134 RED CLOVER 
producing plants, so that a supply of organic matter may 
be secured for his soil. 
The most powerful way to use clover is to allow one 
clover crop to grow and die and then plow it under dry 
the following spring. 
In this manner you would get the additional great 
benefits of soil covering. Another effective method is 
to allow it to come into full bloom then cut it, leaving 
it lying on the ground for the second crop to come up 
through it, then cut the second crop so that it will have 
some time to decay before plowing it in for wheat. 
Either of these two methods of handling the clover crop 
will so enrich the soil that the effects will linger for 
years. 
An illustration is given of a Pennsylvania farmer 
who, after great effort, succeeded in getting a stand of 
clover upon the light colored soil of one of his poor 
worn-out fields and then turned the field back to Nature 
as it were, kept all his stock out of it, and allowed the 
clover to grow and reseed itself for several years. When 
the field was finally plowed it was found that the soil 
had become black for the depth of nearly a foot, and 
was so enriched that it produced large crops for many 
years afterwards. And herein is a valuable lesson for 
the American farmer if he will but learn it. The lesson, 
that man must follow Nature’s way of soil building if 
he would restore or keep up the fertility of the soil. 
