CLOVER CULTURE. 19 



adjoining, in the best possible condition for the growth of the 

 cereals. Why it is, we shall see when we come to speak more 

 particularly of the conditions of light and moisture. 



Nor is there any difficulty in growing these clovers on 

 account of temperature. The season attends to that. The 

 success or failure in growing clover depends on skill 

 in regulating the mechanical condition so as to secure light 

 and moisture. 



The reader may learn much on this subject by examining 

 the germination of clover seeds in an old stack of clover hay 

 in May and June. He will find that on the outside, no matter 

 how abundant the seed, it does not germinate, for the reason 

 that while it has light and heat, it has no moisture. By lift- 

 ing up the edge of the hay he will find that a certain distance 

 inward it germinates freely, but beyond that a certain distance 

 it does not germinate at all, simply because the proper com- 

 bination of light, heat and moisture is not present. Success 

 lies in getting the light and moisture in the soil in the combi- 

 nation supplied in the stack at the point where the germina- 

 tion is perfect. Given, then, almost any kind of soil that will 

 produce a moderate crop of spring grain of any kind, how 

 shall we secure a stand of clover that will hold against possible 

 drouth for the first ninety days? This is the point to be con- 

 sidered in determining the very first question in growing 

 these clovers,* the depth at which they shall be covered. 

 After the first ninety days they are safe against anything ex- 

 cept the extreme drouths. We are satisfied that nine-tenths 

 of the failures in growing clover, about which we hear so 

 much, and especially on the lighter soils of the West, depend 

 upon the lack of proper covering in order to secure the condi- 

 tions requisite for vigorous germination and the support of the 

 life of the plant during the first three months of its existence. 

 The management will, of course, depend upon the kind of 

 grain crop in the soil. If it is intended to grow on land al- 

 ready in winter wheat and rye, the custom of sowing early in 

 March can not well be improved. No matter how early it 

 may be sown, it will not germinate until the season gives the 

 right temperature. The freezing and thawing of the ground 

 gradually imbeds the seed in the soil and growth is all the 

 quicker because of the shallowness of the covering. Begin- 

 ning at the commencement of the growing season, it is able 

 to strike its roots deep in the soil and to stand any probable 

 drouth in the earlier part of the year. Success will be all the 

 mote certain if the nurse crop is rye, for the reason that the 



