88 , AGRICULTURE. 



er it with a short-toothed harrow. The last opera- 

 tion will be to sow and roll in your clover- seed, 

 destined to become the next crop in succession. 



V. Of Clover. 



The Trifolium Agrarium of Linnaeus is found 

 growing spontaneously in many places, as is suffi- 

 ciently indicated by the names given to it ; as 

 Dutch clover, Spanish clover, clover of Piedmont, 

 clover of Normandy, &c., &c.* It is about two 

 centuries since it first became an object of agricul- 

 tural attention as forage, while its ameliorating ef- 

 fects on the soil, produced by its peculiar system of 

 roots and leaves, was a discovery of modern date. 

 It is now generally sown with barley, or other 

 spring grain of the culmiferous kind, and rarely by 

 itself. The advantages proposed by this practice 

 are three: 1st, the preparation given to the soil for 

 the grain crop, which is exactly that best fitted for 

 the clover : 2d, the protection given by the barley 

 to the young clover against the combined effects of 

 heat and dryness ; and, 3d, the improved condition 

 in which it leaves the soil for subsequent culture. 

 In this practice, however, a less quantity of barley 

 must be sown than usual, because, without ventila- 

 tion, the clover plants will perish. To this condi- 

 tion two others must be added, which are indispen- 

 sable to a good crop : 1st, that your seed be good ; 

 and, 2d, that it be regularly and equally sown. The 

 tests of good seed are, its comparative size and 

 weight (the largest and heaviest being always the 

 best), its plumpness, its yellow or purple colour, 

 its glossy skin, and, lastly, its cleanness or separ- 

 ation from other seeds and from dirt. 



The human hand was, no doubt, the first ma- 

 chine employed for sowing seeds. The difficulty, 



* A seed of Holland clover, of the same volume with one of 

 Normandy clover, weighs one seventh more. See Gilbert on 

 Artificial Meadows. 



