152 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



'covered slightly. This is a very effective method of getting a fine stand 

 of clover and it does the wheat little or no harm. There is a difference 

 of opinion among farmers as to which way the drill should be driven 

 when putting in the clover. Some say it should go the same way the 

 Avheat is drilled, while others contend it should go across the wheat 

 rows. Since both ways are quite generally practiced, it is very prob- 

 able that either one will do very little damage to the wheat crop. Care 

 should be taken not to force the drill int.o the ground too deep. All 

 in all, the method seems to be a very comniendable one which should 

 find a prominent place in general farm practice. 



Top dressing the wheat with manure. — Under normal conditions 

 on farms where an abundance of manure is produced, rightly cared 

 for and applied to the land at regular intervals, there is very little 

 known about any difficulties in managing the clover crop successfully. 

 No matter how the manure is applied, when, or to what crop, good 

 stands are nearly always secured, which grow on to maturity without 

 much attention or consideration on the part of the farmer; provided, 

 of course, his soil conditions, such as drainage, lime content, etc., are 

 otherwise favorable. Such is the case especially after several years of 

 this kind of farming. It has been quite noticeable during these studies 

 that on good live stock farms, where the manure was properly handled, 

 and especially in dairy sections, very little was heard of so-called 

 "clover sickness," poor stands, etc., whilQ on grain farms, where every- 

 thing has been sold off for a number of years and wasteful methods of 

 burning stalks and trash have been practiced, the failures have been 

 numerous and the clover troubles are increasing at an alarming rate. 

 This last condition exists in sections where they have formerly grown 

 clover very successfully by their present methods of management. 



When the soil has become badly run down manure will doubtless 

 do most good when applied as a top-dressing on the wheat in which 

 the clover is to be sown. The effects of this have been noticed in a 

 small way on nearly every farm. Most farmers have had the experi- 

 ence of "doctoring up" a few of the poor knolls with a light top-dress- 

 ing of manure, and upon going back the next year to observe, they have 

 usually found that there was the best stand in the field and the best 

 clover growing. This, too, occurs where there would otherwise have 

 been scarcely a plant of clover, or very little at most without the top- 

 dressing. Just such a condition as this is shown in the illustration on 

 the next page (Figure 1). 



This illustration is a reproduction of a rather remarkable condition. 

 It will be noted that the line between a very fine stand of clover and 



