THERE ARE SOME SILENT SUBSOILERS THAT 

 DO THEIR WORK WITH EASE, AND IN THEIR 

 WAY, MORE EFFECTUALLY THAN ANY TEAM 

 OR PLOW EVER HITCHED. THE CLOVER PLANT 

 IS RIGHTEOUSLY FAMED AS ONE OF THESE, 

 BUT ALFALFA IS ITS SUPERIOR. ITS ROOTS 

 WORK SUNDAY AS WELL IAS SATURDAY, 

 NIGHT AND DAY; THEY STRIKE 5, 10, 15 OR 

 20 FEET DEEP, MAKING INNUMERABLE PER- 

 FORATIONS, WHILE STORING UP NITROGEN, 

 AND WHEN THESE ROOTS DECAY THEY LEAVE 

 NOT ONLY A GENEROUS SUPPLY OF FERTILITY 

 FOR ANY DESIRED CROP, BUT MILLIONS OF 

 OPENINGS INTO WHICH THE AIR AND RAIN 

 OF HEAVEN FIND THEIR WAY, AND HELP TO 

 CONSTITUTE AN UNFAILING RESERVOIR OF 

 WEALTH, UPON WHICH THE HUSBANDMAN 

 CAN DRAW WITH LITTLE FEAR OF PROTEST 

 OR OVERDRAFTS. 



" Its long, branching roots penetrate far down, push and 

 crowd the earth this way and that, and thus constitute a 

 gigantic subsoiler. These become an immense magazine of 

 fertility. As soon as cut, they begin to decay and liberate 

 the vast reservoir of fertilizing matter below the plow, to 

 be drawn upon by other crops for years to come " 



