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corn and other cereals ; " " has a fine efi"ect on the land, and increases 

 the crop of wheat one-third" — these are specimens of reported results. 

 The following more extended extracts are selected from a mass of simi' 

 lar ones : 



Hart : For -wheat it is tbonj^ht best to turn uuder tlie full crop -nhen in bloom ; for 

 corn, to turn under the second wben in bloom, snbsoiling at the same time; preferable 

 to other modes of soil-improvement because by far the cheapest. Hardin : The second 

 crop turned under, or the first grazed about a mouth, then left to grow till plowed 

 under, in September. This always produces a fine crop of wheat, and when corn 

 follows the next season the benefit is plainly seen. Bussell : Usually pastured very 

 close and turned under in winter or spring, when the land receives no benefit except 

 from the roots. Lands run two years in clover, pastured close, and turned in winter 

 or early spring, will produce at least 25 per ceut. more corn than other lauds of the 

 same quality not clovered. Mason: About 1827 or 1830, red clover was introduced, 

 and from that time has been our chief and almost our only fertilizer, entering into the 

 crop-rotation on every farm. And, to-day, I have no hesitation in saying that fields 

 which tired and were thought exhausted forty years ago, will yield a heavier crop of 

 grain, hemp, or tobacco than when just cleared — never having had one dollar, save for 

 clover or other grass seed, expended on them, or a single load of manure applied save 

 the droppings of stock when fed or pastured thereon. Clover when sown alone is 

 relied on as pasture only for hogs, and plowed under generally the fall or winter after 

 the second year, for any and every crop, always with marked improvement. 



Out of fifty-four returns from Ohio, fifty-one counties report the prac- 

 tice, though in a large majority the extent is quite limited. As in Ken- 

 tucky, these reports concur in ascribing to the practice large advantage 

 to both crop and soil. A few extracts selected from man}-, as illustra- 

 tions, follow : 



Fullon: We estimate one -fourth more wheat from the green-manuring. Vinton: The 

 far better way to let the clover mature and the seed ripen before turning under. 

 Ashland : Growing in favor every year. When the clover is nearly fit to cut, to 

 plaster it before turuing under, and then summer- fallow for wheat, is the most efl:ectual 

 and profitable method of manuring land. Loraine : Always improves the soil and often 

 adds several busheis per acre to the crop of grain. The clover-roots the princii^al benefit 

 to the soil. Highland : Judiciously jiracticed, it reclaims our worst worn-out lands. 

 Muskingum : No other practice here proves so efi'ectual for preserving the fertility of 

 the soil. Monroe : By the practice the soil is improved at least 50 per cent, above the 

 result of the common practice of cropping with barn-yard manure only. Butler: In 

 connection with manure it is regarded as the great aud cheap renovator of the soil. 

 Washington : I have a field of 16 acres on the Muskingum River, of what we call bot- 

 tom or plain laud. It had become so reduced by continual cropping that it would pro- 

 duce only about 12 bushels of wheat or 30 bushels of cora per acre. In the winter of 

 1866 I sowed it to clover aud secured a fine set. I let it remain without mowing or pas- 

 turing of any account, and it gave a fine growth in the summers of 1866 and 1867. In 

 the fall of 1867 I turned it under, taking two boys to keep the furrows clear, and sowed 

 it to Mediterranean wheat. In 1868 I harvested from the field 512 bushels of good sound 

 wheat, (32 bushels per acre.) The next year it yielded 75 bushels of corn per acre. 

 The seasons have not been so favorable since, but the land is now in better condition 

 thau in 1865. 



Returns from Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois indicate that the prac- 

 tice has made considerable progress, though less extensive than in Ohio. 

 In Michigan it is found a good fertilizer for fruit-growing. Ottawa re- 

 ports that if the land is to be set in small fruits the next season, a full 

 crop plowed under aud summer-fallowed brings it into fine condition, 

 and is much cheaper than commercial fertilizers. In Lenawee it is prac- 

 ticed by all farmers, and the full crop gives the most satisfactory results; 

 in Van Buren, on the oldest and best cultivated farms, with the " inva- 

 riable result of great improvement;" in Gratiot, is becoming more pop- 

 ular each year; in Calhoun, has increased the quantity and quality of 

 wheat, so as to make the average yield at best 20 per cent, more than 

 ten years ago. The only adverse return is from Oakland, which reports 

 that it is now less practiced than formerly, since it is deemed " more 

 profitable to let cattle aud sheep eat the clover and plow under the 



