CHEAPEST MANURE FOR FARMERS. 131 



MORE ABOUT CLOVER. 



The Deacon seemed to think the Doctor was going to give a 

 scientific answer to the question. " If the clover can get more ni- 

 trogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, from the same soil than 

 wheat," said he, " why not accept the fact, and act accordingly ? 

 You scientific gentlemen want to explain everything, and some- 

 times make confusion worse confounded. We know that a sheep 

 will grow fat in a pasture where a cow would starve." 



" True," said the Doctor, " and that is because the cow gathers 

 food with her tongue, and must have the grass long enough for 

 her to get hold of it ; while a sheep picks up the grass with her 

 teeth and gums, and, consequently, the sheep can eat the grass 

 down into the very ground." 



" Very well," said the Deacon ; " and how do you know but that 

 the roots of the clover gather up their food sheep-fashion, while 

 the wheat-roots eat like a cow ? " 



" That is not a very scientific way of putting it," said the Doc- 

 tor ; " but I am inclined to think the Deacon has the right idea. " 



" Perhaps, then," said I, " we had better let it go at that until we 

 get more light on the subject. We must conclude that the wheat 

 can not get food enough from the soil to yield a maximum crop, 

 not because there is not food enough in the field, but the roots of 

 tlie wheat are so constituted that they can not gather it up ; while 

 clover-roots, foraging in the same soil, can find all they want." 



" Clover," said the Deacon, " is the scavenger of the farm ; like 

 a pig, it gathers up what would otherwise be wasted." 



" Of course, these illustrations," said the Doctor, " do not give 

 us any clear idea of how the clover-plants take up food. We must 

 recollect that the roots of plants take up their food in solution ; 

 and it has just occurred to me that, possibly, Mr. Lawes' experi- 

 ments on th3 amount of water given off by plants during their 

 growth, may throw some light on the subject we are discussing." 



"Mr. Lawcs found," continued the Doctor, " that a wheat-plant, 

 from March 19 to June 28, or 101 days, evaporated through its 

 leaves, etc., 45,713 grains of water; while a clover-plant, standing 

 alongside, and in precisely similar condition, evaporated 55,093 

 grains. Tuc clover was cut June 28, when in full bloom. The 

 wheat-plant was allowed to grow until ripe, Sept. 7. From June 28 

 to Sept. 7, or 72 days, the wheat-plant evaporated 67,814 grains." 



" One moment," said the Deacon ; " as I understand, the clover- 

 plant evaporated more water than the wheat-plant, until the 28th 

 of June, but that during the next 71 days, the wheat-plant evap- 

 orated more water than it had during the previous 101 days." 



