IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL 63 



tained in a heavy application of stable manure, and 

 its effect on the improvement of the soil is fully as 

 great. In planting one of these crops for soil im- 

 provement we can well say that we are growing a crop 

 of stable manure, since its effect on the soil is almost 

 identical. In one important respect it is, in fact, 

 markedly superior. In only too many cases stable 

 manure is the means of introducing the seeds of many 

 noxious weeds and grasses. Crops of these legumes, 

 however, occupy the land so closely that they smother 

 and kill the weeds and are thus a considerable factor 

 in subduing and eradicating them. 



At the North red clover (Tri/oUum pratense') is 

 the legume almost universally depended on for soil- 

 improving purposes. It is also an exceedingly valu- 

 able forage and occu^Dies a prominent place in the 

 crop rotation adopted by all good farmers. It usually 

 occupies the land for at least two years. Unfortu- 

 nately it does not succeed well at the South and need 

 not be considered in the region for which this work 

 is especially written. 



Crimson clover ( Trifolium iyicarnatuni) is an annual 

 plant and, therefore, must be resown every year. It 

 grows best during the cooler part of the year. It is 

 well adapted to many of the soils of the Southern 

 states, and where it can be made to succeed it is a 

 very useful winter cover crop, especially for orchards 

 and for cotton lands. The young plants are quite 

 delicate and the land must be put in a condition of 

 perfect tilth before the planting, in order to obtain a 

 stand. It can be planted from August to October. 

 It makes fine hay if cut when in bloom, and the crop 



