82 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



take out more than from five to ten per cent of all the nitrogen furnished in- 

 the food, and less still of mineral matter. If 3'ou plow it under j^ou are sure 

 of it. There is no loss. In feeding it out you may lose more or less from 

 leaching and injurious fermentation. As things are on many farms, it is 

 perhaps hest to plow under the clover for manure at once. As things ought 

 to be, it is a most wasteful practice. 



" Clover is good for wheat ; plaster is good for clover. The roots run 

 deep, drink large amounts of water, and can live on very weak food. The 

 clover takes up this food and concentrates it. The clover does not create 

 the plant food, it merely saves it. To improve sandy land, instead of plow- 

 ing the clover under or feeding it off, mow the crop just as it commences to- 

 blossom and let the clover lie. There would be no loss of fertilizing by 

 evaporation, and the clover-hay acts as a mulch. Mow the second crop about 

 the first week in August." 



The following computation of the relative money value of one ton of 

 various foods for producing manure is from the experiment of Mr. Lawes : 



Cotton seed meal... $27.86 



Linseed cake 19.72 



Beans 17.73 



Wheat bran ..- 14.59 



Clover hay 9.64 



Indian meal 6.63 



Meadow hay 6.43 



Oat straw 2.90 



Potatoes -- 1.50 



Turnips .86 



All agricultural plants draw most of their food from the atmosphere 

 directly or indirectly, and of those used none are exceeded by clover in the 

 large proportion of nutriment thus derived. 



If the stubble and roots contain more than half of the manurial value of 

 red clover, and if live stock only appropriate from five to ten per cent of the 

 nitrogen, and the other 90 to 95 per cent goes back to the field or the dung 

 heap, it certainly must be the best practice, as a rule, to feed red clover 

 instead of plowing it all under. 



I have not seen a more concise and valuable summary of this matter, than 

 the one by the late Dr. Voelcker, as found in the journal of the Eoyal Agri- 

 cultural Society of England, for 1868. 



1. " A good crop of clover removes from the soil more potash, phosphoric 

 acid, lime and other mineral matters, which enter into the composition of 

 the ashes of our cultivated crops, than any other crop usually grown in this 

 country." 



'i. " There is fully three times as much nitrogen in a crop of clover as in 

 the average produce of the grain and straw of wheat per acre." 



3. " Notwithstanding the large amount of nitrogenous matter of i.sh con- 

 stituents of plants in the produce of an acre, clover is an excellent prepara- 

 tory crop for wheat." 



4. "During the growth of clover a large amount of nitrogenous matter 

 accumulates in the soil." 



5. "This accumulation, which is greatest in the surface soil, is due to 

 decaying leaves dropped during the growth of clover, and to an abundance 

 of roots, containing when dry from If to 2 per cent, of nitrogen." 



6. "The clover roots are stronger and more numerous, and more leaves 

 fall on the ground, when clover is grown for seed than when it is grown for 



