342 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



market prices. It is valuable for sowing 

 on lands subject to washing, as it holds 

 the"~TreH and keeps a turf of vegetation, 

 where otherwise there would be a gully. 



The white clover Is Htaown among the 

 students of agriculture, as tirfoitwn re- 

 pens, and is scattered over almost the en- 

 tire farming sections of our country. It 

 forms a nice lawn when mixed with blue 

 grass, and may be mown and fed to hogs 

 and poultry, with much profit. In some 

 sections of the west, where natural vege- 

 tation is scant, this clover forms the chief 

 food for hogs, cattle and poultry, kept in 

 pens throughout the summer months. It 

 can be cut several times in a season, and 

 is fed green. Several farm animals may 

 be kept in good condition by the green 

 feed taken from the lawn orchard and 

 other patches of the white clover. In this 

 respect it probably excels all other legu- 

 Utnes . 



White clover will grow on any soil suited 

 to the ordinary clovers, and > often makes 

 good crops on hard clay and wet marshy 

 lands, where other plants fail. Like all 

 others legumes it gets sufficient nitrogen 

 from the atmosphere, but must be supplied 

 with abundance of potash and phosphoric 

 acid. These plant foods, when judiciously 

 applied, will cause the clover to make a 

 perfect mass, covering every spot with 

 rank growth and luxuriant foliage, where 

 spots may be left in seeding to others clo- 

 vers. A fertilizer containing at least 8 

 per cent potash and a similar amount of 

 phosphoric acid, should be applied in the 

 spring, at the rate of 600 to 1,000 pounds 

 per acre. Another good mixture for clo- 

 ver would be about 300 to 400 Ibs. acid 

 phosphate and 150 to 200 Ibs. muriate of 

 potash. These can be thoroughly mixed 

 with the soil before seeding. 



Soil for white clover should be thor- 

 oughly prepared before seeding and the 

 weeds killed out, as much as possible. 

 The seed is very small and the plants are 

 easily choked out until they reach a size 



so that they can spread over the ground- 

 Some successful growers of white clover 

 recommend sowing it alone, in the spring, 

 while others sow it at any time, and mix 

 blue grass with the seed. For lawns this 

 is advisable and adds to its beauty. If 

 SVw*-for permanent meadows, or pastures, 

 a mixture of ottrer -clovers is the bst plan. 

 In this way the early white come* -tH-and 

 gives feed while the others are growing, 

 then in the fall when the other clovers are 

 dead the white springs up for winter pas- 

 ture. 



White clover weighs 60 pounds to the 

 bushel of clean seed, and is much smaller 

 than the other clovers. If the soil is in 

 good condition, and the season favorable, 

 eight pounds will be sufficient seed for an 

 acre. When mixed with the general clo- 

 vers for meadows ten pounds is the proper 

 amount to sow. The seed may be had 

 from any dealer at about 20 cents a pound. 

 If the plant shows signs of giving out it 

 may be plowed up and resown, thereby 

 giving the land the benefit of the foods 

 collected by the leaves and roots. It will 

 assist wonderfully in renovating old soils 

 and holding the plant food from washing 

 away. Those who have been prejudiced 

 against this little plant should give it a 

 trial. 



JOEL SHOEMAKER. 



GROWTH OF BEET SUGAR 

 C. F. Saylor, the special agent in charge 

 of the beet-sugar investigations of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, is in Washing- 

 ton, making his annual report. He gave 

 out the following figures regarding the in- 

 dustry during the last year: 



The total production of beet-sugar 

 duties in the season 1901-2 has aggregated 

 185,000 tons, an increase of 140 per cent 

 from the 77,000 tons produced during the 

 season 1900-1, There were thirty-one fac- 

 tories in operation in 1900, according to 

 the census figures, and eleven more were 

 started in 1901. 



