152 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ally diminishes, until it ceases altogether, the plant concen- 

 trates all its energies upon the seed, all its juices flow thither, 

 and the roots, as well as the leaves and stem, are exhausted 

 in the effort. The seed grows, not directly at the expense of 

 the soil and atmosphere, as the plant has done, but at the ex- 

 pense of the plant itself. It is, indeed, true in all cases that 

 the seed is formed from the plant itself; but there are plants 

 which, while feeding the seed from themselves, are still ac- 

 tive in gathering food from external sources ; and other 

 plants, like the cereals, which do not, at the same time that 

 they are elaborating seed, gather food from outside sufficiently 

 to maintain their individual life. 



In contrast with the cereals, look again at the clover plant. 

 This starts from a seed, grows vigorously, buds, blossoms, 

 forms seed, and the seed ripens ; but there is not that uni- 

 formity in the time of budding, flowering and ripening of 

 clover that is noticed with wheat. In a field of wheat, if the 

 catch has been good and every thing is as it should be, when 

 one head is ripe all the heads in the field, practically, are 

 ripe. Every stem heads out, blossoms and ripens about the 

 same time. In the case of clover, you have a much greater 

 diversity, especially when the soil is rich and the plant grows 

 thriftily. If the soil is poor, you will have a nearer approach 

 to uniformity. When you are getting a large amount of 

 foliage, you will find on the same plant ripe heads and buds. 

 If you pick off the ripe heads the plant will still keep throw- 

 ing^out new buds. The process of flowering and ripening is 

 a continuous one, and it does not affect the vigor of the plant 

 to nearly the degree that happens to wheat. During all the 

 period of the growth of the clover plant until the seeds are 

 ripe, the roots are still active and the foliage still vigorous. 

 The quantity of seed produced by the clover plant is much 

 less, relatively to the weight of the plant, than the quantity 

 of seed produced by the wheat plant, and the energies of the 

 (ilover plant are relatively less occupied in ripening the seed 

 ithan is the case with wheat. 



You would therefore expect these very different plants to 

 have a very different function in the rotation of crops. 



