Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-01-23
AIsike Clever.


white species; is often called Swed-
ish clover, because of its extensive
use in Sweden. II is supposed to
have been cultivated in Northern
France at the end Of the last century,
aud was brought to England about
1894, it's use becoming general
throughout the countries of Europe,
chiefly during the present century.
The exact time Of it's introduction
into America have been unable to
discover.
Alsike seems but little affected by |
extreme seasOns, and mixed with |
other plants will last from three to
eight or ten years, according to cir
cumstanees. / know of place that
now in its fourth year is as thick |
and healthy as when first sown.
Large yields of first-class crops can
be secured from soils on which other
crops will not grow. The wild a.
sike is found on damp meadows and
uncultivated land. 1t Is almost in
sensitive to cold, is not liable TO be
uprooted, aud late frosts seldom in
jure it. A moist season Is rather
favorable than otherwise. It's root
system is rather superficial. and
though not destroyed by drouth the
yield is much reduced.
Alslke does best on rather damp
loans or clays, and does well Oh
land too wet for other clovers, and
though 1t succeeds on light, dry soils
is not 80 well adapted to them as
red clover 1t is not subject to
Glover sickness" and can be sue
cessfuily grown on land "sick" for
red clover. The surface soil should
tbe tnanured for the best results with
alsike, owing to It's superficial foot
tsystem. 1t removes less mineral
fh1atter from the soil than red clover.
II Is not well adapted to growth by
Itself, since the stem is bent
at the base and lies along the
ground. A sowing of pure alsike is,
therefore, not advisable; the best,
and think the usual mixture, is
One-half red clover and One.fourth
each Of alsike and timothy. The
timothy serves as support and pre-
vents it from going down. Timothy
ard alsike are extremely valuable as
a mixture for moist, heavy soils. 1t
flowers later than red clover, aud
for this reason also is more valu-
able than the red as mixture with
timothy. The nutritive value is
should be cut at that time to secure
the best results. IL contains more
water and leaf than red clover, and
~ sometimes difficult to secure tor
hay, and, owing to the fact that the
leaf contains more albuminoids than
the stem, care should be used in
harvesting in order to secure the
whole plant. Alsike is also very
suitable for pasture, though not
eaten so readily by live stock as
white clover.
Alsike Is also very valuable seed
crop and in Germany large quanti-
ties are grown for this purpose. The
seed must be taken from the first
crop unless that crop is cut very
early in the season, so that the Sec
ond one may mature. The seed
readily falls out of the pod, thus
rendering threshing easy, though
also making 1t necessary to use great
caution in getting the crop. This
should be taken when the heads are
brown, and should be threshed out
after becoming thoroughly dry,
otherwise the seeds will be crushed
in threshing.
The impurities of alsiKe seed are
much the same as red clover; fodder
Is especially frequent, particularly
In European seed. One pound of
pure seed contains on an average
100000 seeds. A bushel varies in
weight from "a to 100 pounds. One
pound OF red clover averages about
$50, 600 seeds, and weighs about "a
pounds per bushel. The yield of
alsike seed in pounds per acre is
almost as great rs red clover, while
the seeding power is over one and
one-half grelter Nine pounds of
pure seed is sufficient for one acre
Alsike has been grown success
fully for number of years in New
Jersey, aud is regarded 10y practical
farmers as very valuable addition
20 their fodder and crops, though
not supplanting or proving ~ valu-
able as red slower In "A rotation. T..
Is, VOORHEES,, y. j. Elk. station.