CRIMSON CLOVER — ALFALFA. 145 



with the operations of the farm, it being necessary to sow 

 it as a separate crop. 



An analysis of the hay cut in bloom, as made by Wolff 

 and Knop, show : 



Flesh formers 12.2 



Heating properties 30.1 



Crude fibre 33.8 



Fat '. . 3.0 



Ash 7 2 



It is said to be earlier than lucerne or the common red 

 clover. It may be sown upon wheat or grain stubble in 

 the fall, the land being simply harrowed and the seed sown. 



Few things, -it is said, in the vegetable world, presents 

 a more beautiful sight than a field of crimson clover in full 

 bloom. It is not grown to any extent in this State, a few 

 bunches appearing sometimes in fields with other elover. 

 Its chief value is in its quick return. Sown in autumn it 

 may be mown early the succeeding spring, and so meet any 

 scarcity of provender. 



ALFALFA : LUCERNE— (Medicago Sativa). 



Cultivated for green fodder; belongs to the luguminous family; 

 stems erect, one to two f «et high, from a long, deep root ; leaflet obo- 

 vate-oblong ; racemes oblong ; pod several seeded, linear, coiled about 

 two turns. (Gray.) 



This is, beyond doubt, the oldest cultivated grass known, 

 having been introduced into Greece from Media 500 B. C, 

 and the Romans, finding its qualities good, cultivated it 

 extensively, and by them it was carried into France when 

 Caesar reduced Gaul. It is emphatically a child of the 

 sun, and revels in a heat that would destroy any other 

 species of clover. But cold and moisture are hurtful to it. 

 On the rich, sandy lands of the South it is invaluable, and 

 will grow luxuriantly, making enormous yields of hay. 

 Its. nutritive constituents are almost identical with red 

 clover, but it has one property not possessed by the latter, 

 and that is, it is a perennial. It does not stool as freely as 

 10 



