TIIK USES AND VALUE. 881 



■wht'U i)l()\ve(l under, will furnish nioro iinunoniji to the soil thun 

 twenty tons of straw-mado manure, fresh and wot, or twelve tona 

 of ordinary barnyard manure. 



** I jtrefer to nuiko the clover into liuy and fei'd the animals, 

 as they seldom take out more than from five to ten per cent, of 

 all the nitrogen furnished in the food, — and loss still of mineral 

 matter. If you jdow it under you are sure of it. There is no 

 loss. Tu feeding it out you may lose more or less from leaching 

 and injurious fermentation. As tilings tin; on numy farms, it is 

 perhaps host to plow under the clover for manure at once. As 

 things onghf. to bo it is u most Avasteful i)ractice. Clover is good 

 for wheat; jilaster is good for clover. The roots run deej), draw- 

 ing large amounts of water, and can live on very weak food. The 

 clover takes tip this food and concentrates it. The clover does 

 not create the plant food ; it merely saves it. To improve sandy 

 land, instead of i)lowing the clover iinder or feeding it oft", mow 

 the crop just as it commences to blossom and let the clover lie. 

 There would bo no loss of fertilizing by evaporation, and the 

 clover hay acts as a mulch. Mow the second crop about the first 

 week in August." 



The following computation of the relative money value of one 

 ton of various foods for producing manure is from the experi- 

 ments of ;Mr. Lawes: 



Cottonseed meal $27 86 



Linseed cake 10 73 



Beans 17 73 



"Wheat bran 14 59 



Clover hay 9 64 



Lidiuu meal- 6 Q'6 



Meadow hay 6 43 



Oat straw 2 9o 



Potatoes 1 ."iO 



Turnips. _ 86 



All agricultural plants draw most of their food, directly or in- 



