8 BULLETIN 625, XT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The field notes taken in connection with this investigation indi- 
cate that the factors contributing to the success or failure of clover 
seeded with a nurse crop are within the control of the farmer. Most 
of the failures were due to foul land or poor seed-bed preparation. 
Special care should be taken to have the land free from wild oats 
or other weeds. The nurse crop was often too thick. It dried 
nut the soil and killed the clover plants before the grain was har- 
vested or left them in such a weakened condition that they were 
killed by the dry weather which usually comes after harvest time. 
Poor seed, late seeding, and the lack of proper soil inoculation 
were elements which caused many failures. The best results are 
obtained from seeding clover on soil which is inoculated with 
the proper kind of nitrogen-gathering bacteria and which is rich in 
organic matter. 
The nitrogen-gathering bacteria are so essential to success that 
land which has never raised clover should be inoculated; that is, 
supplied with nitrogen-gathering bacteria which will produce nodules 
on the roots of the clover plant. 
There are two ways of doing this, the pure culture and the field 
soil methods. Pure cultures may be secured in small quantities from 
the United States Department of Agriculture or may be purchased 
in large quantities from commercial dealers or in some States from 
the agricultural college. Directions for using the cultures go with 
them. The pure culture method of inoculation usually costs from 
SO. 25 to |2 per acre, while the field-soil method costs practically 
nothing and entails extra work only in getting inoculated soil. The 
soil should be gathered from about clover plants which bear nodules 
on their roots. The soil can then be dried and pulverized in the 
shade. It may be stored away for months in a dark basement, and 
for spring seeding it is a good plan to keep a sufficient quantity in 
this manner to inoculate the amount of seed to be sown the following 
spring. The seed should be placed on a tight floor and thoroughly 
dampened with from 2 to 3 quarts of water per bushel. About 2 
quarts of the pulverized soil is then sprinkled on the seed as it is 
shoveled over in order to get a coating of dust on each seed. It 
is then allowed to dry in the shade and kept from the sunlight until 
used. If the soil to be used in inoculating clover seed is sand}', the 
addition of one-fourth of a pound of glue per gallon of water will 
cause the dirt to stick to the seed better. When the soil is gathered 
in the spring and can not be dried for pulverizing it may be mixed 
with water at the rate of about 2 quarts of dirt to 3 gallons of water. 
The seed is then dampened at the rate of about 2 quarts of the 
mixture per bushel and allowed to dry in the shade before sowing. 
