Vol. XXXIX. No. 5, 
Whole No. 1566. 
Price Five Cents, 
#2.00 Per Tear. 
[Entere d according to Act of Congress, In the ye ar 1E80, by the Ru ral New-Yorker Company, in the office of the Librarian of Congreas at Washington. — Entered at the Post-Office at New York City, N. Y., as second-class matter.) 
timothy (on sandy soils without timothy) on 
fieldB of yonng wheat, oats, or barley. It is 
mowed the next spring, pastured the year 
after, when It is usually turned under or per¬ 
ishes the winter after. 
The clovers, especially red clover and other 
large clovers, are valuable for euriehing the 
soil. They draw a larger proportion of their 
food from the air than is the ease with true 
grasses. They are rich in nitrogeu. The roots 
are large, run deep, and bring to the surface 
some of the most valuable mineral ingredients 
of the subsoil. I have not thought clover 
roots extended down very far, unless they 
were found at least six feet below the sur¬ 
face. They will often be found longer thaD 
the mode of curing. This has been clearly 
shown by former articles in the Rural. 
The flowers of this species are In heads and 
usually red—rarely white. Each llower has 
ten stamens closely surrounding one pistil. 
The petals are irregular and somewhat re¬ 
semble those of the Locust aud pea. Bumble¬ 
bees visit the flowers freely and have been 
thought by some to be necessary aids In carry¬ 
ing pollen to fertilize each flower. It is pro¬ 
bable that they assist in securing fertilization, 
though 1 have found by experiments made 
during the past three years, that red clover 
will produce about two-thirds of a crop of 
seeds when the heads are closely tied in bags 
so as to keep all bees away. Houey bees do 
not.usually visit red clover, 
as the flowers are so long 
hat they cannot reach the 
houey. There are some 
exceptions, though I have 
never seen houey bees nu¬ 
merous on this variety. 
Red clorer is rather coarse 
for pasture. All kinds of 
stock will pass it over if 
they ca« plenty of June 
grass which they much pre¬ 
fer. Especially is this the 
case in summer after the 
clover has seut up its flower 
stalks. The clovers are very 
sensitive and are favorably 
-s- affected by a light dressing 
y of gypsum or plaster. A 
,j& second crop of red clover is 
fWj often taken from the field, 
though this crop is usually 
££*5,, allowed to go to seed. 
*^*j*k]' Sutton & Sons of Eug- 
■'VjijPji' land, advertise 
this, oven in soil which is somewhat tenacious. 
To secure a good "catch” of clover, several 
things are important. The soil should be in 
good condition cheruicully aud physically; 
rich, well drained, and well cultivated When 
sowed in winter or very caily in spring, the 
young plants are lluble to bo killed before they 
become well established. Some of our best 
farmers sow seed after the hard spring frosts 
are over. They then burrow or roll the ground 
or use both the harrow and the roller. Those 
implements are usually beneficial to the 
yonng plants of wheat For hay, clover 
should be cut at least as soon as it is wel 1 
covered with flowers. There is much differ¬ 
ence in the value of clover hay, depending on 
LEGUMINOUS FORAGE PLANTS. No. 1 
PROFESSOR W. J. BEAL 
To "live in clover” is one way of express¬ 
ing happiness, ease, plenty, luxury, an abun¬ 
dance of good things. Cattle are well eared 
for. if they run in a pasture where the clover 
is knee-high or where it comes up to their 
eyes. The very word ** clover," when spoken, 
has an agreeable sound. 
The clovers aud their allies belong to a very 
large aud important natural 
order called Leguminosa 1 . 
This name is derived from 
‘•legume” which meauB a 
pod like that In which peas 
aud beaus are produced. 
The order includes about 
0,500. These vary in size 
from small herbs to giant 
trees, aud are found in all 
climates, cold, hot, wet and 
dry. The order is the most 
remarkable for its great va- A 
riety of useful products. 
Liudicy, In bis "Vegetable 
KLugdom” says . — "it Is 1 
uot only among tbe most Ia \^ 
extensive that are known, 
but also one of the most Ax- 
important to man, whether 
we consider the beauty of 
the numerous species, 
which are among the gay- wsg<S^, 
est-colored and most grace- ^ 
ful plants of every regiou, 
or their applicability to a 'W 
thousand useful purposes." / 
It includes numerous Aca- 
eias, uoted for durable and 
fragrant wood, numerous 
gums, drugs, dyes, peas, y 
beaus, poauuts, licorice, 
fiber plants, perfumes and , « 
mauy forage plants, some jSfedlgg 
of the most important of 
which are about to be de- KsaWl 
scribed. j 
Trifoliuin praiemte perenue— 
Perennial Red Clover, or 
Cow Gram. 
They say "it is quite dis¬ 
tinct from the common red 
clover, and is most valuable 
for purposes for which red 
clover Is wholly uusuited. 
It produces only one crop 
in the year, and comes into 
cutting fully a fortnight or 
three weeks after the first 
cutting of red clover, at a 
time when green food is 
generally very scarce." 
They speak of it as val¬ 
uable for permanent pas¬ 
tures. A small patch of 
this at the Michigan Agri¬ 
cultural College has lived 
for three years. It killed 
to some extent last winter. 
I have also tried another 
clover from the same firm 
with just about the same 
result as last mentioned. 
Trifolium prateuse hybri- 
dum giganteuin Button!— 
Button’s giant hybrid cow 
clover, is the imposing 
Latin and Euglish uame of 
this clover. They claim 
that it is a hybrid between 
the common red clover aud 
cow-grass. " It is exceed¬ 
ingly productive, and un¬ 
der favorable circum¬ 
stances, will produce three 
heavy crops for mowing or 
grazing in one year. It has 
also the merit of succeeding 
on soils that will not grow 
the common red clover.” 
On our sandy laud it does 
no better thau our common 
red clover. A further con¬ 
sideration of this subject is 
reserved for future numbers 
TriFulluiu prateuse—Red 
Plover. 
In saying anything of this 
well-known plaut, I feel 
like attempting to intro¬ 
duce one neighbor to 
uuothor where the acquain¬ 
tance iB intimate and has 
been of long stauding. As 
a forage plant, 1 kuow of 
nothing which has been 
longer cultivated in Eng¬ 
land, having been grown us 
early as 1033 — nearly 200 
years ugo. It is our most 
valuable clover for mead¬ 
ow and pasture. The name 
Trifolium, is derived from 
two Latin words, meaning 
three leaves. Each leaf has 
three leaflets. MoBt red 
clover is biennial, though 
some plants, in isolated 
places are perennial. The 
roots may be made to live 
longest where they are kept 
cut down very little while 
they glow, aud arc uot al¬ 
lowed to flower or go to 
seed. By selection and care 
several varieties (races) 
have beeu obtained, some 
of which are perennial, or 
said to be perennial, and 
are known in England as 
" cow-grass.” In this coun- 
t y, It Is usually sown with 
33b. yjrjJ 
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