THE GRASSES, MFADOWE,. RTC, 18*1 



profilnble branch of its husbandry. Their impoitance has 

 long been acknowledged in the United States. The nutri- 

 . tive matter, although relatively less than from some of the 

 grasses, is yet in the amount per acre, fully equal to the 

 average of any other forage crop which is produced at the 



ie expense. It is early and cheaply raised, it is liable to 

 few or no casualties or insect enemies in this country, and 

 its long tap roots are powerful auxiliaries in the division 

 and improvement of soils. Its broad, succulent leaves de 

 rive a large portion of their nutriment from the atmosphere, 

 and thus while it affords a product equal to the best grasses, 

 it draws a large part of it from the common store house of 

 nature without subjecting the farmer to the expense of pro- 

 viding it in his manures. 



It is as a fertilizer however, that it is so decidedly superior 

 to other crops. In addition to the advantages before enu- 

 merated, the facility and economy of its cultivation, the 

 great amount yielded, and lastly the convenient form it offers 

 for covering with the plow, contribute to place it far above 

 any other vegetable. All the grains and roots do well after 

 clover, and wheat especially which follows it, is more gene- 

 rally free from disease than when sown with any other 

 manure. The introduction of clover and lime in con- 

 nexion, has carried up the price of many extensive tracts of 

 land from $10 to $50 per acre, and has enabled the occu- 

 pant to raise large crops of wheat where he could get only 

 small crops of rye ; and it has frequently increased his crop 

 of wheat three-fold where he had before produced it. 



It is a common observation of intelligent farmers, that 

 they are never at a loss to renovate such lands as will pro- 

 duce even a moderate crop of clover. Poor clay lands 

 not capable of bearing it, have become so by sowing an early 

 and late crop of oats in the same season and feeding them 

 off on the ground. Poor sandy soils may be made to sustain 

 clover with manure, ashes and gypsum, combined with the 

 free use of the roller. This object is much facilitated* by 

 scattering dry straw over the surface, which affords shade, 

 increases the deposite of dew and prolongs its effects. When- 

 ever the period of clover-producing is attained, the improve- 

 ment of the soil may be pushed with a rapidity commensu- 

 rate with the inclination and means of the owner. 



HARVESTING CLOVER SEED may be done generally after 

 taking off one crop, or pasturing the field till June, or at 



