REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND AOTINO AORIGULTURIST. 33 



The ploughing under of green crops also improves the texture of the soil, and the 

 organic matter thus added, makes the soil more retentive of moisture, thus giving more 

 favourable conditions for subsequent plant growth. The ploughing under of any green 

 crop will thus improve the soil, and besides this every plant used for this purpose, has 

 the power of converting certain proportions of plant food, existing in the soil in insoluble 

 forms, into soluble and available forms, and thus materially adding to the stores of food 

 within reach of the next crop. Clover, however, in common with other leguminous 

 plants, has great advantages over buckwheat, and other crops used for this purpose, from 

 its power of permanently enriching the soil, by adding nitrogen from an extraneous 

 source, and also of bringing from the lower strata of the soil, and subsoil, supplies of 

 mineral food which other plants are unable to reach. 



In the reports of the Director for 1895, pages 26 to 30, and 1896, pages 37 to 

 40, particulars were given of the results obtained from a series of important tests in the 

 field, with different varieties of clover. These were planned and carried out with the 

 object of gaining further information, as to the growth of diflferent sorts of clover within 

 given periods, what quantities of root and top were produced, when clover seed was 

 sown in the spring with a grain crop, and ploughed under in October, also, the quan- 

 tities turned under, when the clover was allowed to stand over and grow untQ the 

 third week in the following May, then ploughed under for a crop of Indian corn or 

 potatoes. Experiments were also carried on to determine what quantities of clover seed 

 should be sown, to produce the best results, also to find out whether clover can be sown 

 with grain, from year to year to plough under in the autumn, without lessening the crop 

 of grain. If this can be done, the advantage to the land will be very great, for in 

 addition to the benefits already referred to, the clover will serve as an excellent catch 

 crop, absorbing and appropriating the nitrogenous fertilizers brought down by the rain, 

 during late summer and autumn. 



Since experiments of this nature need to be several times repeated in order to 

 eliminate chances of error, arising from peculiarities of season and other conditions, a 

 somewhat similar series of tests have been again made during the past season. It is 

 not the purpose of the writer to discuss here, the relative economy of feeding clover to 

 stock as compared with ploughing it under. There is no doubt that, when the clover 

 area is limited, and the farmer has the stock to feed, it is more economical to pasture 

 a field before ploughing it under, as the farmer will then make a profit on the cattle and 

 still retain in the manure the cattle will give, nearly nine-tenths of the elements of fertility 

 accumulated by the clover. The main object of these experiments, is to encourage the 

 growing of clover generally with grain crops, as it is believed that large areas of land may 

 thus be greatly improved, and rendered much more fertUe — with a comparatively small 

 outlay. In the annual report of the Experimental Farms for 1896, p. 39, mention is made 

 of five acres of land devoted to plots, to show the eflFect of the ploughing under of clover. 

 This field was divided into 20 one-quarter acre plots. These were all sown with grain, 

 two plots of each sort, one with and one without clover, the grain used being wheat, 

 two-rowed barley, six-rowed barley, oats and pease. Particulars as to the yield of grain 

 from these plots, with and without clover, are given in the report referred to. The 

 winter of 1896-97 was very severe, and when these plots were examined in the spring of 

 1897 the clover was almost entirely winter killed, and as it was not likely that the clover 

 in this condition would give a fair indication as to what such a crop would do for the 

 land under more favourable conditions it was thought best to begin these experiments 

 over again somewhat modified. 



• PLOTS OP GRAIN SOWN WITH AND WITHOUT CLOVER. 



Eight plots of ^th acre each were used for this experiment. The soil was a sandy 

 loam of fair quality, which was manured during the winter of 1895-96 with about 15 

 tons of barn-yard manure per acre, distributed over the ground in small heaps of about 

 one-third of a cart load each. These were spread in the spring of 1896 and ploughed 

 under about 5 or 6 inches deep. The previous crop was roots. The land was ploughed 

 in the autumn of 1896 about 8 inches deep and disc-harrowed once in the spring, and 

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