51 



these fields have given one of the hcst as well as one of the 

 heaviest crops produced since 1889. 



2. Clovers are of especial value upon the farm as stock 

 feed, on account of their exceptional richness in protein. 

 Protein, as is well understood, is the most valuable of the 

 food constituents, being essential to the formation of flesh, 

 and undoubtedly influencing milk production to a greater 

 degree than any other food constituent. Hay made from 

 grasses is likely to contain only G to 8 per cent of protein ; 

 hay made from clovers, on the other hand, is likely to contain 

 from 12 to 14 per cent. Every farmer, however, who has 

 had experience knows the superior results which can be ob- 

 tained in feeding when good clover hay is available. This 

 point, therefore, needs no further discussion. 



3. The production of clovers under the right conditions en- 

 riches the soil. This is true even when the crops produced 

 are cut and removed. Clover, as has been pointed out, is 

 capable of taking its nitrogen from the air. 'Not only does 

 it take from the air under the right conditions a large pro- 

 portion of the nitrogen which becomes a part of its stems, 

 leaves and flowers, but it takes also large amounts of nitro- 

 gen which become a part of its root. The 3 tons of clover 

 hay which an acre of good clover land will produce in a year 

 will contain about 120 pounds of nitrogen; and yet after the 

 production of this crop the soil will contain more nitrogen 

 than it did at the start, if conditions have been right, for the 

 roots and the stubble of the clover are very rich in this ele- 

 ment, and when these decay, the nitrogen they contain be- 

 comes a part of the cajutal of the soil, and this nitrogen has 

 been taken from the air and thus brought within the reach 

 of subsequent crops through the agency of the growing clover. 



In one other direction the growth of clovers is likely to re- 

 sult in soil improvement. Most of them are very deep-rooted 

 plants. They have long, thick tap roots, which run down 

 into the soil. As a consequence, the sub-soil is opened up and 

 mellowed. The availability of the stores of plant food in it, 

 as well as in the surface soil, is increased. Crops which fol- 

 low clovers are likely to send their roots deeper into the soil 

 than when following grasses, which are more shallow rooted. 



