t 

 74 CLOVER CULTURE. 



restores to the land, in the shape of barnyard manure, or in 

 some other way, the mineral elements which it, as well as the 

 other crops, have removed from it. 



As proof of the value of the clovers, sown and managed 

 as above described, we have only to point to the cornfields 

 grown on clover sod in any year, and especially in wet years, 

 in any part of the country, but particularly in the West, as 

 compared with corn grown on like land after other crops and 

 treated in all respects similarly. The natural drainage formed 

 by the partially rotted soil renders earlier planting possible, 

 the decaying roots furnishing an abundant supply of nitrogen 

 in the best condition for the use of the plant; and the result, 

 in the worst corn seasons, is a crop that cannot fail to be largely 

 profitable. There is, however, no-surer way to exhaust perma- 

 nently the fertility of the soil than to continue the process we 

 have outlined above without restoring in some way the potash 

 and phosphoric acid that have been removed by this stimulat- 

 ing process. 



Where it is desired to use the clovers in connection with 

 the other grasses as a permanent pasture, a different mixture 

 should be adopted. If the land has been in cultivation, and 

 it is desired to sow the grass seed with spring grains, we sug- 

 gest the following mixture: 



Red Clover 5 pounds 



Mammoth Clover 5 pounds, 



Timothy 6 pounds 



Blue Grass 6 pounds 



White Clover ..../ 1 pound 



The principles laid down in Chapter III should be ob- 

 served with regard to the depth of covering, the moist soils 

 requiring shallower, and the light and dry soils a deeper cov- 

 ering. As the object in the permanent pasture is to secure 

 as far as possible a constant succession of fresh grass and of 

 bloom, it would be well to add to, or substitute in part for the 

 above mixture any other grasses that are known to do well in 

 the particular locality. For example, we would add, in the 

 latitude of southern Iowa, 3 or 4 pounds of orchard grass. On 

 wet lands we would leave out half the red and mammoth 

 clovers and substitute five pounds of alsike. Where red-top 

 does better than timothy, as it does in some of the southern 

 states, or better than blue grass, as in some of the extreme 

 northern, we would reduce the timothy and blue grass and 

 substitute red-top in part. In a pasture seeded as above, the 

 orchard grass will furnish the first bite, so desirable in the 



