1906.] 



Notes on Crop Prospects Abroad. 



55/ 



The following note has been communicated to the Board by 



Mr. J. O. Peet, Lecturer to the Herefordshire County Council : — 



Red clover is largely used in alternate 



, ^ , husbandry; in the south of Encfland it is 



{Irifo/iuni prate nse). . 



chiefly grown as a pure crop, while in the 



north and moister districts of the country it is largely sown 



with Italian rye grass for a one year's ley, or with a mixture 



of grasses for a two or three years' ley. Wlien used alone, 



about 16 lb. of seed are usually sown, and in mixtures various 



proportions are employed, the smaller quantities being used 



for leys of longer duration. It grows freely upon practically 



all soils except those which are either very wet or very dry, 



but thrives better and for longer periods upon rich, deep, 



heavy loams, particularly when these contain a fair supply 



of lime. It yields the heaviest crop during the first year, 



but on suitable soils continues to grow a second or even a 



third year. Remunerative crops cannot be grown frequently 



upon the same land ; usually four years, and often a much 



longer period, must elapse after a red clover crop, whether 



grown as a pure crop or in a mixture, before the soil is capable 



of again yielding a good crop of it. Land which is thus unable 



to produce clover is said to be clover-sick. On such land a good 



plant of clover may often be obtained, but during the period 



from October to March most of the plants disappear. This is 



probably not always due to the same direct cause ; it may 



occasionally be due to infection of the ground with the fungus 



Sclerotinia trifoliornin. 



Argentina. — The Board have received through the Foreign 



Office a despatch from the British Consul at Rosario, dated 



* November 6th, stating that the wheat and 



Notes on linseed crops in some parts of the Consular 

 Crop Prospects , , . , , cc I c c ui 



Abroad. district have suffered from unfavourable 



weather and from locusts. It is at the 



present time impossible to obtain reliable information of the 



quantity of grain there will be for. export, but it is now known 



* See "Red Clover Seed and its Impurities," Jo?irnal, Vol. XII., No. 12, 

 March, 1906. 



