COMPOSITION CULTURE. 187 



ing to fix the gases important to enrich the earth, and 

 when these roots decay they add largely to that black 

 mass of matter we call the soil. It serves, also, by its 

 luxuriant foliage, to destroy annual weeds which would 

 spring up on newly-seeded land, especially after imper- 

 fect cultivation. But one of the most valuable uses of 

 it, and one too often overlooked, is to shade the surface 

 of the soil, and thereby increase its fertility. 



Clover is emphatically a lime plant, and the soils best 

 adapted to it are tenacious or stiff loams. The careful 

 analysis of Professor Way found no less than 35.39 per 

 cent, of lime in the inorganic constituents of red clover, 

 and that of Boussingault 32.80 per cent., while intelli- 

 gent practice has arrived so nearly at the same conclu- 

 sion, that the term " clover soils " is now almost univer- 

 sally used to indicate a tenacious loam, containing more 

 or less of lime or clay in its composition. 



Another great advantage in favor of the cultivation of 

 clover, consists in its rapid growth, But a few months 

 elapse from the sowing of the seed before it yields, 

 ordinarily, an abundant and nutritious crop, relished by 

 cattle of all kinds. 



Clover-seed should always be sown in the spring of 

 the year, in the climate of New England. It is often 

 sown upon the late snows of March or April, and soon ' 

 finds its way down to the soil, where, aided by the ' 

 moisture of early spring, it quickly germinates, and rap- 

 idly shoots up its leaf-stalks. 



An accurate and valuable analysis of this plant, both 

 in its green and dry state, will be found in a tabular 

 form on a subsequent page ; while a more extended 

 notice of its culture and the mode of curing it, with 

 the results of practical experience as to its value, will 

 also be given in its proper place. 



