I909-] 



Trials of Wild White Clover. 



715 



Wild white clover has now engaged attention for some 

 time. In 1886 the Royal Manchester, Liverpool, and North 

 Lancashire Agricultural Society commenced grass and clover 

 seeds' experiments on the late Mr. W. E. Gladstone's 

 Hawarden estate at Broughton Hall, near Chester, on Mr. 

 John Roberts's farm at Saltney. The late Mr. Thomas 

 Rigby, of Cheshire, who was such an indefatigable worker 

 in the cause of agriculture, showed the writer these experi- 

 ments in 1891. In 1886 some small plots had been sown down, 

 (a) with grasses only, (b) with grasses and cultivated white 

 clover, and (c) with grasses and wild white clover. Five years 

 later (a) had as much white clover present as (6), but only a 

 few scattered plants in each case, which were undoubtedly 

 natural to the soil. On the other hand (c) had an abundance 

 of clover plants present. It was perfectly evident that wild 

 white clover seed had produced perennial plants, whereas the 

 plants produced from the cultivated or commercial white 

 clover seed had disappeared within a year or two, although 

 they had come up all right after sowing. The wild white 

 clover seed was collected from old and natural pastures in 

 Kent. This produced smaller plants, which spread con- 

 siderably further than the plants produced from commercial 

 seed. 



In 1906 an excellent opportunity presented itself at Cockle 

 Park for testing wild white clover. A small area of the 

 poorest type of boulder clay soil in Tower Hill field had been 

 summer fallowed in 1905, and was sown with wheat in the 

 autumn. In April, 1906, four one-quarter acre plots were 

 marked off and two of them sown with the following seeds 



(per acre) : — 



Plot I. Plot 2. 



Perennial rye-grass ... ... ... 6 lb. 6 lb. 



Italian rye-grass ... ... ... .. 6 ,, 6 



Cocksfoot ... ... ... ... ... 6 ,, 6 



Timothy 3 3 ,, 



Meadow fescue ... ... ... ... 8 ,, 8 „ 



Red clover ... ... " ... ... ... 4 ,, 4 ,, 



Alsike clover . ... ... ... 2 , } 2 ,, 



White clover ... ... ... 4 ,, 4 



Wild white clover ... ... ... ... - 4 ,, 



Plots i and 2 had exactly the same seeds' mixtures, except 

 that Plot 2 had, in addition, 4 lb. wild white clover seed. 

 The seeds for Plot i cost about 23s. an acre, and as the wild 

 white clover seed for Plot 2 cost is. 6d. a pound, the seeds for 



