GRASSES AND CLOVER. 137 



farmer to turn his stock out more than a month earlier than 

 clover ought to be pastured. It is especially damaging to allow 

 stock to run on clover while there are frosts in spring, as every 

 plant that is touched when frozen is killed. If the clover is al- 

 lowed to grow until it begins to blossom before stock is turned 

 on it, the roots have pushed down deeply into the soil, and the 

 land is so densely shaded that it will take a very severe 

 drought to affect it at all; and when the grasses are drying up 

 and their growth is entirely stopped, the clover will still grow 

 and furnish an abundant supply of food. 



Fertilizers for Clover. As clover is always sown with 

 a grain crop, manure is seldom if ever applied with reference to 

 the growth of the clover, but I have shown that when the ma- 

 nure is applied at the surface and finely pulverized, it will 

 greatly benefit the clover as well as the grain. I consider this 

 a strong argument in favor of using the manure as a top dress- 

 ing on small grain, and also for thoroughly pulverizing it. Gyp- 

 sum or land plaster is considered a valuable fertilizer for clover, 

 and particularly to give the second crop a start when it is to be 

 cut for seed. The plaster should be applied when the dew is 

 on in the morning or on a damp day. Two hundred pounds 

 per acre is sufficient. "Harris" in his Talks on Manures 

 says : " The effect of a top dressing of gypsum on clover was 

 often wonderful. The crop was larger and more luxuriant, and 

 this extra growth was caused by the small dressing of powdered 

 gypsum rock." 



Growing Clover Seed. The yield of clover-seed varies 

 from one to seven bushels per acre, and three bushels is about 

 a fair average. In one important particular, clover diners from 

 most other plants, which is, that it produces a better effect on 

 the soil when allowed to ripen its seed than when removed in 

 the green state either by mowing or pasturing. 



In investigating to find the reason of this it has been 

 found, that the greatest development of roots in the soil is 

 during the period of the growth of the second crop. In an ex- 

 periment by " Dr. Augustus Voelcker " it was estimated that an 

 acre of clover contained after cutting for hay in round numbers 



