146 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



sidered, the most valuable returns for the outlay. It is well 

 that these are not days when men are burned for witchcraft, 

 for if they were, the men who first used crimson clover in 

 Delaware, and who boasted of the almost miraculous richness 

 imparted to the soil from its use, would surely have been 

 broug^ht to trial. Even in this age I recognize that I risk your 

 incredulity in speaking of its marvelous powers, and its adapt- 

 ability to the needs of those who till our soils. You probably 

 know that the shores of the Mediterranean are regarded as the 

 home of this wonder working plant, and that years elapsed 

 after its introduction into this country before much use was 

 made of it. Years before 1888 it was used and condemned, 

 but that year some who were trying it began to know its 

 value for soiling, for hay, and most of all for its power to 

 increase the fertility of the soil. It was recognized that ni- 

 trogen was chiefly the element introduced by its use ; practical 

 trials also showed that it, in some way, made available the 

 latent store of phosphoric acid and potash contained in every 

 soil. We now know how the nitrogen comes as a free gift 

 from the air, caught by the agency of bacteria contained in 

 the nodules on the roots of every thrifty clover plant, but 

 just how phosphoric acid and potash are rendered of use is 

 still a disputed question. It is, however, agreed that the plant 

 only adds nitrogen. The other elements are brought from 

 several feet deep in the earth to the top, to the soil that is 

 used in the ordinary farm routine. Under wise management 

 of this plant all the nitrogen needed in the orchard can be se- 

 cured at a very trifling cost. Such crops as corn and tomatoes 

 can be supplied with all the nitrogen needed. Corn after corn 

 can be grown, and each year the yield increased. A good 

 stand of crimson clover turned down is considered equal in 

 fertilizing value to a good application of barn-yard manure. 

 Unaided the plant does not, however, make much growth on 

 so-called dead poor land, but once a stand is secured, an appli- 

 cation of two hundred pounds of soluble phosphate rock, and 

 fifty pounds of muriate of potash, or their equivalent, will 

 give a good growth of clover, and in one season (and that 

 the so-called dormant season) bring about an entire change 



