CLO 



CLO 



93 



that which is of a moderate growth. 

 And the hay is not so good. 



In the most southerly parts of 

 New-England, land in good heart 

 will bear two crops of clover in a 

 year. Mr. Eliot, therefore, recom- 

 mends saving the second crop for 

 seed, the first crop having been 

 mowed early. But two crops are 

 not to be obtained in the northern 

 parts of this country. And, if they 

 were, so frequent a cutting would 

 be apt to make the roots shorter 

 lived. It is advisable to pasture it 

 in May, and then let it grow for 

 seed. It is best to cut clover for 

 seed on land that is soon to be bro- 

 ken up : Because a crop of seed 

 weakens the roots much more than 

 a crop of hay ; and it is doubtful 

 whether it will bear any considera- 

 ble crop afterwards. Indeed, no 

 crop of clover is of any great im- 

 portance for hay, after the second 

 year. For it is a biennial plant. 



The white clover,vulgarly called 

 honeysuckle, is an excellent grass, 

 and seems very natural to this coun- 

 try : But when sown by itself, it 

 does not grow tall enough for mow- 

 ing. It is good for feeding in pas- 

 tures, during the fore part of sum- 

 mer, at which time it often ap- 

 pears in great plenty. 



The hop clover is new in this 

 country, but seems to appear not 

 very promising. It is said to flou- 

 rish on the most barren sands, and 

 continue long in any soil. It is of 

 two kinds, large and small, and the 

 heads are yellow. I once sowed 

 a small bed of it. It did not pros- 

 per, being almost wholly destroyed 

 by the following winter. 



The European farmers are cau- 



tious of turning neat cattle in to 

 feed in afield ofluxuriant green clo- 

 ver, for fear of their being hoven 

 with it, as it is called, or so swelled 

 by eating it greedily, as to be kil- 

 led by it. But this is an inconve- 

 nience, which I have never known 

 to take place in this country. The 

 way to save the life of hoven beasts 

 is, to stab them between the hip 

 and the short ribs, where the swel- 

 ling rises highest. It is performed 

 with a narrow, sharp pointed knife, 

 which makes an orifice in the maw, 

 and lets out the air that oppresses. 

 The wound soon heals of itself. 



The author of a valuable work, 

 entitled, " A Treatise on Agricul- 

 ture," lately published in Albany, 

 directs ten or twelve pounds of clo- 

 ver seed to be sown on an acre, if 

 the soil be rich, and double the 

 quantity if it be poor. He con- 

 demns the practice of mixing the 

 seeds of timothy and rye grass,&c. 

 with that of clover, " because these 

 grasses neither rise nor ripen at 

 the same time. Another practice 

 equally bad, is that of sowing clo- 

 ver seed on winter grain, before 

 the earth has acquired a tempera- 

 ture favourable to vegetation, and 

 when there can be no doubt but 

 that two-thirds of the seeds will 

 perish." This writer is of opinion 

 that clover should not be pastured 

 the first year, and observes, that 

 " If the crowns of young clover 

 roots be nibbled, or otherwise 

 wounded, the roots die. Sheep and 

 horses (both of which bite closely) 

 should therefore be particularly 

 excluded from clover, unless in- 

 tended for pasturage only." 



According to the same author, 



