Clover as a Preparatory Crop for Wheat. 409 
According to tlioso data an acre of land will yield 3 tons 
12 cwts. of nearly dry clover-roots, and in this quantity there 
will be about 66 lbs. of nitrogen. 
The whole of the soil from which the roots had been picked 
out was passed through a half-inch sieve. The stones left in 
the sieve weighed 141 lbs. ; the soil which passed through 
weighing 218 lbs. 
The soil was next dried by artificial heat, when the 218 lbs. 
became reduced to 185"487 lbs. 
In this partially dried state it contained — 
Moisture 4-21 
*Organic matter 9*78 
tMineral matter 86-01 
100-00 
* Containing nitrogen '391 
Equal to ammonia 
t Including phosphoric acid .. .. '204 
I also determined the phosphoric acid in the ash of the clover- 
roots. Calculated for the roots in a nearly dry state, the phos- 
phoric acid amounts to '287 per cent. 
An acre of soil, according to the data furnished by the six 
inches on the spot where the clover was thin, produced the 
following quantity of nitrogen : — 
Ton. cwts. lbs. 
In the fine soil 1 11 33 
In the clover-roots 0 0 66 
Total quantity of nitrogen per acre .. 1 11 99 
The organic matter in an acre of this soil, which cannot be 
picked out by hand, it will be seen, contains an enormous quantity 
of nitrogen ; and although probably the greater part of the roots 
and other remains from the clover-crop may not be decomposed 
so thoroughly as to yield nitrogenous food to the succeeding 
wheat-crop, it can scarcely be doubted that a considerable 
quantity of nitrogen will become available by the time the 
wheat is sown, and that one of the chief reasons why clover 
benefits the succeeding wheat-crop is to be found in the abun- 
dant supply of available nitrogenous food furnished by the de- 
caying clover-roots and leaves. 
Clover-Soil No. 2 from the Bottom of the Hill {Good Clover). 
A square yard of the soil from the bottom of the hill, where 
the clover was stronger than on the brow of the hill, produced 
2 lbs. 8 oz. of fresh clover-roots, or 1 lb. 11 oz. 47 grains of 
partially dried roots, 61 lbs. 9 oz. of limestones, and 239'96 lbs. 
of nearly dry soil. 
VOL. rv. — s. s. 2 E 
