SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES 1 5 



reduced, otherwise the coarse parts may rake up in 

 the hay. It is better appHed in the autumn or early 

 winter than in the spring, as then more of the plant 

 food in it has reached the roots of the clover plants, 

 and they have also received benefit from the pro- 

 tection which it has furnished them in winter. 



In a great majority of instances, soils are suf- 

 ficiently well supplied with the more essential ele- 

 ments of fertility to grow reasonably good crops of 

 clover, hence it has not usually been found necessary 

 to apply commercial fertilizers to stimulate growth, 

 as in the growing of grasses. In some instances, 

 however, these are not sufficiently available, espe- 

 cially is this true of potash. Gypsum or land plas- 

 ter has been often used to correct this condition, and 

 frequently with excellent results. It also aids in 

 fixing volatile and escaping carbonates of ammonia, 

 and conveys them to the roots of the clover plants. 

 It is applied in the ground form by sowing it over 

 the land, and more commonly just when the clover is 

 beginning to grow. The application of 50 to 200 

 pounds per acre has in many instances greatly in- 

 creased the growth, whether as pasture, hay or seed. 

 The following indications almost certainly point to 

 the need of dressings of land plaster : i . When the 

 plants assume a bluish-green tint, rather than a pea- 

 green, while they are growing. 2. When the plants 

 fail to yield as they once did. 3. When young plants 

 die after they have begun to grow in the presence 

 of sufficient moisture. 4. When good crops can only 

 be grown at long intervals, as, say, 5 to 8 years. 

 It has also been noticed that on some soils where 



