WHITE CLOVER 7 



is very nutritious and palatable. Since the seed of Ladino com- 

 mands a much higher price than common white Dutch the sub- 

 stitution of the latter for Ladino may occur in trade without de- 

 tection as the seed of the two cannot be distinguished. The purchase 

 of certified Ladino seed is therefore recommended. 



English Wild White 



For many years farmers in England have been harvesting white 

 clover seed from old established pastures and using it for reseeding 

 in other pastures. English investigators have found it a long-lived, 

 persistent, rapidly spreading, low-growing, sparse-blooming type 

 and have called it English wild white clover. When planted alone 

 in the United States for comparison with commercial white clover 

 from other sources, English wild white has not proved itself as well- 

 adapted as some of the commercial types. Successful seedings with 

 grass, however, have been made in New York State. When the 

 plants of English wild white clover are compared with those of 

 commercial white Dutch, the leaves, stems, and flower heads are 

 found to be much smaller than those of commercial white clover, as 

 shown in figure 2. English wild white does not blossom as freely 

 as common white Dutch. In plantings of white Dutch from com- 

 mercial seed, a few plants may be found which cannot be distin- 

 guished from the English wild white. Examinations of old pastures 

 indicate that they contain low-growing, persistent types, indistin- 

 guishable from English wild white, which may be expected to be 

 more adaptable to pasture conditions in the United States. Many 

 State agricultural experiment stations, in cooperation with the Divi- 

 sion of Forage Crops and Diseases, Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, are endeavoring to deter- 

 mine the relative value of white clover types and how they are 

 affected by different management and fertilizer practices. 



Seed Production 



White clover is naturally a free-blossoming plant in all parts of 

 the United States, but only in a few sections has seed production 

 developed as a farm enterprise. The difficulty in handling a seed 

 crop, the irregularity of seed production, and the presence of large 

 numbers of troublesome weeds are chiefly responsible for the lack 

 of interest in harvesting white clover seed. Yields of white clover 

 seed range from a few pounds per acre to 450 pounds, but yields of 

 150 pounds are considered profitable. The yield of seed depends 

 upon the number of flowers in a unit area and the thoroughness of 

 cross-pollination among the heads. Climatic factors have a pro- 

 found influence upon seed production. Bright, warm weather fol- 

 lowing early cool, moist weather favors abundant blossoming and 

 cross-pollinations. Even when blossoms are abundant, moist, cloudy 

 weather is unfavorable to bee activity, and necessary cross-pollina- 

 tion is, therefore, restricted and seed production reduced. The pres- 

 ence of colonies of honey bees in the immediate vicinity of clover- 

 seed producing fields usually insures a maximum of cross-pollination. 

 A profitable seed harvest may be secured if the flower heads are 

 numerous and contain from 75 to 150 seeds per head. When sup- 



