Florida Farm Raises Four-Leaf Clovers

Florida Farm Raises Four-Leaf Clovers AG WORLD Ag World 8-5-19 "As far as we know, ours is the world's only four-leaf clover farm," says Andy Safco who, with his wife Dandy, owns and operates the Clover Specialty Co., near St. Petersburg, Fla. The Safcos purchased the unusual farm business from C.F. Daniels, a "backyard botanist" who developed a secret way of propagating four-leaf clovers from Dutch clover (trifolium repens). Secrecy surrounds much of the enterprise. The clover plants must be handled in a specific way or they will revert to the ordinary field variety. The Safcos will sell no plants ù only the four-leaf greens which are preserved in a special way and shipped year-around to foreign and domestic buyers who, for the most part, seal them in key rings, jewelry and other items for advertising purposes. "We're not set up to sell or ship individual four-leaf clovers to private individuals," Safco told FARM SHOW. He notes that the special-bred clover regenerates by runners, similar to strawberry plants. Should anyone ever illegally obtain any of the plants, it won't matter, says Safco; "The secrets of handling them, and drying the leaves, are known only to us. And nothing will persuade us to part with them."

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