CROPS AND SOIL IMPROVEMENT 



clover, the application of phosphoric acid and 

 potash being the same. When two tons of well- 

 cured clover hay are harvested in June, removing 

 about 80 pounds of nitrogen, 45 to 50 pounds 

 are left for the soil. The amounts of potash 

 are about the same, while phosphoric acid is much 

 less in amount. 



Physical Benefit of the Roots. While the 

 roots and stubble contain less than two fifths of 

 the total plant-food in a clover crop, one may not 

 safely infer that the removal of the crop for hay 

 reduces the beneficial effect of the clover to the 

 soil fully 60 per cent, or more. The roots break 

 up the soil in a way not possible to a mass of tops 

 plowed down. They improve the physical con- 

 dition of the subsoil as well as the top soil. The 

 amount of the benefit depends in part upon the 

 nature of the land. Its value cannot be surely 

 determined, but the facts are called to mind as 

 an aid to judgment in deciding upon the method 

 of handling the clover crop. 



Used as a Green Manure. Where dependence 

 must be placed upon clover as a fertilizer, little 

 or no manure being returned to the land, at least 

 one of the two clover crops within the year should 

 be left on the land. The maximum benefit from 



[52] 



