DISCUSSION 93 



of how much better it was than the alfalfa for feeding, and that 

 the animal would always take the sweet clover instead of the alfalfa. 

 Now you are speaking about conserving of the moisture. Now this 

 fall I thought I would do what I had intended to do before. I 

 would get some of the soil from the sweet clover, and put on 

 the alfalfa soil. And right across from my orchard was some 

 sweet clover. I had the man go out there and dig off the grass 

 or brush and I shoveled up that soil. It was a wonder to me. 

 it was as mellow as ashes, and I could go down three inches and shovel 

 it up as easily as anything. You go three inches from where that 

 sweet clover was growing, and the ground was as hard as any 

 ground you ever saw in your life. Now if the sweet clover, with- 

 out any cultivating, or care, or attention, will leave the soil in 

 the condition that this soil was for hree inches, isn't that a pretty 

 good fertilizer, and wouldn't ha be a pretty good means of fer- 

 tilizing your ground, without all of this work of plowing and all 

 that. Now it may be old to everyone of you but I wish that anyone 

 who is here, who never saw the condition of the soil, where that 

 condemned sweet clover is growing, I wish you could see it. And 

 when you go home, I wish you would notice it. 



A Member: In Colorado where the sweet clover is growing, it gets 

 very high. It is almost impossible to go in there with a team, an-d 

 the soil is always loose and dry. 



Mr. Benz: I dislike very much to have the professors remarks 

 go on record, condemning that part of the state where clover does 

 not grow. The gentleman made the remark that in that part of tho 

 state where clover would not naturally grow he doubted the reason- 

 ableness of planting a commercial orchard. I do not like to have that 

 go into the record, because that is not correct. I challenge that state- 

 ment. I will take him out and show him the land. The McCormick 

 orchard and others. An orchard that is growing 25 miles east of 

 Rapid City, South Dakota, and that is on a high elevated plain. They 

 do not have a plant of clover yet, it is a fine orchard. Another 

 orchard was put there at the time, before the clover was introduced 

 into the country. This is one of the most successful orchards from 

 the great lakes to the northwest. I will admit that clover is now 

 grown in Turner county, South Dakota. I do not like to have the 

 record show that we cannot grow apples where we cannot grow 

 clover, because it is not true. 



Prof. Emerson: I think I was misunderstood. I am well 

 acquainted with the Hunter orchard. I have known it for three 

 years, and I was saying nothing about sweet clover. What I said was, 

 I was somewhat doubtful about the commercial orcharding proposi- 

 tion where it was too dry to grow clover unless irrigation can be 

 applied. 



