280 



CLOVE BARK CLOVIS. 



used by many persons, though very improperly, for 

 curing the tooth-ache ; since, from its pungent qua- 

 lity, it is apt to corrode the gums and injure the 

 adjacent teeth. When the tooth is carious, and 

 will admit of it, a bruised clove is much to be pre- 

 ferred. 



CLOVE BARK, or CULILAWAN BARK 

 (cortex lauri ctililawan) is furnished by a tree of the 

 Molucca islands. It is in pieces more or less long, 

 almost flat, thick, fibrous, covered with a white epi- 

 dermis, of a reddish-yellow inside, of a nutmeg and 

 clove odour, and of an aromatic and sliarp taste. It 

 is one of the substitutes for cinnamon, but not much 

 used. We find also, in commerce, under the name 

 of clove bark, another bark furnished by the myrtits 

 caryophillata (Lin.). It is in sticks two feet long, 

 formed of several pieces of very thin and hard bark, 

 rolled up one over the other, of a deep brown colour, 

 of a taste similar to that of cloves. It possesses the 

 same properties as the former barks, and may be con- 

 sidered as a substitute for them. 



CLOVER (trifolium). The clovers are a very 

 numerous family. Some botanists reckon no less 

 than fifty-five species belonging to the genus of which 

 cultivated clovers are varieties. The following are 

 most used: 1. Fratense, or common red clover. 

 This is a biennial, and sometimes, especially on 

 chalky soils, a triennial plant. This is the kind 

 most commonly cultivated, as it yields a larger pro- 

 duct than any of the other sorts. The soil best 

 adapted for clover is a deep, sandy loam, which is 

 favourable to its long tap-roots ; but it will grow in 

 any soil not too moist. So congenial is calcarious 

 matter to clover, that the mere strewing of lime on 

 some soils will call into action clover-seeds, which, it 

 would appear, have lain dormant for ages. It is a 

 recommendation of this grass, that it is adapted to a 

 soil suitable to scarcely any other kind of grass to 

 land which is dry, light, sandy, or composed mostly 

 of gravel. Clover-seed should be sowed in the 

 spring, except in climates where there are no severe 

 winter frosts. The young plants which come up in 

 autumn cannot bear the frost so well as those 

 which have had a whole summer to bring them to 

 maturity. Spring wheat is a very good crop with 

 which to sow clover and other grass-seed. It is re- 

 commended to sow the grass-seed, and plough or 

 iiarrow it in with the wheat. If it be scattered on 

 the surface without being well covered, a part does 

 not vegetate, and that which does will be liable to 

 injury from drought. Clover-seed may also be sown 

 in the spring on winter grain, and harrowed in. 

 European wrfters agree with American cultivators, 

 that die harrowing will do no damage, but will be 

 of service to the grain. The author of a valuable 

 work, entitled a Treatise on Agriculture, lately pub- 

 lished in America, directs ten or twelve pounds of clo- 

 ver-seed to be sown on an acre, if the soil be rich, 

 and double that quantity if it be poor. He condemns 

 the practice of mixing the seeds of timothy, rye, 

 grass, &c. , with that of clover, " because these gras- 

 ses neither rise nor ripen at the same time." An- 

 other practice, equally bad (according to this writer), 

 " is that of sowing clover-seed on winter grain be- 

 fore the earth has acquired a temperature favourable 

 to vegetation, and when there can be no doubt but 

 that two-thirds of the seeds will perish." Clover- 

 seed of a bright yellow, with a good quantity of pur- 

 ple and brown-coloured seed amongst it, which 

 shows its maturity, should be preferred. When per- 

 fectly ripe and well gathered, its power of vegetation 

 will continue for four or five years. Two sorts of ma- 

 chines are described in the Transactions of the New 

 York Agricultural Society for gathering clover-seed. 

 Oue of these machines consists of an open box about 



four feet square at the bottom, and about three fed 

 in height on three sides ; to the fore part, which is 

 open, fingers are fixed, about three feet in length, 

 and so near as to break oft' the heads from the clover, 

 stocks between them, which are thrown back as the 

 box advances. The box is fixed on an axle-tree 

 supported by small wheels, with handles fixed to the 

 hinder part, by which the driver, while managing the. 

 horse, raises or depresses the fingers of the machine, 

 so as to take oft' the heads of the grass. The otlu r 

 machine called a cradle, is made of an oak Ixianl 

 about eighteen inches in length and ten in brea ah. 

 The fore part of it, to the length of nine inches, is 

 sawed into fingers ; a handle is inserted behind, in- 

 clined towards them, and a cloth put roiuid the 

 back part of the board, which is cut somewhat cir- 

 cular and raised on the handle; this collects the 

 heads or tops of the grass, and prevents them from 

 scattering as they are struck off by the cradle, which 

 may be made of different sizes, being smaller in 

 proportion for women and children, who, by means 

 of it, may likewise collect large quantities. 



2. Trifolium repens, or white clover. This also 

 thrives best in light land. When sown by itself, it 

 rarely grows tall enough to be well cut with a 

 sithe. When mixed with timothy or green grass 

 (poa viridis), it makes excellent hay. Clover re- 

 quires much attention to make it into hay. Its 

 stalks are so succulent, that the leaves, which are the 

 best part, are apt to crumble and waste away before 

 the hay is well dried. It has, therefore, been re- 

 commended to cart it to the mow or the stack 

 before the stalks are dry, and either to put it up 

 with alternate layers of hay and straw, or to salt it 

 at the rate of from half a bushel to a whole bushel per 

 ton. Green clover is good for swine. The late judge 

 Peters, of Pennsylvania, observed, " In summer, my 

 hogs chiefly run on clover. Swine feeding on clover 

 in the fields will thrive wonderfully, when those 

 (confined or not) fed on cut clover will fall away." 

 (Mem. Penn. Agr. Soc. vol. ii. p. 33.) 



CLOVIS, king of the Franks, born 465, succeed- 

 ed his father Cnilderic in the year 481, as chief 

 of the warlike tribe of Salian Franks, who inha- 

 bited a barren country between the sea and the 

 Scheldt. This tribe at a former period, had made 

 incursions into the neighbouring territories, but 

 were driven back into their forests and morasses. 

 Clovis, therefore, united with Ragnacaire, king of 

 Cambray, and declared war upon Syagrius (son of 

 Aetius), the Roman governor at Soissons. The Ro- 

 mans were entirely routed near Soissons, in 486. 

 Syagrius fled to Toulouse, to the court of Alaric, 

 lung of the Goths, whose cowardly councillors deli- 

 vered him up to Clovis, by whom he was put to 

 death, Soissons now became the capital of the new 

 kingdom of the Salian Franks. The uncultivated 

 Clovis governed his new subjects with wisdom and 

 moderation ; he was particularly desirous to ob tain 

 the good-will of the clergy. All the cities in Belgia 

 Secunda submitted to him. Paris yielded to the vic- 

 tor hi 493, and, in 507, was selected for the capital 

 of his kingdom. In order to obtain assistance in 

 withstanding the powerful Visigoths in Gaul, Clovis 

 married Clotilda, niece ofGundebald, king of Bur- 

 gundy. This princess, who had been educated in the 

 Catholic faith, was desirous that her husband, also, 

 should embrace it. Her efforts were fruitless, till, 

 on an occasion when he was hard pressed in a battle 

 against the Allemanni, near Zulpich (496), Clovis 

 called on the God of Clotilda and the Christians. 

 Victory declared in his favour ; and the part of the 

 territory of the Allemanni lying on the Upper Rhine 

 submitted to the king of the Franks. The victor's 

 conversion was now an easy matter for the eloquent 



