old seed changes 

 to a darker colour, eventually becoming brick-red. The 

 fraudulent application of sulphur fumes — sulphur dioxide gas 

 — in order to restore the colour of aged specimens, is sometimes 

 adopted. Seeds subjected to this process usually show an acid 

 reaction when shaken up with distilled water and tested with 

 litmus paper. 



Purity. — This should be about 98 per cent., the impurities 

 being the same as those met with in alsike and red clover. 

 Sometimes adulteration with seeds of yellow suckling clover (see 

 below) is practised. 



