MISCELLANEOUS PLANT^S. 20g 



content of moisture in the soil by means 

 of the increase in humus which it brings 

 to the soil. This can be done by sow- 

 ing the sweet clover at the same time that the 

 grain is sown in the spring and by plowing the crop 

 under the following spring after it has made a vigor- 

 ous growth and in time to plant corn or sorghum. 



Whether sweet clover can be made to furnish 

 green food for live stock in the summer season is 

 problematical. No class of domestic animals is fond 

 of it, but taste in animals, as in individuals, is largely 

 the outcome of habit. May it not be possible, there- 

 fore, so to develop in these a relish for this plant 

 which would justify growing it to feed to them as 

 soiling food ? In sections where the other clovers 

 will grow, it would probably be a waste of time to 

 try experiments of such a character, but in other 

 localities it may be eminently proper to conduct them. 

 This plant is sometimes made into hay which is con- 

 sumed on the farm. Why then should it be looked 

 upon as a waste of time under all conditions to 

 experiment in feeding sweet clover as a soiling food ? 



Japan Clover. — Japan clover {Lespedeza 

 striata) has been grown in some of the southern 

 states for several years. Little or nothing has been 

 published regarding its behavior in the northern 

 states. But in such of the latter as produce the 

 leading sorts of clover in good form, it is pretty 

 certain that it would not be profitable to grow so 

 diminutive a plant as Japan clover, even though it 

 should be able to withstand the rigors of the winter 

 climate. That it can withstand those rigors is not 

 probable, since notwithstanding the number of years 



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