76 PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY PASTURES 



and cut before the herbage is too old, it makes excellent hay 

 which is much rehshed by stock. In such a case the roots 

 cannot be depended on for another crop, but if pastured 

 and kept constantly down the plant will provide a bite all 

 the summer. 



The small foliage of Trifolium minus is admirably suited 

 for lawns and pleasure grounds. 



MEDICAGO LUPULINA 



(Commo7i Yellow Clover, Trefoil, Nonsuch, Black Grass, or 'Hop'). 



A fibrous-rooted biennial which flowers from JMay to 

 August, and to a casual observer closely resembles YeUow 

 Suckling ; but the foliage is a paler green, the stems much less 

 hard and wiry, the flowers not so dark, whilst the entire 

 plant is usually covered with a fine down. The black seed- 

 pods, which have earned for it the name of ' Black Medick,' 

 are also useful as a means of identification. Trefoil starts so 

 early in spring as to give a bite before any other clover, and 

 flowers ten or fifteen days in advance of Trifolium prateiise. 



Although the procumbent habit of growth prevents the 

 plant from yielding much herbage for the scythe, and there 

 is very little aftermath, the quantity of keep in spring is con- 

 siderable. Trefoil is primarily adapted for alternate husbandry, 

 being only biennial in duration. Seed is, however, so freely 

 shed by this clover as to render it practically permanent, and 

 as chemical analysis shows the herbage to be nutritious, there 

 is good reason for including a small proportion in most 

 permanent mixtures, especially as it grows compactly and 

 helps to make a good bottom to a pasture. Where Trefoil is 

 indigenous in abundance, seed need not be sown, nor should 

 it be admitted to those soils on which it is liable to smother 

 other plants. 



Common Yellow Clover endures cold better than heat, 

 will grow freely on almost any soil, and shows preference for 



