CLOVER : ITS USES. 231 



In these were horses, swine, and cows, up to their 

 eyes in clover in full bloom, and of most luxuriant 

 growth ; and it gave me pleasure of no ordinary de- 

 gree to witness such a feast : a feast for the eye, for 

 the brute, and for the. soil. I remarked, " Indeed, 

 Mr. T., your stock fare sumptuously." " Yes," was 

 his reply, " and that is the way I manure my fields. 

 When the clover is pretty well rolled down (I don't 

 allow the cattle to eat it all up) I go in with my har- 

 row, and complete the levelling process by drawing 

 it in the same direction that I plough, that in the 

 latter operation the herbage may be more complete- 

 ly buried." He likewise told me that it was by far 

 the cheapest manure he could use ; and that, as long 

 as he could produce clover in such abundance, he 

 would not draw manure if it were given him. 

 This is carrying the principle to its fullest extent, 

 farther than I should approve ; but it might have 

 been only his extravagant manner of showing his 

 entire confidence in the system of cultivation, inde- 

 pendent of other means of fertility. Still I very 

 much doubt his willingness to give away his yard 

 manure, or to part with it for the market price ; and 

 I did not observe that he " summered" any. He 

 need not have told me that he obtained large crops ; 

 they were splendid ; for his oats in adjoining fields 

 proved it. By-the-way, oats are the crop he most 

 cultivates. The land in this region is often plough- 

 ed in the fall, and only harrowed (but that thorough- 

 ly') in the spring. 



CLOVER AND CLOVER-SEED. 



Clover is becoming of more and more importance, 

 and the quantity sown is annually increasing, in 

 proportion as the new system of husbandry extends 

 among us. Its tap roots penetrate and loosen the 

 soil ; its stems and foliage produce abundance of 

 .'y.tritious food for the neat stock of the farm ; and 

 ooth roots and stems, when turned under by the 



