291

CHAPTER XI.
Sweet Clover 300

CHAPTER XII.
Miscellaneous Clovers 316

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG. PAGE.
1 Alsike Clover--_Frontispiece_.
2 Medium Red 61
3 Alfalfa 115
4 Field of Alfalfa 171
5 Alsike 195
6 Crimson 239
7 White 259
8 Japan 281
9 Sweet 301
10 Sainfoin 318
11 Beggar Weed (Flower and Seed Stems) 339
12 Beggar Weed (Root System) 341

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY

In this book all the varieties of clover will be discussed that have
hitherto been found of any considerable value to the agriculture of
America. Varieties that are of but little value to the farmer will be
discussed briefly, if discussed at all. The discussions will be
conducted from the standpoint of the practical agriculturist rather than
from that of the botanist. It is proposed to point out the varieties of
clover worthy of cultivation, where and how they ought to be cultivated,
and for what uses.

=Definition of Clover.=--According to Johnson's Encyclopaedia, clover or
trefoil is a plant of the genus _Trifolium_ and the family _Leguminosae_.
The Standard Dictionary defines it as any one of several species of
plants of the genus _Trifolium_ of the bean family _Leguminosae_. Viewed
from the standpoint of the American farmer it may be defined in the
collective sense as a family of plants leguminous in character, which
are unexcelled in furnishing forage and fodder to domestic animals, and
unequaled in the renovating influences which they exert upon land. The
term _Trefoil_ is given because the leaves are divided into three
leaflets. It is also applied to plants not included in the genus, but
belonging to the same order.

The true clovers have their flowers collected into roundis