148 Experiences up to the end of October, 1904. 



On the (juarUity of Clovtr Seed that Should be Used. — It is 

 customary in Scotland to sow from 10 to ovon 14 lb. of clover with 

 the mixtures used in rotation husbandry. Our usual seeding, which 

 we find ample, is 1 lb. of alsilie, 2 lb. of late-flowering red clover, 

 and 2 lb. of white clover. At the most we use 2 lb. of each kind. 

 With 2 lb. of white clover we have abundance of the plant, and in 

 one five-year-old grass field it has been abundant throughout. An 

 agriculturist of great experience in Northumberland informs mo that 

 he had noticed the rapid disappearance of clovers in pastures when 

 sown in large quantities ever since he could remember anything. 

 Red clover is only a degree more diificult to grow than white, and 

 is liable to fail, he says, from the same cause ; but when he used 

 21b. or 3 lb. of white clover it gradually increased as time went on. 

 And the dreaded fourth year never came. Were it not that the 

 plants were liable to be destroyed by slugs, in the event of the early 

 summer being wet, he would only sow 1 lb. That was his experience 

 up to 1893, but in a letter received from him in October, 1900, he 

 informs me that he has continued his experiments, and for the last 

 few years only sown 1 lb. per acre of white clover, and no clover of 

 any other description. Our experience this year certainly seems to 

 show that even with 5 lb. we have been sowing tco much. In the 

 case of some acres out off at the head of the Outer Kaimrig field for 

 planting, at an elevation of about 800 feet, I ordered half of the 

 grass part of the mixture used in the field to be put down in the part 

 severed for the plantation, jjartly for shelter to the plants and partly 

 as cover, and partly to re-seed the field. But, owing to an error, 

 half of the whole mixture was sown, and it was rather less than 

 half, I am informed. The clovers thus sown in error were rather less 

 than 1 lb. each of alsike, late-flowering rod clover, and white clover. 

 With this snlall seeding we had such an enormous crop of clover that 

 the plants of the plantation were mostly smothered, and I thought 

 all the grasses must be so too ; but these have now sprung through 

 the decumbent clover to such an extent that I have ordered the 

 ground to be continued as an experiment, and not to be replanted 

 for another year. This accidental experiment has, as regards red 

 clover, proved most interesting, as it has been shown that this clover 

 lasts longer than is usually supposed. The land was sown in 1899, 

 and yet there was an abundant supply of red clover in flower in 

 1903, and I exhibited at a meeting of the Farmers' Club at Kelso on 

 November 20th of that year plants in flower, and about 4 feet long. 



Fillinij up Vacant Spots in First Year's Grass. —I have previously 

 called attention to this (page 67). Sinclair points out (page 16.5, 4th 

 edition) that even in a field where blanks are not very noticeable, owing 

 to the leaves of the plants covering the ground, they will amount to 

 from 10 to 15 per cent, of the area. It is important to remember 

 that, if a field is not fully shaded with grass, vacant spots — small 

 though they may be — much increase the loss of moisture from the 

 field, especially in the case of drying winds. Young grass plants 



