10 CLOVER CULTURE. 



one of nitrogen to four of carbo-hydrates in its youth, and in 

 decreasing proportion after the muscular system has been 

 built up. It will be seen, therefore, that the great problem 

 of feeding lies in supplying nitrogen or albuminoids in this 

 proportion, and consequently in supplying foods which in their 

 combination have this proportion. On account of its relative 

 scarcity to the elements that make, up bone, or that keep up 

 heat, it is always the most costly, and hence any plant or any 

 class of plants that can draw supplies from the atmosphere in- 

 stead of the soil becomes invaluable in the economy of the 

 farm and the economy of nature. It is this fact that makes 

 the distribution of the Leguminosce, and especially of the 

 clovers, a matter of such great importance in agriculture. 



The Leguminosa as we have seen constitutes a very 

 large class of plants in all parts of the world, and in all con- 

 ditions of soil and climate. It embraces some of the largest 

 trees of the forest, especially in tropical countries, and, in the 

 temperate zone, one of the most distinctive varieties is that 

 of the locust, and the fact that the Leguminosae are able to 

 procure nitrogen from the atmosphere explains what has 

 doubtless been a puzzle to many readers, why grain crops can 

 be grown close to a locust tree while they refuse to grow for 

 rods around an oak, sugar tree or a walnut. They are found 

 in all wild pastures, both in the shape of weeds and grasses. 

 The wild indigo, the vetch and shoestring may .be cited as 

 prairie illustrations. If, as we have suggested, it is mainly 

 through the Leguminosce that the nitrogen of the air can be 

 appropriated for the use of vegetable life, it will be clearly 

 seen that the absence of the legumes would make plant lite 

 impossible. Whether this be true or whether science may 

 yet reveal other hidden secrets of nature, showing that she is 

 not limited to this class of plants, it is but reasonable to expect 

 that they should have a wide distribution in every soil that 

 is at. all capable of supporting plant life. Without speaking- 

 of other leguminous plants, such as peas, beans, vetches and lup- 

 ines that have been highly prized by agriculturists in all parts 

 of the world, and in all ages, it is worth while to notice that 

 there are in America more than forty native varieties of the 

 clovers, in addition to those introduced since the settlement 

 of the country, and that among these are species apparently 

 adapted to all climates and to all varieties of soil\ v and all of 

 them noted for being nitrogen feeders of other plants and re- 

 storers of the wastes created, in the first years of cultivation 

 in every country, by the soil robber. The clovers in some of 



