NORTH-CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 183 



*&amp;gt;mall per centage of silica-; and hence, cattle and horses mas 

 ticate it easily. Two elements exist in large proportions, lime 

 and potash; and hence, it must exhaust a soil as much as 

 timothy or any of the best grasses. For this reason, clover 

 makes an excellent green crop to precede wheat. Its large 

 roots loosen and open the soil, and supply by their decay a 

 large amount of fertilizing matter. 



I have already remarked that clover has not succeeded well 

 in this State. In many instances it has not corne up, and in 

 others it has died out. In some instances it has not been dif 

 ficult to assign a reason for its failure. Where it has failed to 

 .grow, I found on enquiry that it had been ploughed in ; buried 

 too deep. The seed, in these cases, was not in fault. Clover 

 requires only a shallow covering, and especially if the roller 

 is employed, good seed will come up. In other cases, after 

 it had come up, the planter allowed his pigs to have the ben 

 efit of the young and growing plant. It wae, therefore, fed 

 or crushed out. In other cases it was sown at the wrong time 

 and was exposed without protection to the sun-rays. 



In nine cases out of ten, a good stand may be secured un 

 der the right system of culture. AH those causes of failure 

 which I have named must of course be avoided, and in this 

 climate it will not do to allow cattle and hogs to feed upon it 

 until it is half grown, or has acquired a strong root. 



For a green crop to be disposed of as a fertilizer, clover has 

 one advantage over the pea ; from the former, a good crop of 

 hay may be obtained, and at the same time its stubble and 

 root ploughed in. The latter, if taken off for fodder leaves on 

 the ground only a small remnant of fertilizing matter. But if 

 the whole pea is allowed to remain, it is more valuable than 

 clover, and is better adapted to this climate, and hence requires 

 much less care in its cultivation. 



White clover is a more hardy plant than the red, but being 

 much smaller, it is not useful for winter fodder. For fine pas 

 tures it is one of the best of plants, though cattle do not relish 

 it quite as well as we have reason to expect from its sweetness 

 and tenderness ; yet, is eaten freely by sheep, and the meat, 

 whether of cattle or sheep, is of a fine quality. It is also re- 



