238 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



DISCUSSION OF FEEDING STUFFS. 



LEGUMES. 



Clover My. Recent bulletins from this station have discussed the 

 utilization of the free nitrogen of the air by leguminous crops. It has 

 been shown that while the clover crop does exhaust, to some extent, the 

 mineral constituents of the soil, it leaves a large quantity of nitrogen 

 in the roots. As a matter of fact the soil is sometimes richer in nitrogen 

 after growing the crop of clover than it was v>^lien the clover seed was 

 sown. The early experiment in this matter was performed in 1897. 

 A sandy loam was bearing a heavy crop of clover. A section of earth 

 was dug about and left standing, a ditch being dug about it. By means 

 of iron rods thrust through the mass of earth, the clover roots were 

 held- in place while the sand was washed away. The experiment was 

 performed July second when the clover was in full bloom. The clean 

 roots and green tops were weighed separately, the tops being cut off 

 an inch above the crown. The tops weighed 2.44 lbs. and the roots 2.14 

 lbs. The dry matter in the tops weighed .99 pounds and the roots .G5G 

 pounds. A chemical analysis was made showing that the dry matter 

 of the tops contained 2.4S per cent nitrogen, that of the roots 2.55 per 

 cent. The tops were slightly richer in potash. 1.82 per cent as against 

 1.21 per cent in the roots. In phosphoric acid neither were rich, the 

 top having .68 per cent and the roots .83 per cent. 



The ground having been measured and the yield weighed, it is easy 

 to compute the amount of these fertilizing constituents in an acre of 

 the crop, separating the content of the roots from that of the tops. 

 Such a calculation is dangerous because the area taken was small. 

 The results indicated, however, that on an acre of clover in full bloom, 

 the tops would yield 132.31 pounds of nitrogen and the roots ()2.00 

 ])0unds. It would require something like seven tons of average barn- 

 yard manure to supply as much nitrogen as is furnished by these roots 

 of the clover on an acre. If the Avhole crop were plowed under it would 

 supply the soil with as much nitrogen as would be furnished by 21 

 loads of manure per acre. The experiment also illustrated the fact 

 that a clover crop removes about 100 pounds of potasli and 36 pounds 

 of phosphoric acid from an acre. Naturally if the clover- hay is fed 

 on the farm, the manure carefully protected from washing and hauled 

 back to the land, there v\'ill be no important loss of these important 

 minerals. If clover hay is to be sold its content of nitrogen, phosphoric 

 acid and potash is important. 



Experiments were tried in the matter of putting clover in the silo. 

 Early in July a small experiment silo, but ten feet deep and six feet 

 in diameter was filled with green clover. It held 2,773 pounds. It was 

 opened in September, found in excellent condition but the contents 

 have shrunk in weight to 2,587 pounds. The cows were running on 



