GRASSES AND CLOVER. 133 



I make on the supposition that both crops are removed from 

 the soil. The feeding value of a clover crop depends on so 

 many circumstances that we can not lay down any fixed rules 

 in determining it. We can, however, get an approximate idea 

 of its worth. Mr. Coburn, in his work on Swine Husbandry, 

 estimates that an acre of clover fed to hogs will produce one- 

 half more pork than an average acre of corn. He claims that 

 fifteen pounds of green clover will make a pound of pork, and 

 that an acre of good average clover will produce six tons green, 

 and foots up a feeding value of thirty-two dollars for it. While 

 I would not dispute that, under favorable circumstances, this 

 might be realized from it, yet I know that the estimate is more 

 than double what we could expect as an average result. Mr. 

 L. N. Bonham, who has a bottom farm, and follows a rotation 

 which gives a clover-field of about thirty acres each year, has 

 made the feeding value of clover a matter of careful study, and 

 puts the average pasture value at nine dollars per acre. I con- 

 sider this a safe and moderate estimate, and think that the 

 clover crop will compare favorably with our grain crops on this 

 basis. I should call eight dollars peY acre a low estimate for 

 the cost of growing and harvesting an acre of corn or wheat; 

 and, if we add to this the three dollars which we have estimated 

 the soil is reduced in fertility, it will make eleven dollars to be 

 deducted from the grain crop in making up our balance-sheet to 

 find out what the profit is. We deduct from the clover crop only 

 one dollar per acre as the expense of seeding; but, on the other 

 hand, credit it with the value of fertilizing elements developed in 

 the soil. 



When the crop is cut for hay and seed it often proves very 

 profitable, especially near a city or village market, as clover-hay 

 is considered superior food for milch cows, producing yellow 

 butter in winter. When the second crop is to be cut for seed it 

 is important to cut the first crop early, and I would advise cut- 

 ting as soon as the earliest blossoms have turned brown. It will 

 be harder to cure than if cut later, but will contain less indigest- 

 ible woody fiber, and the seed crop will be heavier. 



The nutritive value of clover hay, if cut at the right season 



