44 
JOSEPH BRECK & SONS 
(CORPORATION.) 
Medium Red (Trifolium pratense). This is the common Red Clover in general cultivation, and too 
well known to need a general description. It is by far the most important of all varieties for the practical 
purposes of agriculture. When sown alone produces hay of splendid quality, and with Timothy or other 
grasses forms a desirable pasture. (Per bushel, 60 lbs.) 
Mammoth or Pea Vine (Trifolium pratense var.). Grows five or six feet high; its stalks are so 
will eat only the leaves, but 
which have been exhausted 
grow where the common 
60 lbs.) 
lium hybridum). This is the 
fast gaining popularity. It 
drought and wet, and on rich 
amount of hay or pasture of 
cut several times in a season, 
liable to wash, as its long, fib- 
area and hold the soil so as 
The heads are globular, very 
liked by bees, who obtain a 
them. (Per bushel, 60 lbs.) 
cago saliva). Where this var- 
ably one of the most valuable 
ever, particularly adapted to 
but flourishes in all western 
fine mellow soil to get it firmly 
thoroughly fixed will produce 
of years. It yields an enor- 
and should be cut when com- 
though a prodigious yielder, 
but on the contrary improves 
adapted, four or five crops can 
(Per bushel 60 lbs.) 
repens'). The value of this 
known, and it is to be found 
ture. It is adapted to all 
plant, it withstands drought 
coarse and large that stock 
by its judicious use lands 
can be reclaimed, as it will 
clover will fail. (Per bushel, 
Alsike or Swedish (Trifo- 
most hardy of clovers, and is 
resists cold and extreme 
moist soil yields an enormous 
a nutritive quality. Can be 
It is well suited to low lands 
rous roots spread over a large 
to resist the heaviest rains, 
sweet and fragrant, and much 
large amount of honey from 
Lucerne or Alfalfa (Jlfedi- 
ietv succeeds well it is prob- 
of all clovers. It is not, how- 
the eastern or nothern States, 
and southern. It requires a 
established, but when once 
a profitable crop for a number 
mous amount of green fodder, 
piencing to blossom. Al- 
it does not exhaust the soil, 
it. In States to which it is 
be obtained in one season. 
White Clover ( Trifolium 
Clover to the farmer is well 
in nearly every natural pas- 
soils. Being a deep-rooted 
Alslko Clover 
on dry, sandy sections. It should form a part of all mixtures for permanent pastures, and is also valuable 
for alternate husbandry, when these crops are sown down for more than one year. (Per bushel, 60 lbs.) 
Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnatum). Is also known as Scarlet Clover and Carnation Clover. 
It is of rapid growth, and of great value where only one crop is desired, sown either alone or with Italian 
rye grass. It is an immense yielder, and can be fed green or made into hay. It may be sown in the fall 
for an early summer crop, or in the spring for cutting in Tuly. (Pei 
Hitting in July. (Per bushel, 60 lbs.) 
MIXTURES FOR PERMANENT PASTURES. 
“ One thing is certain : that good pasture land is the foundation of the riches of a firm.” —Sinclair. 
The oft-repeated complaints of wornout and exhausted pastures, made to us by some of our best New 
England farmers, have long impressed us with the fact that there must be something radically wrong with 
the manner in which our pastures are formed and cared for. Some remedy for this state of matters is im¬ 
peratively necessary, and it seems to us that one most important line of improvement would be the sowing 
of a larger number of species of grasses in the laying out of these pastures. 
As we have already expressed as our opinion, farmers, as a rule, in preparing their mixtures of 
grasses to be used in the laying down of permanent pastures, confine themselves to too few varieties, thus 
failing to arrive at the most profitable results. The chief properties which give value to a grass are nutri¬ 
tive powers, produce, early growth, and reproductiveness (that is, the property of growing rapidly after 
being cropped). If one species of grass could be discovered that possesssed all these qualities in a superior 
degree to every other, there would be no necessity beyond that of botanical science for us to acquire the 
knowledge which enables us to distinguish the different species of grasses, the soils and subsoils best 
adapted to their growth, natural habits, and comparative value ; but the results of all experiments have 
proven that a combination of all the merits and properties which give value to a grass is not to be found in 
any single species, or in fact in any two or three. In sowing a mixture or a number of different varieties 
we are but following nature, who can be always depended upon as the best teacher. This can be easily 
demonstrated by the careful examination of any old, rich, permanent pasture, on which will invariably be 
found fifteen or twenty species of grass or forage plants growing in great profusion. Where, however, it is 
left to nature to supply the necessary plants to make a rich and succulent pasturage, a great deal of valuable 
time is, of necessity, lost, or seven or eight years will elapse before the field will naturally assume the char¬ 
acter of a rich and profitable pasture, while by artificial means the same result can be brought about in one- 
fourth the time. 
In compiling any table of grasses and clovers to be used for permanent pasture purposes there are 
several important features to be taken into consideration. First, the proportion of plants which would be 
produced from the amount of each kind of seed sown should be determined, so that the undue predomi¬ 
nance of any particular variety may be avoided. We have given this point special consideration in prepar¬ 
ing our mixtures. A selection of grasses should be made that blossom at alternate months of the year, as 
it is a well-known fact that there is no month from April to September inclusive, in which some of the val¬ 
uable grasses do not attain their full perfection. 
See Special Offers on third page of cover. 
