SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 9 



be made to follow almost any kind of crop, it may 

 sometimes be necessary to apply some nitrogen- 

 ous fertilizer before they will make a vigorous 

 growth. 



The clovers, unless in the case of some of the 

 smaller varieties, are more commonly sown to pro- 

 vide hay than pasture in the first crops obtained 

 from them. The value of the hay is increased or 

 lessened in proportion as weeds are present. To in- 

 sure cleanliness in the hay crop, therefore, the sys- 

 tem which aims to sow clover seed on land to which 

 clean cultivation has been given while growing on 

 them a cultivated crop, as corn or field roots, meets 

 with much favor. The mechanical condition of the 

 soil immediately after growing these crops also 

 favors the vigorous growth of the young clover 

 plants, more especially when they are sown upon the 

 surface of the land after some form of surface culti- 

 vation, rather than upon a surface made by plow- 

 ing the land after cultivation has been given to it, 

 but to this there may be some exceptions. 



Clover in some of its varieties is frequently grown 

 from year to year in orchards and for the two-fold 

 purpose of gathering food for the trees and pro- 

 viding for them a cover crop in winter. The 

 medium red and crimson varieties are preferred for 

 such a use. The latter is the more suitable of the 

 two, since it does not draw on soil moisture needed 

 by the trees, owing to the season at which it is 

 grown. Enough of the seed of these crops may be 

 allowed to mature to re-seed the land from year to 

 year, and thus keep it producing. The clover plants 



