lar to g?/ i^to; t#6 :matter/.of "tfce "nitro culture;" but 

 as We go % to 'pr^sVit "promises .feo be one of the greatest 

 achievements in the way of modern agriculture; in 

 fact, it has been termed, in a vein of pleasantry, "a 

 process by which the up-to-date farmer may carry his 

 fertilizer in his vest pocket." Our experiment sta- 

 tions have for many years decided that sweet clover is 

 one of the best clovers to plow under for the pur- 

 pose of enriching unfertile or worn-out soils. 



As an indication of the change in public opinion 

 in regard to sweet clover, I may say that, for some 

 time past, the price of sweet- clover seed has been 

 steadily advancing. At the present time the call is 

 greater than ever before; in fact, we are sold out 

 of seed as we go to press, and have advertised north, 

 south, east and -west for a new supply if it can be 

 had anywhere in the United States. 

 May 1, 1910. A. I. ROOT. 



IMPORTED SWEET-CLOVER SEED. . 



Since the above was put in type I am informed that a large 

 part of the sweet-clover seed now on the market is imported 

 from foreign countries; and in order to test this seed I have 

 taken some samples from sacks holding several hundred 

 pounds, and sowed them in our little greenhouse. I am glad to 

 tell you that not only does almost every seed germinate, but the 

 plants are up so as to be visible in just three days from the time 

 of sowing. These imported seeds all have the hulls removed; 

 and what I have been enabled to get hold of is remarkably 

 clean, and free from weed seeds of any sort, which can hardly 

 be said of most of the seeds produced in the United States, and 

 sold with the hulls on. And, by the way, seeds sown with the 

 hulls on are much slower in germinating. At the present writ- 

 ing it is my impression that we should, as far as possible, use 

 seeds with the hulls taken off. The cost is three to five cents 

 more per pound; but as you get many more seeds in a pound it 

 will probably be as cheap, or cheaper, in the end. 



June 1, 1910. 



