SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 11 



tnay be made such a crop. In these it grows so 

 vigorously as to fill the soil with its roots in one or 

 two seasons, hence it may be made to rotate profit- 

 ably with other crops. (See page 135.) In such in- 

 stances, h9wever, medium red clover would proba- 

 bly answer the purpose quite as well, and possibly 

 better, since the labor of burying it with the plow 

 •would be less difficult. 



While some varieties of clover may be grown in 

 various rotations and with profit, one of the best 

 of these, where the conditions are favorable, is a 

 three years' rotation. The first year some small 

 cereal grain is grown and clover is sown along with 

 it or, at least, on the same land. The next year 

 the clover is grown for hay or pasture. The third 

 year a crop of corn, potatoes or vegetables is grown, 

 and the following year small cereal grain and 

 clover. The clover may thus be made to furnish 

 nitrogen indefinitely for the other crops, but in some 

 instances it may be necessary to add phosphoric 

 acid and potash. 



Preparing the Soil. — Clovers are usually sown 

 with a nurse crop. The exceptions are crimson 

 clover, and in many instances alfalfa. When thus 

 grown, the preparation of soil for the nurse crop 

 will usually suffice for the clovers also. But there 

 may be instances in which it would be proper to give 

 more attention to cleaning and pulverizing the soil 

 to properly fit it for receiving the clover seed. The 

 leading essentials in a seed-bed for clover are fine- 

 ness, cleanness, moistness and firmness. Ordinarily 

 , black loam soils, sandy loam soils, sandy soils, humus 



