Clover as a Fertilizer. 127 



not been able to see or find any difference in the yield for a good 

 many years past. Little by little the value of clover as a reno- 

 vating crop was forced upon me, and I began to treat it better 

 and think more of it, as the better treatment brought still better 

 returns. Could I have known as much as I do now at the first, 

 and used my manure to grow clover over a large area and treated 

 it as well as I now do, I might have got out of debt much sooner. 

 By looking over some of my old writings I find this, written, ten 

 years ago, " A good clover and timothy sod on our land will raise 

 a large, paying crop of wheat, without any manure, with proper 

 and thorough cultivation." I did not know then that a clover sod 

 could furnish fertility for a potato and wheat crop. I had too 

 much timothy in my clover for best results. 



I state here, positively, that the heavy manuring done first 

 has not made any material difference in my success with clover. 

 I did not make my farm rich with manure first (only a small 

 part of it), as has been stated by those who only knew in a general 

 way that I made lots of manure, as I did. By far the greater 

 par,t of the fertility used has come from clover growing. I have 

 in mind one farm of precisely similar soil and well farmed, on 

 which a dairy is kept, and has been all these years that I have 

 farmed without stock. But little clover has been grown.. Some 

 is sown with timothy, but until quite lately not in a way to do 

 much good. There has not been one single year since I began 

 raising wheat that this farm has equaled mine in yield per acre, 

 and more than once I have beaten it two to one. I do not say this 

 to boast, but to teach a lesson. He may come onto my farm with 

 his dairy and timothy and I will go onto his with clover and 

 what manure I make and in six years I will beat him again. 

 You may believe this or not, I do, and I must preach what I 

 fully believe. 



As lately told of in The Practical Partner, in 1889 a certain 

 field of ours had on a fine stand of young clover. After the 

 wheat was removed the clover was clipped back to thicken it, as 

 usual. L,ate in the fall we covered half an acre of this with a 

 heavy . coat of good manure, at the rate of some forty loads per 

 acre. It was spread as. evenly as possible, and after the rains had 

 worked what they could into the soil during the fall and spring, 

 it was plowed under. The land is too level to wash, and is a 

 strong clay loam and not leachy. On this half acre we set straw- 

 berry plants in the spring of 1890. Of course, they were thor- 

 oughly cared for and mulched in the fall, but the great frost of 

 May 1 6, 1891 , destroyed a large part of them. This half acre was 

 plowed along in July, and the manure thus brought to surface 

 again and most thoroughly worked, often, till seeding time. The 

 rest of the field of similar soil grew clover in 1890, a heavy crop. 

 The first crop was removed and seed taken out of second and 

 haulm returned and spread. It was plowed in spring of 1891 for 



