Causes of Clover Failure 705 



other plants on the land 



I might have named this cause of failure *' weeds," but that 

 would not have expressed my thought, Euskin said, " Dirt is 

 something in the wrong place." The same is true of a weed. What 

 we call such often have great value as medicinal herbs. A clover 

 plant in a strawberry bed is a most pernicious weed. 



It is apparent to anyone that a crop of clover cannot be expected 

 on soil occupied by weeds. To avoid this is an added reason for 

 good tillage. It is not so apparent that a grain plant may and 

 often does have the same ill effect on clover as doe-s a weed. I 

 have seen timothy so thickly sown in the fall that it monopolized 

 the land to such an extent that the clover had little chance, except 

 in a strip across the field where the timothy had run out of the 

 drill. There, with undisputed possession, the clover was all that 

 could be desired. I have usually had a good clover seeding with 

 oats and peas cut green, but not generally a good stand on ther 

 same field where the crop stood until the grain was mature. 



It is usually advisable to sow the grain crop more thinly or to 

 cut before maturity — when it has made much less heavy drafts on 

 the soil, both of fertility and moisture — where clover is the 

 important thing. In some instances, it is desirable to sow clover 

 alone. 



POOR SEED 



This, though last, is by no means least, for more than one failure 

 has been due to this cause, when everything else has been right. 



I have known farmers to drive five miles to save 25 cents on a 

 bushel of clover seed, when the cheaper seed was dear at any price, 

 either because it had poor- germinating powers or because it was 

 foul with weed seeds. We have a new and exceedingly troublesome 

 weed in my neighborhood introduced in a lot of clover seed that 

 was supposed to bo cheap. One dollar on a bushel of seed is only 

 25 cents an acre, if one sows a peck — a trifling matter in any 

 event — but it is very expensive when one loses his seeding or 

 buys weed seed at 10 or 12 cents a pound. When seed is very 

 high, and one must economize, better buy the best seed and sow 

 a less amount to the acre. 



There was a time when one might have an excuse for sowing 



foul seed; that no longer exists. The poorest farmer in the state 

 11 — 23 



