116 THE CLOVER CROP. 



often called the crown of the root, decays, and the whole 

 plant falls a sacrifice. Minute fungi may exist upon the 

 leaves, but if so, they are in no way the cause of evil. 

 It is indeed possible that in some instances there may 

 have been some original constitutional defect, which was 

 inherent in the seed ; but such defects usually show them- 

 selves at an early stage of growth, and we are far more 

 inclined to attribute the condition of the plant in the ma- 

 jority of instances to infection from decaying matter than 

 to the cause just named. Mr. Berkeley continues the 

 subject by saying, " that whatever may be thought of the 

 notion ju&t put forward as to the origin of ' clover sick- 

 ness/ we would strongly recommend no one to attempt to 

 sow clover seed where a large portion of the crop has failed, 

 for the produce is almost sure to be diseased. In the case 

 of oats we have proved, by consecutive experiments, that 

 seed from diseased plants will produce a diseased offspring, 

 and we do not doubt that even where the original cause 

 of disease may not exist, it may be propagated by seed, 

 an evil which no one can guard against till measures be 

 taken by agriculturists to insure a supply of seed from 

 healthy sources. More, we are convinced, depends upon 

 this than is generally imagined/' 



In the last number of the Highland Society s Journal, 

 in a well-written paper on Clover and Turnip Sickness, 

 Mr. Russell, while agreeing generally with the foregoing 

 opinions, appears to think that they do not quite meet 

 the case, and that the clover plant suffers less from 

 any infection generated by the decaying organic matter 

 in the soil, than from its existence there checking the 

 roots of the growing plants from exercising their full 

 powers of assimilating the inorganic substances neces- 

 sary for their healthy development. In the case of clover, 

 for instance, he says, " There is an immense quantity of 

 vegetable matter left in the soil when a clover stubble is 



