The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-01-20

This new clover is attracting much atssa.
ton at the North, and deserves i rnors gen.
oral testlf its;va1re in the middle States.
we suspect, however, that it 10 chiefly adapt
CD TO mountain regions and sections not
subject to long summers. We find the fol-
lowing intelligent article on the subject i'm
the Country Gentlemen
Editors Country Gensleman.
notice that you are receiving nnmsror.
inquiries concerning the Alsike clover. and
will give my experience on raising th;s
most valuable plant. It is but few yaars
since the weed was imported from sweden.
but it has been cultivated there In tha ma.
tive pastures for many years. The root 10
nprons, and the beads globuIar, with flesh
colored hoWers. The plant bears greater
resemblance to the common white clover
tnan 70 the red. 1t yields two mowinas an
nual!y, II cut expressly for hay when In
full bloom, which In this Latitude il rene.
rally the last Of june OF. the FIRST Of JuIv.
But If cut for seed 1t should stand about
two weeks later, then afording abundance
OF superior pasturage for oil kinds Of stock,
The seed is cut from the FIRST crop. The
Alsike when left to seed has it's stalks and
leaves Jet green when the seeds are ripe,
and produces much better hay than the red
clover when cut for that purpose.
The weight OF seed required to be soyn ia.
according to circumstances, from three to
four pounds per acre; the seed being much
smaller, and branches more, q less quantity
is required than of the red clover. Three
pounds of Alsike seed win seed as much
land as ten pounds Of red clover. Isoued
last spring three and half pounds per
acre, and it is thicker than necessary. The
seed is sown at the usual time of sowing
common or red clover on wheat, oats, or
barley. 1t generally yields from three to
eight bushels of seed per acre. The heads
are formed with pods like the common white
clover, with several seeds. in each pod.
have tried the Alsihe by the side of red clio.
yer, the seed sown at the same time and in
the same field, and find that horses, cattle,
and sheep, will not Craze on the red clover
so long as they can get O good bite on tho
Alsike. My opinion is, there is no other
clover equal to it for the purpose offeeding
cattle, sheep, and horses, and even as fer
tilizer. The red clover will only last from
two to three years in perfection, and often,
if the soil be cold and moist, nearly half
of the plants will rot, and the first or &C.
cond year bald places will be found in
many parts Of the field besides, in Septem-
Der or October, many crops left for seed
are lost in consequence Of heavy rains du-
ring that period, while the Alsikc clover
ripens its seed much sooner, and continues
in vigor much longer. Therefore much
risk and expense are avoided and large pro-
fits accordingly accrue.
Farther, when this plant is once estab-
lishsd, it will remain for many years in
full vigor, and produce annually greater
quantity of heritage of excellent quality.
1t does not suffer from the seyerest frosts
or drought, as the red clover does. It will
flourish on low, cold, clay land, and on
marshes that are drained sufficiently for
growing timothy or redtop. It is as free
from fuzz or dust as timothy, and it will
not produce cough or heaves. 1t will grow
from one and half to three tons of supe-
rior hay per acre, according to season. I
think never saw greater growth Of red
clover than raised this season Of the AL
sike. Growing from three to five feet in
length, it has many more branches, leaves,
and blossoms, growing from the main stalk
than red clover. Therefore the hay is much
finer, and fur superior in quality. In fact,
it is of the same nature as the common
white clover, which oil farmers understand,
except growing to much larger size. All
farmers know, who have had experience.
that common white clover pasture is far
superior to any red clover. Therefore, if
it grew large enough to NOW, it would make
much better hay than red clover. The Al
sike clover blossoms furnish on abundance
of honey for bees. They can work on
them as we'll as on the common white clo-
yer, and gather honey much faster.
EFT. B.
Narenqo, Calhoun county, Mich.