voe. xxxvii. 
WHOLE No. 
No. 20.) 
1477. i 
NEW YORK CITY, MAY 18 , 1878 . 
(PRICE SIX C JTS. 
1 $2.50 PER Y . R. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by the Rural Publishing Company, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
^ielir Crap. 
HOW TO USE CLOVER. 
W. J. FOWLER. 
Farmers who grow clover largely are almost 
necessarily improving their land. It is true that 
some modes of disposing of the clover crop are 
more advantageous than others, but so long as 
clover is grown the soil must be benefited. 
The roots at least must remain, under the most 
exhaustive system of oropping and clover roots 
are no mean fertilizer. They take from the sub¬ 
soil and probably also from the atmosphere 
most of the substances which the plant contains. 
It is hardly possible, except by the utilization of 
atmosphoric nitrogen, to account for the bene¬ 
ficial effects of clover on the soil. I have often 
seen good crops grown on clover sod without 
manure and on laud which before being olovered 
was reckoned rather poor. Of course, the effect 
is all the better if a crop of leaves and haulm is 
turned under with the roots. 
The clover helps the soil in other ways. Its 
roots are the cheapest subsoiler and if the field 
is not very wet, will give the soil all the drainage 
needed for ordinary farm crops. I am satisfied 
that farmers who grow clover largely, can keep 
their fields dry with one-half the underdraining 
they would otherwise need. Walking this spring 
over the fields, I find clover sod dry and ready to 
plow, while in timothy or other grass adjoining, 
the water oozes out from the surface under the 
pressure of the foot. Even in wheat fields I 
find that where clover haB been plowed under, 
or even on a clover sod, the soil is much dryer 
than on wheat after stubble. The decaying olover 
roots form channels through which the water 
passes away. 
Plowing-under clover when in bloom is rightly 
regarded as a wasteful method of using it—far 
better, however, than not using it at all. The 
objections to naked summer fallows are, that 
they require two seasons to make a crop, and 
that while the sod iB decaying under the blaze of 
a summer suu or the unprotected surface of the 
field, much of the valuable part of the clover is 
lost. If the soil is rich, as it should be, it will 
produce aB much after barley or oats aB after a 
naked fallow. I do not suppose that fallows 
average five bushels per acre more of wheat 
than land sown aft stubble. This year the 
difference will be even less, and some of the best 
wheat I have seen was after a heavy crop of 
barley. Five bushels of wheat are too little to 
pay the loss of a grain crop and the extra ex¬ 
pense in cultivating the fallow. There is a more 
important loss, as summer fallows are usually 
plowed the year after the clover is sown, the 
roots have not yet made l heir full growth, and 
do not until the second crop of clover in Sep¬ 
tember when the seed is harvested. This is not 
too late to plow and sow to wheat. Good crops 
are thus grown ; but the difficulty is in getting a 
44 catch ” of clover seed. My way is to harvest 
two crops of clover tho second year, the last 
of which is for seed. Feed this out on the 
farm, sow the seed and make a big manure pile. 
The year after, manure this clover sod heavily, 
plant with corn or potatoes and then follow with 
barley or oats and wheat again. In this way 
there is no trouble about a good catch of clover 
every year, and besides the manure made from 
two crops of clover, the seed sold and used will 
pay the interest on the land. 
Mon oe Co., N. Y. 
POTATO CULTURE. 
PROFESSOR I. P. ROBERTS. 
[THIS article Is dedicated to the boys who, In ad¬ 
dition to the usual amount Of hoeing, will have to 
fight the potato beetles with pot and pan for the 
next two months. I have done much wort In life, 
thut was far from pleasant, but the most unpleas¬ 
ant, discouraging, back-breaking, side-aebing work 
was hoeing and digging potatoes in a stiff, blue-grass 
potato field when a boy.] 
After numerous experiments and careful ob¬ 
servation and study as to the best methods prac¬ 
ticed, both East and West, in tho cultivation and 
harvesting of the potato, I have concluded to 
give a brief description of the one which I have 
finally adopted and which I think I can safely 
recommeud to others. 
Select ground that has been tilled the previous 
year, plow and harrow as usual. In a week or 
ten days after, when many weeds have germi¬ 
nated and some have appeared above ground, 
secure a double mold-board plow, such as the 
Scotch and English use in ridge root culture ; 
furrow with this four or five inches deep—the 
latter depth if manure is to be used in the drills 
—and three feet apart. The mold-board, though 
long, curves very rapidly at the upper rear end, 
grindiug the small clods, compacting the soil 
slightly, and thus leaving a furrow clean and 
free from clods and stones in the bottom. In 
this furrow drop the seed—fair, Hmooth, me¬ 
dium-sized potatoes, cut into from two to four 
pieces each—from one foot to one foot and &- 
half apart. If farm manure is used, it should 
always be above the seed, not below it (Fig. 1 
—a). If no manure s used it will appear as in 
Fig. 1—b. With the Bame plow split the ridges, 
THE ROMANCE AND REALITY FARM LIFE 
