208 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



other clovers in the absence of irrigation. And more- 

 over, it is a plant that- not only fills the soil with a 

 mass of strong roots which penetrate the same in 

 various directions and which go down deeply into the 

 subsoil to gather food, but it has also much power 

 to gather nitrogen from the air and to deposit the 

 same in the subsoil. 



Notwithstanding the great powers of growth 

 with which sweet clover is endowed, it has been but 

 little cultivated as yet to provide food for domestic 

 animals. The odor of this plant is highly fragrant, 

 but the stalks and buds possess a bitterness of taste 

 which seems, to a considerable extent at least, to 

 detract from its palatability. The stems also become 

 woody at a comparatively early stage of development. 



Heretofore sweet clover has been chiefly grown 

 in America to provide food for bees, but in some 

 instances it has been sown to hinder the washing 

 down of the earth from embankments, which wall in 

 the cuttings made in building railroads. More com- 

 monly it is found growing in vagrant fashion along 

 the roadsides and in waste places, where it is main- 

 tained through self seeding. Because of this vagrant 

 habit of growth, sweet clover has been proscribed as 

 a weed pest by the laws of several states. 



It would seem too bad to allow a plant possessed 

 of so many redeeming qualities to be forever treated 

 as a fugitive. The author cannot but feel hopeful 

 that some time in the future when the seed becomes 

 more plentiful and consequently cheaper, sweet clover 

 will be sown on wide areas in the semi-arid belt 

 along with small grain such as wheat, oats and 

 barley, to help to sustain fertility and to increase the 



