crop. The high cleaning price price of seed at present practically forbids growing clover thus. Whether sweet clover grown for renovating uses should be turned under the season in which it has been sown will depend largely on the growth that has been made. In many instances, the growth made is so rank as to justify plowing it under the following autumn. In other instances, better results will follow plowing it under the next season. It frequently happens that the growth made is so rank that a strong plow and also a strong team are necessary to do the work properly. Value on Alkali soils. This plant has been grown to some extent to aid in removing alkali from soils superabundantly impregnated with the same. It will grow, it is claimed, under certain conditions on such soils so surcharged with alkali as to prohibit almost every other form of vegetable growth. The extent to which it may be thus used profitably had not yet been fully demonstrated. But where it can be grown on such soils, the fact that it takes up and removes relatively large quantities of alkali would appear to be well established. Destroying the Plants. Should the conditions be found so favorable to the growth of the plant that it persists in growing where it is not wanted, it will soon cease to appear, if prevented from going to seed. Ordinarily, the blossoms appear only during the second year of growth. If, therefore, the plants are cut off when in bloom, seed forming will not only be prevented, but since sweet clover is a biennial, the plants will die. When thus dealt with, the only source from which other plants may come while extermination is being thus sought is from seed lodged in the soil and still capable of germinating. CHAPTER XII MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES OF CLOVER In addition to the varieties of clover that have been discussed at some length in previous chapters are a number the value of which may be considerable to areas more or less local and limited. These include Sainfoin, Egyptian clover, Yellow clover, Sand lucerne, Japanese clover, Beggarweed and Seaside clover. Some of these, as Sainfoin and Buffalo clover, have been in the country for several years, and yet but little is known as to their behavior, except in very limited areas. Others, as Buffalo clover, native to the country are thought to have merit, and yet the degree of such merit does not appear to have been yet proved under cultivation. The three varieties but recently introduced are thought to have considerable promise for certain soils and climates to which they have special adaptation, but sufficient trial has not been given them to determine even approximately the measure of their worth to this country. These varieties will now be discussed, but for the reasons stated above it will be manifest that the discussion will of necessity be imperfect and fragmentary in character. SAINFOIN Sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa) is a perennial, leguminous, clover-like forage plant of the bean family. The word Sainfoin is equivalent to the French words for sound or wholesome hay. It is also frequently called Esparcette or Asperset, more especially in Germany. It is further known in England by the name Cock's Head, French Grass and Medick Vetchling. In some parts of France and Switzerland the name has been and probably is yet applied to lucerne (Medicago sativa). In its habit of growth it is more woody in the rootstock than clover and more branched. It also grows to a greater average height. The stems, which are covered with fine hairs, bear numerous leaves long and pinnate. The blossoms are numerous and of an attractive, pinkish color, brightening into a crimson tint. The seed pods are flattened from side to side and wrinkled, and are also sickleshaped. They bear but one seed. The roots are strong and more or less branched. Sainfoin, as already intimated, is perennial in its habit of growth. When a field is once well set with the plants, it should continue to produce crops for a decade, but will eventually be crowded out with weeds or other grasses. It grows very early in the season, quite as early, if not earlier, than alfalfa, and continues to grow until autumn. The feeding value of sainfoin is much the same as that of alfalfa. It is much esteemed where it can be grown for the production of pasture, of soiling food, and also hay, valuable for enriching the land, through the medium of the roots, and also when the tops are plowed under as green manure. Sainfoin is native throughout the whole of Cen |