Clover as a Preparatory Crop for WJicat. 
411 
Foreign seed, at the rate of 12 lbs. per acre, was sown witli a 
crop of wheat which j iekled 5 quarters per acre the previous year. 
The first crop of ch)vcr was cut down on the 25th of June, 
18G6, and carried on June 3{)th. The weather was very warm 
from the time of cutting till the clover was carted, the thermometer 
standing at 80^ Fahr. every day. The clover was turned in the 
swathe on the second day after it was cut ; on the fourth day it 
was turned over and put into small heaps of about 10 lbs. each ; 
and on the fifth day these were collected into larger cocks and 
then stacked. 
The best part of an 11-acre field produced nearly 3 tons of 
clover-hay, sun-dried, per acre ; the whole field yielding on an 
average 2| tons per acre. This result was obtained by weighing 
the stack three months after the clover was carted. The second 
crop was cut on 21st of August and carried on the 27th, the 
weight being nearly 30 cwts. of hay per acre. Thus the two 
cuttings produced just about 4 tons of clover-hay per acre. 
The 11 acres were divided into two parts. About one-half 
was mown for hay a second time, and the other part left for seed. 
The produce of the second half of the 11-acre field was cut on 
the 8th of October, and carried on the 10th. It yielded in round 
numbers 3 cwts. of clover-seed per acre, the season being very 
unfavourable for clover-seed. The second crop of clover mown 
for hay was rather too ripe and just beginning to show seed. 
A square foot of soil, 18 inches deep, was dug from the second 
portion of the land which produced the clover-hay and clover- 
seed. 
Soil from part of 11-acre Field twice moicnfor Hay. 
The upper 6 inches of soil, 1 foot square, contained all the 
main roots of 18 strong plants; the next 6 inches only small 
root-fibres ; and in the third section, a 6-inch slice cut down at a 
depth of 12 inches from the surface, no distinct fibres could be 
found. The soil was almost completely saturated with rain when 
it was dug up on the 13th September, 1866 : — 
lbs. 
The upper 6 inches of soil 1 foot square weighed . . , , 60 
The second 6 „ „ „ .... 61 
The third G „ „ „ .... 63 
These three portions of one foot of soil, 18 inches deep, were 
dried nearly completely, and weighed again ; when the first 
6 inches weighed Slj lbs. ; the second 6 inches, 51 lbs. 5 ozs. ; 
and the third section, 54 lbs. 2 ozs. 
The first 6 inches contained 3 lbs. of siliceous stones (flints) 
which were rejected in preparing a sample for analysis; in the 
two remaining sections there were no large-sized stones. The 
soils were pounded down and passed through a wire sieve. 
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