VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 21 



relative amounts of red top and alsike being increased or de- 

 creased, according to amount of water in the soil : 



Timothy lO pounds 



Red top 4 pounds 



Red clover 5 pounds 



Alsike clover 5 pounds 



This mixture gives a prompt stand of the best quality and in 

 addition, the alsike clover endures longer than the red clover ; 

 and the red top, while not making much of a showing for the 

 first three years, comes in thereafter when the shorter lived plants 

 yield and thus insures a longerlived and heavier stand than 

 timothy and clover alone. 



If, however, it is loamy upland suitable for a variety of 

 crops then, unquestionably, the highest degree of success is 

 secured by shorter rotations. If a three to five year rotation 

 can be practiced the weed problems are solved, clovers are in- 

 creasingly successful and the general fertility of the land rapidly 

 increased. 



In this case, the red top should be omitted, the seed mix- 

 ture then should consist of about the following, the relative 

 amounts of red and alsike clover varying according to local 

 experience : 



Timothy i6 pounds 



Red clover 7 pounds 



Alsike clover 3 pounds 



And, finally, there is the clover problem. The highest suc- 

 cess in dairy farming, in Vermont at least, is directly conditioned 

 upon success with the corn and clover crops. Many men who 

 succeed with corn, timothy and red top fail to secure the best 

 results with clover. While there are several other factors enter- 

 ing into this clover problem, I would lay especial emphasis upon 

 two. The first is seed. There is clover seed and clover seed — 

 it comes from west, east, north and south, and varies accordingly 

 in vitality and adaptability to our conditions as well as in purity. 

 There is, however, plenty of excellent northern-grown seed in 

 the market and the wise man will always insist on having the 

 best of this. Of course he expects to pay well for it — but what 

 is a matter of a couple cents a pound, more or less, as compared 

 with the highest success or partial failure in the resultant crop. 



The other matter to be borne clearly in mind in preparing 

 the ground for clover is that to succeed with clover two kinds 

 of plants must be cultivated — the clover and the bacteria which 

 are to inhabit their root-nodules. Without the help of the bac- 

 teria the highest success cannot be obtained, for it is these which 

 supply the clover with nitrogen. Although we can only see 



