(42) 



and stems and leaves begin to fall, forming a mat upon the 

 land. Sometimes this mat is so thick as to catch and con- 

 centrate the heats of summer to such a degree as to scald 

 the roots and destroy the clover. Usually it is best after 

 clover has attained its full bloom, either to cut it for hay or 

 pasture with stock until about the first of July. When the 

 stock is removed, or the clover hay cured and taken off, and 

 there is rain enough, a second crop will spring up from the 

 roots. This second crop is the most valuable for seed, the 

 seed maturing about the last of August, and sooner, if there 

 be copious rains. To make the most abundant yield of clo- 

 ver for grazing, it should be allowed to grow all it will, but 

 never let it make seed, always grazing it down when in full 

 bloom. When grazed down, take off the stock until it 

 blooms again. Several successive crops may thus be made 

 during the summer. The crop of August is unfit for graz- 

 ing, the large quantity of seed having the effect of salivat- 

 ing stock to such a degree as to cause them to lose flesh. 



It is a fact, well attested by English writers, and by ob- 

 servant farmers of this country, that when clover has been 

 frequently sown upon the same land, it not only fails to pro- 

 duce a heavy crop, but fails to appear at all. The land is 

 then said to be " clover-sick." The remedy for this is by 

 extending the number of crops in the scale of rotation, so 

 that clover will not come so often upon the same laud. By 

 Liebig, clover-sick land is supposed to be caused by the roots 

 of clover impoverishing the subsoil. 



Clover has no superior as a grazing plant. When in full 

 vigor and bloom, it will carry more cattle and sheep per 

 acre than blue grass, Herd's grass, or orchard grass. After 

 it has been grazed to the earth, a few showery days with 

 warm suns will cause it to spring up into renewed vitality, 

 ready again to furnish its succulent herbage to domestic 

 animals. Though very nutritious and highly relished by 

 cattle, it often produces a dangerous swelling called hoven, 

 from which many cows die. When first turned upon 



