66 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



maintaining itself in the ground thereafter by self &ecding 

 when not too closely cropped ; and it is equally suited to 

 profitable pasturage and winter forage. 



If the first season of growth of clover be luxuriant after 

 the removal of the grain upon which it was sown, it may be 

 pastured in the autumn or suffered to fall and waste on the 

 ground, the first being the most economical. The following 

 year, the early crops may be taken off for hay, and the se- 

 cond, after partially ripening its seeds, may be plowed in, and 

 thus it carries with it a full crop of seed for future growth. 

 It is usual when wheat is cultivated, to turn in the clover 

 when in full flower in July, and allow the ground to remain 

 undisturbed till the proper time for sowing the grain, when 

 it may be cross-plowed if necessary, or the wheat may be 

 sown directly on the ground and harrowed in. This system 

 gives alternate crops of grain and clover, and with the use of 

 such saline manures, as may be necessary to replace those 

 abstracted from the soil, will sustain the greatest fertility. 

 With a slight dressing of these when the land is in good con- 

 dition, the first crop of clover may be taken off, and yet 

 allow a sufficient growth for turning in. 



It is customary however, to adopt a 3 or 4 years course of 

 cropping, in which grain, roots, corn, &c. alternate with clover 

 and barn-yard manures ; and this we think the most judicious 

 practice when the land is within convenient distance of the 

 manure. If the fields are remote, a still longer course would 

 be preferable, where stock and particularly sheep are 

 kept, as they might be allowed to pasture the field during a 

 much greater time. Sheep would remove only so much of 

 the forage as remains in their carcass ; while milch cows 

 and working animals would of course carry off a greater 

 amount, the first in the milk and the last in their manure 

 dropped while out of the field. 



THE Cow PEA is a rank, luxuriant producer, and is 

 deemed the best of the fertilizers for the south ; as it will there 

 grow two crops in one season from two successive plantings . 

 This is also a valuable fodder for cattle and sheep, and the 

 ripe peas are a profitable crop. Like a luxuriant growth of 

 clover, it requires the roller, to prepare it properly for the 

 plough. 



SPURRY is extensively used in the north of Europe, Flan* 

 ders, Germany and Denmark, as a fertilizer and as forage for 

 cattle, both in its green and dry state. It is admirably adap- 

 ted to tho lightest sands, where it is said to grow with more 



