CHAPTER I 
HEAVY SEEDS. 
ALSIKE CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM HYBRIDUM). 
HN spite of the botanical name of this plant, we 
cannot but assert as our firm conviction that it is 
no hybrid at all, because of its distinctive habits 
which show no outward sign of its hybridisation. 
Its name is derived from the town Alsike, in the south of 
Sweden; but why this particular township should have been 
selected for its nomenclature we know not, unless, perhaps 
it was that it was first cultivated there. It is, however, 
indigenous to latitudes of Europe which are situated much 
further south than the country we have named. 
The blossom of Alsike is red and white pied, and the flower 
appears about ten days later than the flower of red clover. 
A few years ago we had an amusing instance which impressed 
upon our minds the different dates of the flowering of Alsike 
and of red clover. 
A neighbouring farmer, who had planted one of his fields 
with a mixture of red clover, containing 4 lb. of Alsike, 
came to us in great distress. He stated that although his field 
was in full bloom, he could not discover a single blossom of 
Alsike, and, therefore, he thought it must have failed him 
altogether. We alleviated his troubled mind by suggesting that 
