Forage Plants at the South. 



11 



deeply as possible. The danger to clover arises 

 from our hot suns acting upon the surface of 

 the ground. If the young clover root has a 

 loose bed underneath, it will rapidly penetrate 

 to a sufficient depth to pump up moisture, and 

 thus be measurably independent of drought. 

 The writer has seen excellent clover grown in 

 Morgan County, in this State (Georgia), one 

 of the midland counties, on worn clay soil, 

 the seed sown in April and followed by a dry 

 spring. The preparation was very deep 

 ploughing and dressing the surface with three 

 hundred pounds of superphosphate of lime. 



USES OF RED CLOVER. 



Hay. Clover should be cut for hay as soon 

 as a portion of the heads begin to turn brown. 

 Earlier than this it is too watery, later it is 

 too woody. Clover hay may be very useful 

 or very worthless for forage, according to the 

 time at which it is cut, and the manner in 

 which it is cured. Clover cut in the morning 

 should be treated as previously directed for 

 lucerne. The great object is to cure it as 

 much as possible in the shade. The hay, when 

 cut at the proper time and cured in this way, 

 will be of a nice green color, with all the leaves 

 and blossoms attached, instead of the black 

 sticks which are often sold to us as clover 

 hay. Rich land will yield two tons, and 

 sometimes three, of clover hay. At $30 per 

 ton this is $60 to $90 per acre. It is as sure 

 a crop as wheat, cotton or corn. Where there 

 is a market for hay, considering the amount 

 of labor it requires, and the condition in 

 which it leaves the land, it is a more profit- 

 able crop at present prices of hay, than either 

 of the three crops above mentioned. 



Seed. The use of clover is extending so 

 rapidly at the South, that it is quite time 

 that we raise our own seed. The present 

 price is enormous as compared with the cost 

 of saving it. The second crop should be re- 

 served for seed. A simple implement, which 

 can be made on any farm, is used for gather- 

 ing the clover heads, when the seed is ripe. 

 This is a box on wheels running near the 

 ground ; in front of it are fingers like those of 

 the cradle, only shorter. The box, to which 

 handles are attached is made to tilt backward 

 when full. It is drawn by one horse in shafts. 

 The clover huller can be bought in New York 

 for $50. Five to six bushels of clover seed 

 can be grown on an acre. At present prices, 

 $10 in most Southern markets, this would pay 

 very well. There would be material advan- 

 tage in buying acclimated seed. 



Pasture. No live stock should be turned 

 upon a clover field until the clover is in blos- 

 8om. The temptation to violate this rule is 

 very great. Ordinarily short as our winters 

 are, the provision for winter forage is scant. 

 Clover springs so early, and our live stock are 



so hungry, that the inducement is very great 

 to put them upon the clover before the proper 

 time. But it would be less costly to buy food 

 than to do this. By too early pasturing, the 

 clover is killed out, and it is then said that 

 clover will not succeed at the South. Pre- 

 cautions should be taken in turning horses or 

 cattle into a clover field. If they are hungry 

 at the time, they would over-eat themselves, 

 andthe result is an attack of what is called 

 hoven The animal swells, and often in a 

 short time dies. To prevent this, live stock 

 turned into a clover field should previously 

 be fully fed ; they should not have had access 

 to salt within twenty-four hours ; they should 

 not the first day remain more than half an 

 hour, and the dew should have been dis- 

 sipated. 



While clover gives a valuable pasture for 

 all live stock, it is especially valuable^for 

 hogs. If they are put upon clover after it is 

 in blossom, with the exception of sucking 

 sows they will need little or no other food. 

 No one who has not made the trial, can 

 imagine how many hogs an acre of really good 

 clover will keep in growing order. 



It should be remembered that clover, as 

 well as all other forage plants and grasses, 

 should be lightly pastured during midsum- 

 mer. It is absolutely essential that sufficient 

 growth be left upon the ground to protect the 

 roots from the intense heat of the summer's 

 sun. Our main reliance for pasture at that 

 season should be the crab-graf^ n 

 stubble fields. 



An Improver of Land. It cannot be ex- 

 pected that clover will restore, unassisted, an 

 absolutely exhausted soil. Land must be in 

 a condition to bring fair crops of grain before 

 clover can be sowed upon it to advantage. Af- 

 terward in a judicious rotation, it will im- 

 prove the soil* rapidly. It does this in two 

 ways, by the decay of its large taproot, and by 

 its absorbing ammonia rapidly from the at- 

 mosphere- The cheapest manure that we can 

 use, after land has been put into proper con- 

 dition, is clover seed. At the North clover is 

 a biennial ; at the South it lasts for several 

 years, exactly how long the writer does not 

 know. After clover has once fairly gone to 

 seed at the South, if a short rotation is 

 adopted, it will not be necessary to sow it 

 again. For instance in the following rota- 

 tions : First, cotton or corn ; second, oats ; 

 third, wheat ; the clover will spring sponta- 

 neously among the wheat. The ground should 

 remain two years in clover and the rotation 

 then be repeated. Land thus treated will im- 

 prove steadily and even rapidly, without fur- 

 ther expenditure for manures. 



In view of these varied uses, the successful 

 cultivation of red clover is an object of the 

 greatest importance to the people of the 

 South. 



