240 The Clover Mystery. 



certain snccess in growing Clover, and I say certain because we 

 have succeeded equally well in growing good crops of Clover in 

 seasons of the most severe drought as we have done in the most 

 favourable seasons. 



If the preceding arguments are sound, they lead to the certain 

 conclusion that the use of a large proportion of Rye grass is 

 adverse to growing Clover with the fullest degree of success, for it 

 has been found by experiments made by the Highland and Agricul- 

 tural Society that the amount of roots left by a mixture of natural 

 grasses (other than Rye grass) and Clover is about twice that from 

 Rye grass and Clover, and, I need hardly add, must be much greater 

 in the case of the mixtures used by me. It must be considered 

 further that as Rye grass is a rapid grower it deprives the Clover 

 of food, and what is probably of more importance, moisture at a 

 critical period of its growth. It is not then surprising to find that 

 clover flourishes the better as the quantity of rye grass is diminished, 

 and its place supplied by the other natural grasses. 



There are then three things probably necessary if we wish to grow 

 uniformly the fullest crops of clover no matter what the character of 

 the season may be, namely, (i) seed of a hardy strain, and drawn 

 from a suitable climatic source, (2) a farming system that will deeply 

 till the land with the agency of deep-rooting plants, and store it with 

 much humus, and, (3) the exclusion of perennial rye grass or its 

 reduction to a small proportion of the mixture used. 



Let us now consider the minor contributory causes of failure to 

 grow the fullest crops of clover. These are (i) sowing an excess of 

 clover seed; (a) injudiciously grazing in autumn and spring, more 

 especially of course in the first 12 months ; (3) cutting the covering 

 crop so closely as at once to bleed the Clover and leave little shelter 

 for the plants ; (4) failing to roll the land judiciously in first autumn 

 and spring, and especially before admitting stock ; and, (5) raking 

 the stubble and thus injuring the Clover plants. As a sixth minor 

 cause I was at first inclined to add, " the too frequent repetition of 

 Clover," but on further consideration I have doubt^s as to whether 

 the usual repetition of the plant, though more frequent than in the 

 case of my farming system, is at all hostile to growing fairly good 

 crops where suitable seed has been in association with little or 

 no perennial rye grass, for, though my system has undoubtedly 

 largely increased the crops of Clover, we always had what farmers 

 considered to be good crops of Clover, in the case of the four farms 

 which have been on my hands, and of which I have had an aggre- 

 gate experience of over 25 years, and also, with the exception of one 

 field to be afterwards alluded to, in tne case of a fifth fanned by my 

 son, and I would call particular attention to the fact that this was 

 the case when the farms were first taken over, and before of course 

 my system (excepting the omission of Rye Grass) had had time to 



