GO Bureau ok Farmers' Institutes. 



Mr. Woodward. — There are several reasons. One is the ab- 

 sence of humus, that is, vegetable mould in the soil to hold water; 

 .me pound of humus will hold four pounds of water. Another 

 son may be a want of potash and phosphoric acid; another rea- 

 son is an acid soil, and still another is the presence of the clover 

 maggot, which eats off the clover close to the ground as fast as it 

 appears; and there is still another reason — not sowing early 

 enough in the spring. Doubtless one or more of the foregoing 

 is the cause of the failure. 



Question. — Will it pay to sow clover seed that costs $7 a 

 bushel ? 



Mr. Smith. — I do not believe you can afford to farm it in this 

 State unless you grow clover, provided it will grow on your land. 



Mr. Woodward. — I do not think that a man can afford to farm 

 it without raising clover, if the seed is $40 a bushel. One reason 

 for clover not growing on many farms is the sparing quantity of 

 seed sown. Put on a plenty of seed if you want to get a catch. 



Mr. Smith.— I think that there will be a better chance of get- 

 ting a catch when the clover seed is sown alone. I have seen good 

 catches when the seed was sown after a crop of oats and peas had 

 been taken off in July. Sown at that season, if given the entire 

 use of the land, the growth the next spring will be fully as great 

 as of that sown the spring before. 



Mr. Hice. — If you can get humus enough into the soil I do not 

 believe there will be any difficulty in growing clover, unless the 

 soil is acid. 



Question. — Will it pay to buy clover seed at $6 per bushel to 

 seed our land and plow under as a fertilizer? 



Mr. Litchard.- — Under some circumstances it might. It cer- 

 tainly will not pay to buy poor seed, even at a reduced price. The 

 greatest mistake a fanner can make is to buy a cheap grade of 

 clover or timothy seed. Buy the best or none at all. The great- 

 value of clover as a fertilizer is in its roots. The little nodules on 

 the roots of the clover plant are nitrogen gatherers, and on their 

 power to gather nitrogen from the atmosphere and deposit it in 

 the soil depends its value as a fertilizer. I don't want anything 

 better for a corn or potato crop than a clover sod. Alsike clover 

 is better for a wet soil than the common red clover, and. instead 

 of being a biennial, like the latter, it is a perennial, and when once 

 iblished, will, under favorable conditions, remain in the soil 

 for a series • I ears. 



