CHAPTER III. 



Yields, and Comparisons With Other 



Crops 



COMPAKEB WITH CLOVER. 



Many things are understood best through contrasts 

 with others better known. In every part of the country 

 certain crops are considered standard, and all others are 

 judged by comparison with these. For example, red 

 clover in most parts of the United States is ranked as 

 the richest and best yielding forage, and the fertilizer 

 and renovator par excellence. 



The Massachusetts experiment station after a series 

 of tests reports that lOO pounds of clover contain 4749 

 pounds of digestible food and 6.95 pounds of proteids, 

 while 100 pounds of alfalfa contain 54.43 pounds of 

 digestible food and 1 1.22 pounds of proteids. 



The New Jersey station reports that the average yield 

 per annum of green clover to the acre is 14,000 pounds, 

 and of green alfalfa 36,500 pounds; the protein in the 

 clover is 616 pounds and in the alfalfa, 2214 pounds; one 

 ton of alfalfa has 265 pounds of protein, and clover only 

 246 pounds. But alfalfa will produce three, four, or 

 more cuttings each year, while clover will produce but 

 one or at most two. Further, clover will ordinarily sur- 

 vive but two years, while alfalfa will last from ten to one 



