However good our meadows and pastures may be, it is but natural that we should wish to keep them in good condition, and, if not so good, our object should be to improve them.
We have already adverted to weeding as a requisite in the improvement of meadow; we are equally clear upon the subject of draining. On both of these points, however, we have met with opposition. The farmer who considers that all is hay that he can get together in a rick, may look more to mass than quality, though even here we are inclined to think that if we take hay and pasture together, the more grasses and the less of rubbish we can get a field to grow, the greater will be our produce in quantity and quality.
With regard to draining, we are told that it takes the goodness out of the meadow; but if we have a meadow on clay—we will suppose lias or Oxford clay,—with only a few inches of a stiff soil at the surface, we shall find that those few inches are the only available root ground. Drain, and then we shall soon see that air will follow the water: this united, air and water will decompose plant-feeding matter never before reached.
Now, where the mistake has been made is, that from this time the herbage gets less and less coarse, and perhaps in some seasons would not produce theweight of hay; but what there is both of hay and grass would be much improved, and would become capable of carrying better stock.
The following reply[3]of Mr. Bailey Denton to some objectors to draining in Middlesex is, we think, much to the point on this important subject:—
Mr. Denton stated that he had been recently over the estate of Lord Northwick, near Harrow, in company with the noble lord and some friends and tenants. On that occasion the question of the reluctance of hay farmers to drain the land was discussed, and the farmers said that as they always had a great deal of custom in London for hay, of whatever quality it was, they did not seek so much for quality as for quantity, and consequently did not think it worth while to drain the land for feeding purposes, although they admitted that draining made the herbage sweeter and better for cattle. The present system, under which the grass-land of the Harrow district had been cultivated for many years, alike impoverished the hay farmers and the land; and he was of opinion that if drained, the latter would produce grass of a much better quality, and equally as much in quantity. He thought a good plan would be to feed off part of the land and put the other into hay.
Mr. Denton stated that he had been recently over the estate of Lord Northwick, near Harrow, in company with the noble lord and some friends and tenants. On that occasion the question of the reluctance of hay farmers to drain the land was discussed, and the farmers said that as they always had a great deal of custom in London for hay, of whatever quality it was, they did not seek so much for quality as for quantity, and consequently did not think it worth while to drain the land for feeding purposes, although they admitted that draining made the herbage sweeter and better for cattle. The present system, under which the grass-land of the Harrow district had been cultivated for many years, alike impoverished the hay farmers and the land; and he was of opinion that if drained, the latter would produce grass of a much better quality, and equally as much in quantity. He thought a good plan would be to feed off part of the land and put the other into hay.
[3]Discussion Royal Agricultural Society, March 21, 1863.
[3]Discussion Royal Agricultural Society, March 21, 1863.
If asked what would be our criteria as to the necessity of draining, we should say stagnant water at any time.
Plants, however, afford evidence to be depended upon; as thus take the indications of a few weeds common to wet meadows:—
Now, as regards very wet meadows, it is found that they are seldom if ever manured; for, just as I was told as regards some of the low lands on the banks of the Yeo, in Somersetshire, that it did not pay to manure them; so one might easily imagine that where the land is full of water, and perhaps of moisthumus, manure would not tend to the increase of good grass, though it might to that of thistles and buttercups.
Meadows that are sufficiently sound to yield tolerable hay are too much worked to this end, and are, we think, getting poorer. The Cheshire pastures offer a good example of the effects of greed in this matter. A century ago we feel sure its grass-producing powers were far beyond what they are now. Grass is gone in hay and bones and cheese, but for generations the farmer has gone on depasturing to make manure; but as it will be seen, on reflection, that cattle can only deposit as manure, matter which they have taken from the field and converted into manurial substance, they cannot add any new material: so then this method of restoration must fail at last. Another restoration employed in this county was that of using their salt as a top-dressing. This, as it killed all the coarse grass, and so converted it into manure, recovered the pasture, by, out of bad and rough grass, growing good ones; but this too would fail in time. Hay, the framework of growing cattle, and cheese, have gone on converting the phosphates and the bone matted of the soil into their substances, and it is now found that returning this in the shape of bones and superphosphates is rapidly effecting an improvement.
Hence, then, we would recommend less of greed inhaymaking. Do not ripen the grasses too much before cutting. Don’t trust to grazing for restoring the phosphates and other ingredients of the hay, but bring them in the shape of manure.
Use heavy rollers in spring to smooth and consolidate the soil; replant the roots thrown out by worms; mat the turf more thoroughly together; and crush larger but useless plants.
There is, then, less difference between the cultivation of pasture and of arable land than would at first be thought.
Drainage, acts of husbandry, amelioration of soil by rubbish of all kinds where too tenacious, manuring them by farmyard dung, or, failing this, such artificial manures as bones, superphosphates, guano, nitrates, soot, &c.,—these are the sheet anchors in the improvement of our pastures; and by these we should realize the hope ofmaking two blades of good grass grow where one did before.
The homes of our fair country are so much beautified by our nicely-shaven lawns, which nowhere are so green and smooth as in “Merrye Englande,” that a few words upon their management can hardly be out of place in a treatise on grasses; we would, therefore, direct attention to the following questions connected with the maintenance of lawns in a good condition.
1. Lawns should have grasses which combine the finest possible leaf-growth with a capability of restoring growth and colour under constant cutting.
2. Lawns should be entirely free from plants other than grasses, unless we except the Dutch clover.
3. Lawn grasses should possess the property of intimately weaving one with the other.
4. After cutting, they should grow as near the same height as possible.
Sheep's Fescue (again)Fig. 22(bis). Sheep’s Fescue.
Fig. 22(bis). Sheep’s Fescue.
1.Fine Lawn Grasses.—The annexedengraving(Festuca ovina) represents one of our finest-leaved grasses; it is one, too, that will even bear the constant nibbling of sheep without losing either its vitality or its colour. This, and a larger variety called theF. duriuscula, are two forms of this genus well adapted for lawns.
If to these we add theLolium perenne,Poa pratensis,andCynosurus cristatus, we shall have nearly all the useful lawn grasses. As regardsPoa pratensis, we should, however, leave it out where we have borders cut in the turf, as its creeping underground stems are mischievous, from their habit of getting into the borders with the flowers. This, of course, would lead us to discourage any couch-like grass. If, then, we have plots, and the soil of the lawn be sufficiently moist, we should recommendPoa trivialisto be sought in its stead.
Something like uniformity of colour is desirable; as, if we see bunches of the silvery-leaved Soft Grass, or the brown patches of theFiorin, it is so unsightly that we should feel the necessity of introducing a new turf where it occurs.
2.Lawn Weeds.—Plantains, dandelions, and daisies can only be considered weeds whenever they occur in grass, but especially in the lawn. They are easily guarded against, if in laying down turf we only choose clean specimens, or in laying down seeds we obtain pure samples, and sow them on well-cleaned ground. But however careful we may be, we shall be sure of a few weeds. These can be kept under by cutting themout with a knife, taking care to drop a pinch of salt on the crowns that we leave behind; and then, if we use a little fine lawn-grass seed to the vacant places, and well roll after the process, we shall certainly keep them under. This should be done in spring, and not in autumn, as we shall then be more certain of success, upon the principle before explained.
If, despite all we do, a few crowns still send up shoots, our mowing must always be frequent enough to prevent their seeding; and as in the height of summer, seeding, in the case of all three of the plants, will take place in a few days, such neglect as our own lawn once got when we were away for a month’s vacation, in not being mowed sufficiently often, may take years to remedy.
3.The Mixture of Grassesis secured by constant mowing and rolling, by which means anything like a wild method of grass-growth is avoided. When, however, a lawn is left for a long time without such careful treatment, some of the grasses are sure to stool out and grow bunchy. In this case, the quickest way of putting the matter to rights will be to remove the offending tufts, and introduce new turf, taking care to keep the whole in order by the scythe and the roller.
Talking, however, of these implements of lawn-culture reminds one to remark that with some the scythe and roller are almost discarded, at least in summer. Our own lawn is rolled with an iron roller during the winter and early spring; but when mowing begins, we prefer the new lawn-mowing machines. We have now used one of Samuelson’s for four years, and it has not cost us a single sixpence for repairs; astrong boy can use it, and it possesses the advantages of cutting close and evenly, collecting not only the cut grass but scattered leaves as it goes, and, withal, most completely rolling the turf at the same time. We are, too, not awoke by scythe whetting at four o’clock in the morning, to secure the dew upon the grass, as the dry part of the day is perhaps the best for the use of the mowing-machine.
There is, then, no excuse for weeds or bunchy grass with a mowing-machine, as the whole operation, as here described, is done in less time than was formerly occupied in the scythe in mowing alone.
4.Evenness in heightis a matter of importance for the lawn; for if we have grasses together, some of which make three inches of growth while the majority are growing but one inch, the whole look uneven and ugly.
Taller grassesFig. 31.The Taller Grasses.
Fig. 31.The Taller Grasses.
The annexed cut (fig. 31) shows the effects of this, the taller grass being a root of cocksfoot, which is not only bunchy, but its leaves are too broad for a good lawn grass, and it grows twice as fast as the smallerspecies (a); its colour, too, would be so much lighter than that of the surrounding herbage as to be at once visible, and to strike one as a great blemish. Here, again, the offending patch should be removed, and better turf introduced, which operation should be performed in the autumn if possible, so as to have the full benefit the following summer.
These points in the cultivation of lawns are more particularly applicable in the process of laying down lawns with cut turves, which is the usual practice, and especially when an immediate effect is required. In this case, then, it cannot be too strongly urged that much trouble and expense may be saved by choosing the finest turf for our purpose; and the trouble of picking out an objectionable grass or weed before laying down will be amply rewarded.
If it be thought desirable to sow grass seeds to get a lawn, we would propose the following mixture:—
5.Proposed mixture for lawns, cricket-grounds, bowling-greens, &c.
[4]As some people object to Clover in a lawn, we should add a little more Sheep’s Fescue in its stead.
[4]As some people object to Clover in a lawn, we should add a little more Sheep’s Fescue in its stead.
These seeds should be sown upon clean, well-pulverized, and smoothly-rolled ground, and the gardenroller should be actively employed from the time the grass seeds have well come up until they are fairly established, when, if mown the second year with the machine, its rolling will be sufficient.
Occasionally there will be bald places in parks, such as some of the worn spots in Hyde Park, which it would be advisable to provide seed for, that should have an immediate effect. In this case we should mix a small quantity of thePoa annuawith the above, as it not only effects the object of making the whole look green very quickly, but so small a grass scarcely interferes with the growth of the more permanent species, which would meanwhile be making their position, and so ultimately drive out the annual.
It now only remains to point out that the constant mowing of lawns, although it only takes away young grass, must in time have the effect of impoverishing the lawn. In such case, the grass will not be of so bright a colour as formerly, and it will become more or less mixed with moss. In this state of matters the grasses die, and different species of agarics live upon the decaying roots.
In this condition we find that colour and fertility are restored by a good sprinkling of soot, which usually operates very beneficially for four or five years. After this period a little guano, say one part to three parts of soot, will do better. Another method of restoring fertility is that of an occasional use of house slops, diluted with five parts of water; this showered evenly from a watering-pot, engine, or hydropult, usually has a most beneficial effect.
In concluding this subject of “How to Grow Good Grass,” the author would wish to impress upon his readers the important fact, that as our country is sopeculiarly adapted for the growth of pasturage, and as this interesting genus of plants furnishes the best kind of herbage, so then the grass tribe is deserving of the most careful study of the home-producer ofMeat,Milk,Cheese, andButter.
Note.—Belcher’s Plantain Extractor and Turf Inoculator will be found a most efficient implement in extracting plantains, and preparing good turves to fill up the holes. We fancy, too, that it will be found useful in laying down land for permanent pasture by a system of inoculation, but await the result of experiments before stating more positively.—The Author.
White cloverTrifolium repens.White Clover.
Trifolium repens.White Clover.
Clovers are admitted by all to be such important adjuncts to the fodder plants of the farm as to render a scientific and practical treatise upon them and their allies a matter not only of interest, but of general agricultural utility; for, if we except the grasses, perhaps no natural order of plants is of greater value to the farmer than that to which the clovers belong; for, though they differ in every point of their structure, yet in their farm products they offer an interesting analogy. Thus, whilst in the Graminaceous plants we have cereal or corn-seed products, and meadow and pasture herbs, in the Leguminous plants we have a seed-producing group termed pulse, and a herb-growing green-food or fodder series. On either hand, in both groups, there are differently-cultivated forms; for, while the grass-cereals are wholly the result of arable culture, the fodder grasses are for the most part grown under conditions distinguished by the farmer as pasture. So of leguminous plants, pulse, such as peas and beans, belongs exclusively to the arable part of the farm; but the fodder kinds, as clover, either mix with the grass of the meadow, orare grown by themselves or with grasses in shifting green crops: indeed, it is by reason of clovers eking out grass, or being used as pasturage, that they have come to be designated “artificial grasses.”
The tribe of plants under review forms an exceedingly natural group, which has been namedPapilionaceæ, from the fancied resemblance in the arrangement of its flowers to the form and varied colouring of butterflies: by others it is designatedLeguminosæfrom the two-valved seed-pod, which by the botanist is termed alegume,—most perfect examples of which are seen in the fruits of our more ordinary pea and bean.
Though the flowers of the group are infinitely varied in size and in colour, yet they afford most permanent characters in their irregular petals, which, after all, have the same parts in the variously coloured and showy sweet-pea as in the most minute clover; so that, once examine the pea or bean, and the significance of the name of the order depending upon the flowers, will be easily understood. Again, varied as is the seed-pod, yet a little examination will show that its type is simple, there being no structural difference between the straight legume of the pea and the spirally-twisted one of the lucerne and medicks, or the many-seeded smooth pod of the common broom and the single-seeded wrinkled pod of the sainfoin.
The seeds, again, may vary in colour; some, like those of the scarlet-runner, are curious as affording an infinite variety of self-colours for their different sorts, from pure white to absolute black; or these may be so pencilled as to make atestaor seed-covering as variously mottled as are the eggs of some of our birds. Yet, whether rounded as in the pea, flat as in the bean,lenticular as in the lentil, or kidney-shaped as in the clovers, they are all readily referred to one group by the flat, oval eye (hilumof the botanist), and the fact of their ready capability of separating into two valves (cotyledons), so observable in our split peas and beans.
But of all the varieties in their parts presented by the pea-flowered tribe of plants,—if we except the fact that some are larger trees, as the locust tree, ebony, laburnum, &c., whilst some are among our smallest plants, as clovers and medicks,—the principal differences will be found in the foliage. The grass vetchling, for example, is so named from its leaves being not unlike those of grasses, while the yellow vetchling, in its mature state, has the whole leaf converted into a tendril and the appendages at the bases of the leaves (stipules) are so enlarged as to be often mistaken for leaves: in another of the vetchlings, the everlasting sweet-pea, we find that, as so much of the leaf is converted into tendrils to enable this handsome plant to climb over the hedges and thickets, the stem is made four-winged with leaf-matter, to ensure the due performance of the leaf function. Now parts called stipules are present in this whole tribe, and, like all other parts of these plants, they vary in form, size, and markings, and hence afford important aid in the discrimination of species. Again, the old furze-bush will have its leaves converted into spines, though the seedling started with a trifoliate leaf. Points like these, however, though most interesting to the student of vegetable physiology, are beyond the scope of the present work.
Like every other point connected with this interesting natural order of plants, their uses andproperties are greatly varied, and perhaps variable. The Sennas are renowned for their medicinal properties, being in some kinds aromatic and purgative. A powerful aroma is given off from the Melilots, similar to that of the well-known sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum), on which account it has been recommended to mix a little of their seeds with clovers, or to cultivate separate patches of either the white or the yellow Melilot to place here and there, sandwich-wise, in the clover hay-rick.
In speaking of this matter of flavour in food for cattle, we may here mention that the seed of one of this order, which is now being extensively employed for its flavouring principle, is the Fœnugræc (Trigonella fœnum-græcum), which was formerly used in large quantities by horse and cattle doctors as an ingredient in drenches or drinks for horses, cows, and pigs. Latterly, however, it has been still more largely employed as a flavouring matter in the different kinds of “Cattle Feeds.”[5]
[5]We have cultivated these seeds in England, and found them to ripen very well, and if the flavouring of food be correct in principle, the seeds might readily be ground with feeding stuffs, while the dried plant could be mixed with hay and straw in chaff.
[5]We have cultivated these seeds in England, and found them to ripen very well, and if the flavouring of food be correct in principle, the seeds might readily be ground with feeding stuffs, while the dried plant could be mixed with hay and straw in chaff.
Now, whether medicinal properties reside as a rule in all of the order, it would perhaps be difficult to determine; but, as we sometimes find that certain clover crops are accused of causing “scouring,” there is perhaps reason to conclude this, but that its amount varies according to season, soil, and cultivation.
All the true clovers belong to the genusTrifolium, of which the following may be tabulated as agricultural species:—
1.Trifolium pratense—Meadow or broad-leaved Clover,—in its wild state, is too well known to need any lengthened description in order to its being understood. A careful examination of field specimens, however, will show that, even in the wild state, this plant is liable to run into numberless variations; thus, we may have the leaflets of one plant more or less ovate, whilst those of another may be broad and almost obcordate. In some we may see dense heads of purple flowers, varying in shade until almost white,whilst less dense heads of flowers and general variations in height, size, and luxuriance of the whole plant, are all circumstances in the natural history of this species in the wild state which will prepare us duly to understand the nature of the many forms of the plant which are found in cultivation. Of these we have, besides others, English, French, American, and Dutch sorts, which differ in such minor details, as a greater or lesser hairiness, or variations in the colour and size of the flowers, leaves, &c. The most important point connected with the broad-leaved clover is its permanency; some sorts scarcely maintaining a plant for two years, whilst others are said to be more or less perennial. This, however, is a matter which we conceive depends more upon the soil and the kind of cultivation than upon the sort; for, although all seedsmen supply two sorts, namely,Trifolium pratenseandTrifolium pratense perenne, yet they run so much the one into the other, that it is oftentimes exceedingly difficult to distinguish them.
In order that the reader may see the differences and agreements of the three sorts,—1,Trifolium pratense(of the meadow); 2,Trifolium pratense(the arable plant); and 3,Trifolium pratense perenne(also of the arable),—we give their characters in parallel columns, onp. 115.
CHARACTERS OF CLOVERS.
Now, although the study of the characters, as here laid down with the specimens in our hand, may render it tolerably easy to distinguish the three forms here described, yet it must be confessed that whether we examine a series of the wilder plants from different positions, or different samples of the cultivated broad-leaved clovers, we shall find great variations; the principal of these will be discussed in another chapter: we may here, then, for the present leave this difficult subject of how to distinguish cow-grass and broad-leaved or red clover, with the observation that the common red clover is uniformly in flower two or three weeks before the other.
2.Trifolium medium(seePlate)—Zigzag Trefoil—gets its English name from the peculiar bends in its stem, which being at alternate sides, make up the zigzag outline. The stems are rounded—not channelled,—mostly of a purple colour, and clothed with short hairs. The leaves are smooth, with elliptical—not emarginate—leaflets, sometimes, but seldom, with the white lunulate spot. The calyx is smooth. The heads of flowers are solitary, on very short footstalks; they are of a bright pinkish red hue, and not of the lilac colour of the common clover.
Zigzag trefoilTrifolium medium.Zigzag Trefoil.
Trifolium medium.Zigzag Trefoil.
In its wild state the zigzag clover will be found in districts remarkable for the absence of lime, such as the sandstones. In the sandy deposits accompanying the coal in Wales, as also in Staffordshire, this is the prevailing form of clover. Hence, then, this species seemed to recommend itself for sandy lands, in which the common clover does not so well succeed; and we conceive that, as a consequence, it was brought into cultivation for this capability of “holding on” to such soils, which, if they will not grow the other kind, is considered clover sick. We have reason to think that theT. mediumandT. pratenseare not distinct species, but that the difference in their usual habitats has determined their difference in form, and we think that theT. pratense perenneof the seedsman is a form intermediate between the two:if so the position of the three may be expressed as follows:—
Trifolium pratense.Trifolium medium.Trifolium pratense perenne.
At all events, if this plant was ever distinct in cultivation, it has merged into broad clover forms; so that, if we are to possess it as a separate plant, it must again be grown from wild seed, and then, if it is to be kept pure, it must not be cultivated on clays or limestone, or, if our view be correct, it will soon lose its true distinctive characters.
3.Trifolium incarnatum—Annual Carnation or Crimson Clover—is a large species with oblong heads of flowers of a fine carnation colour, hence its common name of “Carnation Clover.” It is a native of Southern Europe, and is said to have been found wild at the Lizard, in Cornwall. As a cultivated plant, it has not long been introduced into England, where it has been much grown in the southern counties, as there it can be sown soon enough on the wheat stubbles with only just a simple harrowing-in, when it has time to make a plant sufficiently strong to resist winter; this soon makes growth in the spring, giving an early feed, or it may be mown; in either case it is off the land sufficiently early to allow of a late sowing of turnips: so that, where the climate will allow of it, we may snatch an intermediate crop by means of the carnation clover. It yields a large crop, but its feeding qualities, according to Dr. Voelcker, are somewhat inferior to those of the broad-leaved clover. It should be noted that varieties having white flowers are in the market, and of bothred and white there are earlier and later sorts which may be useful for succession.
4.Trifolium hybridum—Alsike Clover—has, perhaps, got its specific name from possessing appearances and qualities intermediate between the broad-leaf and the Dutch clovers. This species has been introduced from Sweden, and its growth, duration, and feeding qualities certainly entitle it to rank high, and more especially for growth on some of the stronger soils. In our experience we have not found it to possess such eminent perennial habits as have been claimed for it. It thins very much after the second year, and almost disappears in three years, unless it be renovated by being allowed to seed, when the new plants by no means attain to the vigour of their parents.
5.Trifolium fragiferum—Strawberry-headed Clover—has been named from the strawberry-like form which its head, of enlarged coloured calyxes, assumes after flowering; its flowers are pinkish, but otherwise of much the same size and form as those of the Dutch clover, which latter it again approaches in its creeping habit and form of its foliage. It is, however, here mentioned only to point out the difference of its habits and indications when compared with the Dutch or white clover. The strawberry trefoil is a native of cold wet pastures, such as bear the name of “hungry clays;” when present in quantity it is not to be confounded with Dutch clover, which would indicate a sound fertile soil.
6.Trifolium repens—White Dutch Clover—is a plant of very general cultivation, both at home and in the States, and in both of which quarters of the globe it maintains its character with great constancy.
Dutch clover is a valuable pasture plant either in meadows or in seeds. In the former it is much increased by the addition of nitrates, soot, &c., with guano or superphosphate. As a plant, in seed mixtures, it is usually sown with other trifoliate plants and rye grasses, but if the soil be very light the Dutch clover may be increased or wholly used.
7.Trifolium filiforme—Small Yellow Clover—is one of the least of our small yellow-flowered division. It is a common native species occurring on the waysides, and has been brought into cultivation to only a limited extent, under the impression that its small herbage is suitable as a first bite for young stock, and hence the term “suckling clover” has been applied to it. It is of little value, and does not seem capable of being greatly improved. This species is often mistaken for the following, even by pretended botanists, but its lax head of smaller flowers will well distinguish it.
8.Trifolium procumbensis called by the botanist “Hop Trefoil,” from the fact that its dried head of persistent flowers[6]exactly resembles small bunches of hopstrobiles(fruiting heads). The foliage is much like that ofMedicago lupulina, nonsuch, or black medick, which is the “hop” of the farmer; but the whole plant of the true hop trefoil dries up so quickly under the sunshine, and is withal so wanting in succulency and quality, that it cannot be compared withM. lupulinaas a fodder plant, and hence it is but little cultivated in the present day.
[6]Flowers are so called that remain enveloping the seed while it ripens, which they do in all the clovers.
[6]Flowers are so called that remain enveloping the seed while it ripens, which they do in all the clovers.
There are other clovers which have been recommendedfor cultivation, but they are mostly foreign, and do not appear to possess those qualities which should lead us to prefer them before those in common use. There are, too, several additional wild clovers, but they possess no agricultural interest, unless, perhaps, as indicators of soil. TheTrifolium pratense(Hare’s-foot Trefoil) is a pretty, wild species, native to light sandy soils, the seed of which is sold for growing “bedding plants.”
TheTrifolium pratenseof botanical authors is remarkable for the great number of varieties it assumes, even in its wild growth; but these are exceeded in the number of cultivated forms: thus in any rich meadow we may make out several sorts which may be expected to be more or less permanent, whilst the market samples of seed will offer us several varieties for the different countries of America, England, France, Holland, Germany, &c.
The following are some of the more prominent of our native wild varieties:—
1.Trifolium pratense—Common Red Clover.—Head of pink; flowers, somewhat compact; leaves more or less broad; plant smooth[7]in proportion to its size, the smaller wild specimens being usually very hairy; stem more or less purple.2.Trifolium pratense, var.pallidum—Pale-flowered Clover.—Head of very light pink; flowers large, full, and more rotund than 1, and almost double in size and in the number of its flowers; whole plant more or less hairy; stem green.3.Trifolium pratense, var.album—White Clover.—Flowers white; herbage a very light green; in other respects much the same as the last.4.Trifolium pratense perenne—Perennial Red Clover.—Flowers less compact than the common clover, whole plant having stems inclining to dark purple; leaves narrower.[122]5.Trifolium pratense perenne, sub-var.pallidum—Pale Perennial Clover.—A larger plant than the parent form, and less hairy.6.Trifolium pratense perenne, sub-var.album—White Perennial Clover.—Not common, but still, like 3, an albino form, and is, perhaps, more delicate in constitution than the coloured sorts.
1.Trifolium pratense—Common Red Clover.—Head of pink; flowers, somewhat compact; leaves more or less broad; plant smooth[7]in proportion to its size, the smaller wild specimens being usually very hairy; stem more or less purple.2.Trifolium pratense, var.pallidum—Pale-flowered Clover.—Head of very light pink; flowers large, full, and more rotund than 1, and almost double in size and in the number of its flowers; whole plant more or less hairy; stem green.3.Trifolium pratense, var.album—White Clover.—Flowers white; herbage a very light green; in other respects much the same as the last.4.Trifolium pratense perenne—Perennial Red Clover.—Flowers less compact than the common clover, whole plant having stems inclining to dark purple; leaves narrower.[122]5.Trifolium pratense perenne, sub-var.pallidum—Pale Perennial Clover.—A larger plant than the parent form, and less hairy.6.Trifolium pratense perenne, sub-var.album—White Perennial Clover.—Not common, but still, like 3, an albino form, and is, perhaps, more delicate in constitution than the coloured sorts.