The Clover Plant. 
It is a close and deep feeder, sending its 
fine roots far down into the soil, filling the 
sub-soil with a net-work of rootlets. It ex¬ 
poses a large leaf surface, and is thus able 
to concentrate weak solutions of plant food, 
and prepare them for the formation of veg¬ 
etable substance. The clover plant grows 
throughout the whole season, and is thus 
able to take up the nitrates as they form. 
These compounds of nitrogen are produced 
in large quantities in hot summer months, 
and, being very soluble, would be washed 
out by the rains, were it not that the clo¬ 
ver plant absorbs them. This is one great 
advantage which clover has over all the 
common grains that finish their growth 
and are harvested before the time for the 
most rapid nitrification arrives. It is a 
well-known fact that clover prepares land 
for the production of large crops, and this 
is explained in large part by the long season 
of its growth, and its deep and close feed¬ 
ing and the storing up of compounds of 
nitrogen. The clover plant is largely below 
ground, so that removing the top takes 
away only a part of the vegetable matter 
that has been accumulated. The roots of 
clover are large and numerous; when they 
are turned over in plowing, and decay, 
they yield a good supply of plant food to 
such crops as feed near the surface, and 
must grow rapidly for only a few weeks. 
In this way the clover crop will help the 
succeeding wheat crop, and has given rise 
to the saying that “clover seed is the best 
manure a farmer can use.” If the whole 
crop of clover is turned under, as a green 
manure, a much larger amount of plant 
food is put into the soil. This is one of 
the quickest, cheapest, and best methods of 
increasing the fertility of a piece of land. 
Tlie Buttercup. 
Every school girl has plucked the* golden 
flower, and has held it under her playmate’s 
chin and cried, “Buttercup, buttercupl” 
as it gave a flush of yellow to the rosy face. 
Every farmer’s boy, too, has heard that if 
the cows feed upon the buttercup the but¬ 
ter will assume the most golden yellow 
color. So the name of the flower has come 
to be assoctated with its butter-yellow col¬ 
or. 
The history of its name reveals a different 
origin, however. In old English this flow¬ 
er was known as the “button-cop.” which 
means simply “button-head,” in allusion 
to the round, button-shaped flowers. The 
word cop meant head in old English, but it 
has now been superseded by cup, and the 
old meaning has been wholly lost. Button 
gradually degenerated into butter, until 
every one now says “buttercup.” This is 
a peculiar instance in which the common 
name of a plant suggests its own origin, 
but suggests it falsely. The buttercup was 
once known as “gold-cop” or “gold-head,” 
and “king cop,” names which are still pre¬ 
served in England in “gold cop” and “king 
cup.” 
The buttercup is a native of Europe, 
where for centuries it has been held in 
much esteem. It was once worn by lovers 
at their betrothals, and in more classical 
history its golden color was dedicated to 
Hymen. Francis Quarles, nearly three 
centuries ago, wrote that: 
Love-sick swains 
Compose rush rings and myrtleberry chains, 
And stuck with glorious king-cups in their bonnets, 
Adorn’d with laurel slips, chaunt their love sonnets, 
The buttercup was introduced ini o Amer¬ 
ica some years ago, and has now become a 
weed in all the Eastern States. The double 
garden variety has long been cultivated. 
The buttercup is called by botanists a 
Ranunculus or crow-foot. When eaten it 
leaves a harsh, bitter and acrid sensation, 
often so intense as to produce serious poi¬ 
soning. In fact, it is a common notion in 
many European countries that the pretty 
buttercup is poisonous to cattle. Certain 
it is that cattle seldom eat it unless it is 
dried in hay, when its poisonous properties 
are lost. From its acrid character Lin¬ 
naeus named the plant Ranunculus acris. 
In this country there are other crowfoots 
which are called buttercups, and especially 
the creeping plant which gladdens every 
wet place in early Spring. The creeping 
crowfoot is the “cuckoo-bud” of Shakes¬ 
peare’s time of which he wrote: 
When daises pied and violets blue, 
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, 
Do paint the meadows with delight, 
— The Am. Cultivator. 
