CLOUT. 



CLOVER. 



off, the butter is washed and pressed in several 

 cold waters ; a little salt is added to season it ; 

 and then it is well beaten on a wooden trencher 

 until the milky and watery parts are separated, 

 when it is finally formed into prints for the 

 markets." (Surv. of Carmcall, p. 141.) 



"If the quantity "of cream be considerable, 

 the cream will be an inch or more thick upon 

 the surface, and it is then divided into squares 

 and taken off. The remaining milk, however, 

 contains little besides the watery particles in 

 its original composition." (Complete Grazier, 

 sixth edition, p. 137.) 



CLOUT. An iron plate put on the axletree 

 of a cart or other carriage. 



CLOVER. One of the most valuable spe- 

 cies of the artificial grasses, of which there are 

 several varieties, all too well known to need a 

 particular description. 1. White clover, white 

 trefoil, or Dutch clover (Trifolium repens*), grow- 

 ing on almost all soils and situations. PI. 8, a. 

 2. Perennial red clover (T. pratense perenne} b\ 

 is found wild near Wainfleet, and in other rich 

 natural English pastures. 3. Marl clover, cow 

 grass (T. //iff/mm), c; when in flower it yielded 

 Sinclair per acre, from a rich black loam, 

 20,418 Ibs. ; of nutritive matter, 717 Ibs. 4. 

 Long-rooted clover (T. niarrokizmn,') k; a rich 

 clayey loam yielded of this grass when flower- 

 ing, 74,868 Ibs. ; of nutritive matter, 2,924 Ibs. 

 5. Crimson clover (T. im-nrnutum^f. 6. Egyp- 

 tian clover (T. akxandrinum) ; see Qua, 

 of jjgr. vol. ii. p. 729. These grasses contain 

 the phosphate and sulphate of lime ; hence peat, 

 wood ashes, and gypsum (see these heads) 

 are found to be excellent dressings for this 

 crop, and have in many cases succeeded in 

 renovating rA.-rrr-siVA- lands. 



The creeping white clover is a perennial 

 common to Europe and America, growing in 

 the United States spontaneously in p;; 

 meadows, and upon woodlands, to the height 

 of from 4 to 12 inches. The soil is so full of 

 the seeds that the plant springs up wherever 

 and whenever circumstances are favourable 

 to its germination ; and hence, when the season 

 is good, it often furnishes a fine fall pasture 

 after other grasses have almost disappeared. 

 Though rarely cultivated in the United States, 

 it is esteemed an excellent pasture at least in 

 the Middle and Northern States, where it is 

 sometimes sown with timothy and other grass 

 for a regular hay crop. Mr. Eliott speaks un- 

 favourably of it in the South. There is rather 

 more difficulty in saving the seed of white clo- 

 ver than of the common red, and hence the 

 seed of the former sells for at least double the 

 price of the latter. 



The yellow or shamrock clover (Trifolium 

 procumbent'), Plate 10, d, is an annual, not very 

 common in the United States, but found in the 

 Middle States in dry, sandy soils, blooming its 

 yellow flowers from May to August. The stem 

 is from 3 to 8 inches long, sometimes trailing, 

 at others nearly erect It is a foreigner, and 

 is gradually extending itself. 



The common red clover is extensively culti- 

 vated in the United States, sometimes alone, 

 sometimes with other grasses. With timothy 

 it makes hay of a very superior kind, especially 

 for neat cattle. The seed is usually sown with 



' winter wheat or other grain crops, late in Feb- 

 ruary or early in March, whilst the ground is 

 i still subject to freezing and thawing, and the 

 ! seed can thus gain admission into the soil. Or 

 it may be sown with the oat or other spring or 

 summer crop, in which case, having the ad- 

 vantage of being harrowed in, it can generally 

 be sown with even greater success than when 

 put with a 'crop of winter grain. Too little 

 seed is generally applied, and the best quantity 

 is from 10 to 12 or 14 Ibs. per acre. The bushel 

 weighs about 60 to 64 Ibs., very nearly the 

 same weight with good wheat. 



Clover is frequently turned under in the fall 

 to enrich the ground preparatory to a crop of 

 wheat, or in the ensuing spring for the benefit 

 of the Indian corn. Some persons think the 

 best time for turning do\vn clover is in the 

 rankest and most succulent stage of its growth, 

 whilst others maintain that it is best to leave 

 it to the period of its decline, when its extract- 

 ive matter is most abundant. This last plan 

 is undoubtedly the best in most if not all cases, 

 and this opinion is founded upon the results of 

 actual experiments. Being a biennial plant, 

 clover of course leaves the field after the se- 

 cond year, unless allowed to seed itself. When 

 timothy has been sown with it, this perennial 

 grass then obtains exclusive possession of the 

 field, where it is generally allowed to remain 

 two or more years longer, affording the richest 

 of all kinds of hay for horses, although for neat 

 cattle the mixture of red clover and timothy is 

 generally preferred. 



Clover hay, when fed unmixed to horses, 

 often produces a cough. This can always be 

 removed by substituting timothy for a few- 

 weeks, after which the feed may consist of 

 half clover and half timothy, with little or no 

 danger of producing cough. Experience has 

 shown that when the clover hay is fed from 

 large troughs or mangers instead of racks 

 above the head, horses escape the cough. 

 Many of the most careful farmers in Pennsyl- 

 vania have entirely excluded racks from their 

 barns and stables, and substituted mangers or 

 large troughs. 



Clover, by which is understood the common 

 red clover (trifoliwm pratense}, is of immense 

 importance in the improved system of Ameri- 

 can husbandry, taking the place of almost 

 every other kind of ameliorating crop. Its tap 

 roots penetrate and loosen the soil, whilst the 

 leaves and stems produce abundance of nutri- 

 tious food for the farm stock ; and both roots 

 and stems, when turned under by the plough, 

 are extremely enriching to the soil. The first 

 year's growth of clover is sometimes mown 

 for hay and sometimes pastured, whilst the 

 second cjfops are devoted to hay and furnish- 

 ing seed.. When the second crop is pastured 

 in spring, the stock must not be turned on be- 

 fore the ground has become so firm that hoofs 

 will not sink into the sod, nor until the growth 

 is such as to enable the cattle to thrive. The 

 pasturage may be continued from the middle 

 of April or first of May for about six weeks, 

 when the cattle are to be withdrawn, and the 

 second crop allowed to go to seed for saving. 

 Some farmers think that the closer the first 

 growth of the second season is cut or cropped 



339 



