92 



CLO 



CLO 



of the £;rain. But 1 have never 

 found this to be the case in fact. 



Mr. Ehot recommends a diflfer- 

 ent method, which is ploughint^ in 

 the seed ; which, he thinks, and 

 not without reason, will cause it to 

 bear drought the better, and be- 

 come the more strongly rooted. I 

 believe I may add, that it will be 

 more likely to escape in the frosts 

 of winter, which arc so intense in 

 this country, as often to kill almost 

 whole fields of clover. 



Peat ashes are said to be a very 

 proper dressing for clover grounds. 

 But this grass answers so well in 

 this country without manure, that 

 the farmers choose to set apart the 

 •whole of the manure that they can 

 get for other purposes. 

 . Some think clover is so far from 

 needing any manure, that it will 

 recruit lands wliich are worn out. 

 That it will do it more than other 

 grasses I cannot yet see any reason 

 to believe. It will bear no crop 

 worth mowing, on lands which are 

 quite exhausted. But it is proba- 

 ble it may produce good crops, on 

 lands which are much impoverish- 

 ed near the surface, by bearing 

 plants with short, fibrous, or hori- 

 zontal roots; because clover sends 

 its main roots to a great depth. — 

 And while a iieldlies several years 

 in clover, the soil near the surface 

 may be considerably recruited. — 

 But that land on the whole will 

 be in better heart, after several 

 heavy crops of clover are taken 

 from it, and no manure laid on, 

 seems incredible. 



Writers on agriculture seem, 

 however, to be agreed, that a clo- 

 ver lay is proper for the culture of 



wheat. The rotting of its large 

 roots and stalks may answer as a 

 good manure no ways liable to 

 distemper thevvheat, as some oth- 

 er manures are thought to be. 



Some skilful farmers insist much 

 on the propriety of sowing clover- 

 seed with barley. I suppose it will 

 answer well with almost any grain 

 that we callEnglish. But with a crop 

 of pease, or with any other crop that 

 forms a close shade to the soil, it 

 will not answer. 'J he young plants 

 must have some advantage of the 

 sun and air, "or they will not live. 

 And if it be sown with flax, at least 

 in some loose soils, the pulling of 

 the llax will be apt to eradicate 

 much of the clover. Crops which 

 lodge are also destructive to the 

 young clover, by forming so close 

 a cover as to stifle it. Therefore, 

 when clover seed is sown, either 

 with barley or flax, the ground 

 should be rather under than over 

 seeded, to prevent lodging. 



Clover being an early grass, it is 

 commonly fit to cut in June. — 

 When half the heads are turned 

 from red to brown, and on the de- 

 cay, it is the right time to mow it. 

 But if the seed is to be saved for 

 use, it must stand till it is all dead 

 ripe, both heads and stalks. It re- 

 quires more care to make clover 

 into hay than most other grasses. 

 That which is mown in a morning, 

 should be spread, turned, and raked 

 up before night. The next day, if 

 the weather be fair, it must be 

 opened, stirred once or twice, and 

 cocked up again. Then, after 

 sweating a day or two, it may be 

 put into the barn. Rank clover 

 requires much more drying than 



