232 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



plough, are highly enriching to the soil. It is ,ndis- 

 pensable in alternate husbandry ; and we feel justi- 

 fied in saying that its liberal and judicious use, to- 

 gether with gypsum, upon many light soils, has add- 

 ed fifty, one hundred, and even two hundred per 

 cent, to the profits of their culture. Yet there are 

 a great many districts of our country in which its 

 value is seemingly but little appreciated, and in 

 which its cultivation has been yet hardly begun. 

 There is scarcely a plant grown upon the farm that 

 returns to the soil more of the elements of fertility ; 

 affording almost a certainty that its cultivation will 

 continue to increase for some years in a progress- 

 ive ratio. 



From this view of the subject, it is apparent that 

 clover-seed will continue to increase in demand as 

 it has continued to advance in price ; and that the 

 raising of it for market promises to be a lucrative 

 business. The dwarf Southern clover will afford a 

 crop of hay to be cut the last of June, and a crop of 

 seed to be gathered towards autumn. The price 

 of seed is now from twelve to fifteen dollars a bush- 

 el; and if we suppose the acre to yield but five 

 bushels, the profit will be enormous. Machines for 

 cleaning the seed are already abundant, and others 

 have been introduced for gathering the heads in the 

 field. We give below the drawing and dimensions 

 of one described by Mr. L'Hommedieu, in the trans- 

 actions of the old Agricultural Society 



