SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 13 



When this condition is not present, the seed will 

 usually grow if sown amid the grain and covered 

 with the harrow. 



When clovers are sown on sod land for the pur- 

 pose of renewing pastures, disking them will pre- 

 pare them for receiving the seed. The extent of 

 the disking will depend on such conditions as the 

 toughness of the sod and the nature of the soil. Usu- 

 ally disking once when the frost is out a little way 

 from the surface, and then disking across at an angle 

 will suffice, and in some instances disking one way 

 only will be sufficient. On newly cleared lands the 

 clovers will usually grow without any stirring of 

 the land before sowing, or any harrowing after 

 sowing. Clovers that are grown chiefly for pas- 

 ture, as the small white, the Japan and the burr, will 

 usually obtain a hold upon the soil if scattered upon 

 the surface which is not soon to be cultivated. 



Fertilizers. On certain soils low in fertility and 

 much deficient in humus, it may be necessary to 

 apply fertilizers in some form before clovers will 

 grow vigorously. Such are sandy soils that have 

 been much worn by cropping, and also stiff clays in 

 which the humus has become practically exhausted. 

 In such instances green crops that can be grown on 

 such lands, as rye, for instance, plowed under when 

 the ear begins to shoot, will be found helpful. If 

 this can be followed on the sandy soil with some crop 

 to be fed off upon the land, as corn, for instance, and 

 the clover is sown, successful growth is likely to 

 follow. On clays in the condition named it may not 

 be necessary to grow a second crop before sow- 



