12. CLOVERS 



soils and the volcanic ash soils of the West are made 

 sufficiently fine without great labor. Clay soils may 

 call for the free use of the harrow and roller used 

 in some sort of alternation before they are suffi- 

 ciently pulverized. Excessive fineness in pulveriza- 

 tion of these soils is also to be guarded against in 

 rainy climates, lest they run together, but this con- 

 dition is present far less frequently than the oppo- 

 site. 



Cleanness can usually be secured when clovers fol- 

 low cultivated crops by the labor given to these 

 when the land is not plowed in preparing it for the 

 clovers. In other instances the longer the land is 

 plowed before putting in the seed and the more fre- 

 quently the surface is stirred during the growing 

 part of the season, the cleaner will the seed-bed be. 



In the spring the land is usually sufficiently moist 

 for receiving the seed. In the autumn moisture is 

 frequently deficient. Stirring the surface of the 

 soil occasionally with the harrow will materially in- 

 crease the moisture content in the soil near the sur- 

 face, even in the absence of rain. As crimson 

 clover is usually sown in the late summer and alfalfa 

 is frequently sown in the autumn, it may sometimes 

 be necessary to give much attention to securing suf- 

 ficient moisture to insure germination in the seed. 



When clovers are sown in the spring on land 

 which is also growing a winter crop, no preparation 

 is necessary in preparing the land for receiving the 

 seed. On some soils the ground becomes sufficiently 

 honeycombed through the agency of water and frost 

 to put it in a fine condition for receiving the seed. 



