500 TOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
FERTILISATION OF RED CLOVER IN NEW 
ZEALAND. | 
BY J. B. ARMSTRONG. 
At the request of Professor Hutton, I have prepared a few 
notes embodying my observations respecting the fertilisation of 
the common red clover in New Zealand. It has been frequently 
asserted that the red clover does not produce its seeds in this 
Colony, but the facts are certainly far otherwise. During the 
21 years I have been in the Colony I have had frequent oppor- 
tunities for ascertaining the true facts of the case, and during the 
whole of that time have never had any difficulty in obtaining 
abundance of excellent red clover seed. It is perhaps not gene- 
rally known that we have in the Colony three or four varieties 
of the red clover :—(1) The cow-clover, a very large and fine 
variety, with large purplish red flowers. (2) The common red 
clover of England, dwarfer and less durable in character than 
No. 1, but similar in the flowers. (3) A stout habited dwarf- 
growing variety, with paler coloured flowers, much smaller than 
those of Nos. 1 and 2. And (4) a pure white variety, which is 
at presentvery rare. The whole of these varieties produce seeds 
of good germinating quality, but there is a wide difference in 
their respective degrees of fertility. For instance, No. 1, when 
growing in the fields, produces about 8 to 10 seeds per head, 
occasionally much more, but most generally, I believe, about the 
former number. When two plants were covered up by a fine- 
meshed sieve, 20 heads yielded only 16 seeds, and consequently 
this variety may be safely assumed to be self-sterile, or nearly 
so. No. 2, the common red clover, is, however, much more fer- 
tile, yielding in the open field as many as sixty (60) or seventy 
(70) seeds per head, and I am satisfied that it is becoming 
naturalised throughout the Colony. Numerous instances have 
been brought under my notice where large patches of red clover 
have been formed by the natural increase of one or two plants 
which had accidentally appeared among artificially-grown grasses. 
It is impossible, therefore, to doubt that this variety is suffi- 
ciently fertile to continue its species in this country without the 
importation of any more seeds from Europe. When covered by 
the sieve this variety was, however, much less fertile than when 
exposed, 20 heads producing only 122 seeds, or a trifle over six 
seeds per head. From this fact I am inclined to believe that the 
variety is partly self-sterile and partially self-fertile, the larger 
flowers being probably visited by bees, moths, or other insects, 
whilst the paler and shorter flowers are probably self-fertile, the 
pollen being applied to the stigmas by the withering of the 
corolla, as appears also to be the case with the common pea 
(Pisum sativum) and the sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus), 
