540 ON PLANTS IN RELATION TO ANIMALS. 
grown they send up their fuscous spikes of labiate flowers of 
such great size that there is no wonder that the more deli¬ 
cate clover should he killed by it; but what is worst seems 
to be that a somewhat delicate and mild-flavoured plant 
should have its juices converted into a bitter and, perhaps, 
narcotic plant. At any rate, the Orobanche is an ally of 
the S'crophulariacece, a somewhat powerful natural order, and, 
therefore, we are not surprised that cattle do not touch the 
parasite, and so the parasite kills the crop plant. 
The Dodder belongs to a different set altogether. It is a 
near relative of the Convolvulacese, and therefore allied to 
scammony and jalap—highly purgative tribes of plants. 
This, then, is not eaten by cattle, but it kills the crop. 
The dodder we have in clover is clearly a foreign species, 
and it is only after a fine summer and a mild winter that we 
get its full development. Last year’s clover leas were full 
of it, and it left its mark in the rounded patches of dead 
clover plant; but this year it makes little sign of reappear¬ 
ance, and our wet spring has been much against it. 
2. The zigzag clover is a plant which belongs more par¬ 
ticularly to the thicket and the hedge-row. It grows in 
stiff and sandy soils, and is not so partial to lime as the 
meadow r clover. It is on this account that it has been 
recommended for growth on sandy soils, and where the last 
is what has been called clover-sick; but, somehow, it has 
got so hybridised with the meadow clover that the pure seed 
of T. medium is not to be obtained, but a sort can readily 
be got from the seedsman under the name of T. pratense- 
perenne, which is highly esteemed in some districts. 
These two clovers will w r ell repay any attention to their 
cultivation. New strains are easily produced, and we recom¬ 
mend work in this direction, as being capable of doing good 
service. 
Clover hay fetches the highest price in the market, and, 
with the present low price of corn, a good and certain 
perennial strain of clover would much diminish expenses in 
cultivation, and furnish a good and useful food for our 
stock, both in the shape of green soiling food, and preserved 
in the shape of hay. 
