220 CLOVERS 



into flower about the middle of July, and in those of 

 the South correspondingly earlier. 



It is relished by all kinds of domestic animals 

 kept upon the farm, but the hay is relatively better 

 adapted to cows and other cattle than to horses and 

 sheep. If cut too late, or much injured in the cur- 

 ing, it is too dusty for horses, and the growth is 

 too coarse to make first-class hay for sheep. It makes 

 excellent soiling food, because of the abundance of 

 the growth and the considerable season during which 

 it may be fed in the green form. 



It is peculiarly valuable as a fertilizer and as an 

 improver of soils. In addition to the nitrogen 

 which it draws from the air and deposits in the 

 soil, it brings up plant food from the subsoil and 

 stores it in the leaves and stems, so that when fed it 

 can be returned to the land. It also fills the soil 

 with an abundance of roots and rootlets. These 

 render stiff soils more friable, and sandy soils less 

 porous ; they increase the power of all soils to hold 

 moisture, and in their decay yield up a supply of 

 plant food already prepared for the crops that are 

 next grown upon the ground. 



Mammoth clover may also be utilized with advan- 

 tage in lessening the numbers of certain noxious 

 weeds, .and in some instances of eradicating them 

 altogether. This it does in some instances by smoth- 

 ering them, through the rankness of the growth. In 

 other instances it is brought about through the set- 

 back which is given to the weeds by first pasturing 

 the crop and then cutting it later for seed. 



Distribution. — Mammoth clover has long been 



