THERE ARE SOME SILENT SUBSOILERS 

 THAT DO THEIR WORK WITH EASE, AND, 

 IN THEIR WAY, MORE EFFECTUALLY 

 THAN ANY TEAM OR PLOW EVER 

 HITCHED, THE CLOVER PLANT IS RIGHT- 

 EOUSLY FAMED AS ONE OF THESE, BUT 

 ALFALFA IS ITS SUPERIOR. ITS ROOTS 

 WORK SUNDAY AS WELL AS SATURDAY, 

 NIGHT AND DAY; THEY STRIKE 5, lo, 15 OR 

 20 FEET DEEP, MAKING INNUMERABLE 

 PERFORATIONS, WHILE STORING UP 

 NITROGEN, AND WHEN THESE ROOTS 

 DECAY THEY LEAVE NOT ONLY A 

 GENEROUS SUPPLY OF FERTILITY FOR 

 ANY DESIRED CROP, BUT MILLIONS OF 

 OPENINGS INTO WHICH THE AIRS AND 

 RAINS OF HEAVEN FIND THEIR WAY, 

 AND HELP TO CONSTITUTE AN UNFAIL- 

 ING RESERVOIR OF WEALTH, UPON 

 WHICH THE HUSBANDMAN CAN DRAW 

 WITH LITTLE FEAR OF PROTEST OR 

 OVERDRAFTS. 



** Its long, brancMng roots penetrate far down, ptish and 

 crowd the earth this way and that, and thus constitute a 

 gigantic subsoiler. These become an immense magazine of 

 fertility. As soon as cut, they begin to decay and liber- 

 ate the vast reservoir of fertilizing matter below the plow, 

 to be drawn upon by other crops for years to come/' 



