CLOVER. 



biennial clovers is the common red 

 or broad clover {Trifoiium jnalcnsc), 

 which is usually sown with barley or 

 oats, or sometimes among wheat or 

 rye in spring, at the rate of ten to 

 thirteen pounds of clover seed. Clo- 

 ver is often perennial. The time for 

 cutting is when the flowers are just 

 expanded ; the hay is more abundant 

 and better by upward often per cent. 

 The first crop is generally mown and 

 made into hay. In this process great 

 care is taken not to break off the 

 tender leaves of the plant in drying ; 

 the swarth is not shaken out as is 

 done with meadow grass, but merely 

 turned over ; and if the clover can 

 be dried and put in a stack without 

 any shaking, it is so much the more 

 valuable. SVhen clover is soaked 

 with rain, no hope of an improvement 

 in the stack must induce the farmer 

 to carry it together so long as the 

 least moisture remains. If it be al- 

 lowed to stay in the field till perfectly 

 dry, even when it has been soaked 

 repeatedly and is nearly black, and 

 is then trod hard in a rick with a 

 sprinkling of salt over each layer, it 

 will be readily eaten by cattle in win- 

 ter, and be far more nutritious than 

 that which, having been stacked in a 

 moist state, will infallibly come out 

 musty. A very good method in those 

 seasons when a continuance of dry 

 weather cannot be reckoned upon — 

 particularly when the second crop is 

 cut in September — is to take advan- 

 tage of two or three dry days to cut 

 the clover, and turn it as soon as the 

 dew is completely dried off the upper 

 side ; the next day do the same, and 

 in the evening carry the green, dry 

 clover and lay it in alternate layers 

 with sweet straw, so as to form a 

 moderately-sized stack. A ferment- 

 ation will soon arise, but the dry 

 straw will prevent all danger from 

 too much heating, and, acquiring the 

 flavour of the clover, will be eaten 

 with avidity by the cattle. To those 

 who make clover hay for the use of 

 their own stock in winter, we recom- 

 mend this as preferable to the com- 

 mon method, even when there is less 

 danger from the weather. The pro- 



166 



cess of curing by sweating is very 

 well adapted to clover. 



It is usual to sow timothy in a 

 small proportion with clover seed, 

 especially where clover, having been 

 often repeated on the same land, is 

 apt to fail. 



The most profitable use of clover 

 is to cut it green for horses and cat- 

 tle. With a little management, green 

 food may be given to all the stock 

 from the first day of April to October. 



The land which has borne clover 

 is in a very good state for producing 

 corn or wheat. In the regular Nor- 

 folk rotation, clover should recur 

 every fourth year : but after a few 

 rotations this is found to be too quick 

 a recurrence, and other grass seeds 

 or pulse are substituted. The Flem- 

 ish do not sow clover again on the 

 same ground sooner than in eight or 

 ten years. 



The white or Dutch clover (Trifo- 

 lium repens) is a perennial, which 

 grows rapidly, and forms excellent 

 pasture ; but its bulk is not sufficient 

 to make it profitable to mow for hay. 

 It is excellent for sheep, which thrive 

 well upon it. A liglit, calcareous 

 soil is best adapted for white clover, 

 but it also grows well on heavy land, 

 provided the bottom be sound and 

 dry. 



Another perennial clover, called 

 cow grass {TnfoUum medium), is 

 found in all rich meadows : it is oft- 

 en sown in conjunction with the 

 white clover in laying down arable 

 land to grass. The lesser yellow 

 trefoil {Tri/olivm ruimis) and the hop 

 trefoi] {Tnfoliu m jjrocumbens) are also 

 valuable varieties found in good pas- 

 tures. 



The only annual clover which is 

 cultivated is the French clover {Tn- 

 folium incarnalum ) mentioned be- 

 fore. It is a most valuable addition 

 to the plants usually sown for fodder, 

 from the short time in which it ar- 

 rives at perfection if sown in spring; 

 so that, where clover has failed, this 

 may be sown to fill up the bare pla- 

 ces. Its principal use is to raise 

 very early food for ewes and lambs, 

 which it does with very little trouble 



