VOL. LIII. No. 2313. 
NEW YORK, MAY 26, 1894. 
$1.00 PER YEAR. 
Scarlet Clover. 
A REVOLUTION IN AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 
A KKW PLANT COMES TO THE RESCUE 
. [IDITOBIAL COBRK8PONDENCK.] 
The Latest Change in Scientific Farming. 
The history of American agriculture is but a record 
of discoveries of cheap methods of utilizing wastes. 
In early times, farming simply meant the extracting 
of the latent fertility of the virgin soil. The soil 
was BO rich and fruitful that culture alone would 
suffice to produce food in abundance. Enriching the 
soil and improving varieties were not necessary at 
first. Later, there came a time when the soluble fer¬ 
tility in the natural soil was not of itself sufficient to 
produce profitable crops. Two things then became 
necessary, viz : the addition of the elements of fertil¬ 
ity in some form, and an improved treatment of the 
soil, so that its locked-up fertility might be made more 
available. 
For many years the plan of feeding all hay and 
grain on the farm, and sell¬ 
ing only meat, milk and 
wool or fruits and vegetables 
was true science. The prac¬ 
tice failed to be scientific 
when infiuences outside of 
agriculture shortened the 
distance between the East¬ 
ern markets and the rich 
lands of the West. Rail¬ 
roads, canals and other thor¬ 
ough fares broke up the mar¬ 
ket monopoly that Eastern 
firms had previously en¬ 
joyed. There are two chief 
items of expense in the mar¬ 
ket cost of a product—the 
cost of production and the 
cost of carrying it from the 
farm to the market. When 
can al and railroa d cheapened 
the journey from Ohio and 
Michigan to New York and 
Boston, the Eastern farmer, 
in trying to compete with 
these newer and richer 
lands, found suddenly that 
he was paying too much of 
what we may call the plant 
food tax. In other words, it 
cost too much to extract a 
pound of nitrogen, potash 
and phosphoric acid from 
his farm. Farmers went West after cheaper plant 
food. Had they then known to-day’s possibilities of 
artificial manuring, there would now be but little of 
civilization from California to the Missouri River. 
Liebig’s discovery that phosphates may be rendered 
soluble by sulphuric acid, gave us cheap phosphoric 
acid, and the German potash mines insure a supply of 
that material. Nitrogen has ever been the most ex¬ 
pensive manurial element—because it is the most 
volatile, quickest to escape. The air contains vast 
quantities of this substance that has broken away 
from useful and legitimate combinations in the proc¬ 
esses of decaying and burning that have been going 
on for centuries. The plan of bringing back this 
nitrogen by means of new combinations with growing 
plants, is the latest development of scientific agricul¬ 
ture, because it is the quickest and cheapest means of 
utilizing a waste product. The problem is to find the 
plant that will do this most successfully, and at the 
same time yield a product that will give good returns 
for sale or for feeding. A plant is wanted that will do 
it in the shortest time without interfering with others. 
The Champion Nitrogen Trap. 
It has been known for some years that such plants 
as the clovers, peas, beans, etc., have the power to 
appropriate some of this lost nitrogen from the 
air. The well-known Red clover has generally been 
regarded as the most useful plant for this purpose, 
but within the past few years, glowing accounts of 
the great merits of Scarlet clover have been sent from 
the Southern and Middle States. The R. N.-Y. ad¬ 
mits that many of these accounts have seemed almost 
beyond belief. The success of a small plot sown at 
the Rural Grounds last year, and the continued and 
increased claims made for the plant by reliable men 
induced me to go and see the clover at its home. In 
company with Prof. M. H. Beckwith, of the Delaware 
Experiment Station, I visited several representative 
farms in that State on May 11, when the clover was 
at its best for hay or green manuring. We weie able 
to study the crop from several different points of view: 
1. As a material for hay and ensilage, to bo tui ned 
into manure before being used as a fertilizer. 2. Used 
in connection with purchased horse manure fer the 
production of small fruit plants and berries. 3. As a 
fertilizer and seed crop in peach, apple and pear 
orchards. 4. As green manure with potash and phos¬ 
phoric acid in fruits and market garden crops. It is 
my purpose in these articles to tell the story of the 
crop just as I found it. It is hard to tell the truth 
conservatively about Scarlet clever. I believe that in 
sections where the climate and soil enable it to reach 
full maturity, it is the most valuable forage and green 
manuring crop we have, and that it is destined to 
revolutionize agricultural methods wherever it will 
thrive. This is not entirely because of its high feed¬ 
ing or manurial value, but because of its rapid 
growth, and the fact that it does not interfere with 
any other crop, but does its work as a “catch crop,” 
while others are idle. 
The Sheriff is Headed Off I 
Mr. E. H. Bancroft, of Camden, is well-known 
throughout Delaware as a progressive farmer. He 
has always been a pioneer in improved agricultural 
methods. There is but one fence on his farm— 
that around the barnyard—not even a single wire. 
“We pay taxes enough now,” he said, “without 
paying any fence tax. That is the heaviest tax with 
which a farmer can saddle himself. We have rooted 
ont all our fences, and never want another one.” 
It will be remembered that last year—page 847— 
Prof. Beckwith gave us some figures about Mr. Ban¬ 
croft’s farm. There are 140 acres in all, including 
fruits and vegetables. 
“ No fences ! But you have over 75 head of stock. 
How in the world do you run a dairy farm without a 
pasture? You can’t have that without a fence ! ” 
“ No ; perhaps not according to the old idea. If we 
stuck to old ideas, the sheriff would soon have us. 
When I first talked about going into dairying, people 
lauglied at me because they said: ‘You cannot 
possibly get a sod started on your light soil, and with¬ 
out a sod, how can you provide hay and pasture for 
cattle?’ My answer was: ‘I do not want a sod, I 
want cow feed, and with our system of farming, a 
pasture is as unnecessary as an old-fashioned pond 
hole.’ I sent the first pound of butter to market that 
left this part of the State, 
and am now feeding over 60 
head of cattle without a rod 
of pasture.” 
“ What is the new idea ? ” 
“ Scarlet clover!” said Mr. 
Bancroft, waving his hand 
over the farm. 
It was, indeed, a beautiful 
sight. As far as the eye 
could reach, here and there, 
contrasting with the green 
of the peach trees, and the 
brown plowed ground, were 
patches of blood-red clover, 
with the dew glistening in 
the morning sun. Sweeping 
through the peach orchards 
—over the meadows—every¬ 
where the bright Scarlet 
clover, the most beautiful 
crop ever grown by the 
farmer. It was a sight never 
to be forgotten, and these 
rich patches of color, scat¬ 
tered over the farm, eannot 
help making, not only a 
better farmer, but a better 
man. If The R. N.-Y. were 
to print a colored picture of 
a field of Scarlet clover at 
its best, many would accuse 
it of copying the crimes of 
exaggeration for which the paper has condemned so 
many seedsmen. The beauty cf the plant is such that 
on my way home in the cars with a bunch of the 
heads half a dozen strangers begged me for speci¬ 
mens to be kept for flowers. 
“ That is the plant that stands between the South¬ 
ern farmer and the sheriff,” said Mr. Bancroft. “It 
has done more for our farming than anything else I 
have known for 20 years.” 
“ In what way is it superior to common Red clover?” 
I asked. 
“ The Red clover wants a mortgage on my farm for 
two years before paying interest,” was the prompt 
answer. “ Red clover requires too much time to 
grow and develop. Scarlet clover interferes with no 
other crop, and pays interest at once. For example, 
take this field of it. Last year it was in tomatoes. 
At the last working of the tomato plants—in late 
August—Scarlet clover was sown among them and 
worked in with the caHivator. That was all. The 
clover did not interfere with the tomatoes, and here it 
is to-day in bloom—a dense mat, 20 inches high. It 
Ilow Red Clover Compares with Scarlet of the Same Age. Fig. 90. 
