1904 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
343 
CROWING CLOVER FOR BUSINESS. 
Give the Crop a Fair Showing. 
A TIMELY SUBJECT—The increasing necessity for 
growing our protein feed and nitrogenous fertilizers, 
coupled with the recognized superiority of the clovers 
as such, renders the question how to produce them an 
exceedingly important one, and all the more so since 
the effort meets with so many failures. During the 
past four years of institute work in this State, in 
which I have been called upon to discuss some phase 
of the clover question in nearly every meeting, no 
inquiry has been more anxiously put than “How can 
we secure a clover stand?” My owd experience and 
rather extended observation lead me confidently to the 
conclusion that when we understand the nature and 
demands of the clover plant as well as we understand 
those of our common farm plants we need have no 
more difficulty in growing it than we have in growing 
them. Poor, neglected soil will give but poor crops 
of any kind. Unfavorable climatic conditions will 
injure any crop. Any plant treated as unwisely as 
we have generally treated the clovers would result in 
as many failures as we have experienced in growing 
this. The fact is that clover is one of our hardiest 
plant's. It takes hold on earth and air and sun, and, 
with (he aid of its bacteria, has a decided advantage 
over the non-leguminous plants; and when its deep- 
root system is once established, can more successfully 
cope with frost, flood and drought. It does what they 
cannot do, for when the soil is lacking in nitrates it 
doubles or quadruple* its system of nodules and 
makes good the lack 
by drawing on the 
limitless store of free 
atmospheric nitro¬ 
gen. 
THE NEEDS OF 
THE CROP.—There 
are at least four 
prime conditions for 
securing a profitable 
growth of clover. 
Clear the soil of 
stagnant water. In 
compact clay land 
the presence of water 
not only prevents the 
entrance of the air, 
with its oxygen in¬ 
dispensable to nitri¬ 
fication, but in freez¬ 
ing, expands and, 
bulging upward, 
draws up the plant 
caught in its icy em¬ 
brace. This heaving 
and not the low tem¬ 
perature, is what de¬ 
stroys the plant. 
Surface draining 
may not always be 
sufficient. The clover 
roots need from one 
to two feet in depth 
of earth free of 
water. In the most 
compact clays tile 
draining will be necessary for best results with this 
or any other crop. In some measure the results here 
sought will be accomplished with the second condi¬ 
tion, namely, the addition of humus to the soil. This 
may be in the form of stable manure, which is by 
far better, or by turning in rye and Winter vetch 
sown in the Fall after removing a Summer crop. 
This will serve to retain moisture during a dry time, 
raise the temperature of the soil, prevent heaving, 
greatly facilitate the bacterial activity, and render 
lime or commercial fertilizers far more effective. 
LIMING AND FERTILIZING—If, in testing the 
soil for acid with a blue litmus paper, it is found 
that it is decidedly acid, lime should be applied in 
moderate quantities—never more than 15 bushels per 
acre, evenly distributed and immediately incorpo¬ 
rated with the soil. If ground caustic lime can be 
procured and applied with a drill, 1,000 pounds will 
be sufficient. If the soil is not decidedly acid, one 
half that amount will be enough. This will hasten 
the reduction of the green or coarse manure to avail¬ 
able forms, and hasten bacterial action, which can¬ 
not go on in acid soil. The addition of a light dress¬ 
ing of phosphate and potash will not only add plant 
food for the clover, but will also favor the work of 
the bacteria. Apply 150 to 250 pounds per acre of a 
mixture analyzing six per cent phosphoric acid and 
12 per cent potash for sandy soils, or 10 per cent of 
each for clay land. A top-dressing of four to six tons 
per acre of well-preserved and well-rotted stable 
manure, well harrowed in, would probably produce 
better regulta than would the cbemleala. Let it be 
repeated, that the application of lime or other chem¬ 
icals to soils practically devoid of humus will not 
only be useless, but often positively injurious. For 
best results the clovers must be treated as we treat 
all other crops—be given an open field and a well- 
prepared seed bed. We give the use of the field 
wholly to corn, oats or wheat. We never think of 
growing a crop of oats and of corn on the same 
ground at the same time, or of potatoes and Tim¬ 
othy; yet in the production of clover, a crop worth 
as much as either, we have tried to grow three full 
crops on the same place at the same time. We have 
thought it should have a “nurse crop.” What is 
meant by “nurse,” it is difficult to say. If we thought 
it should be protected from the sunshine we forgot 
that sunlight is one of the essential conditions of its 
growth. It needs a large amount of moisture, fer¬ 
tility and sunshine, and a nurse that deprives it of 
these is not a nurse but a robber. True, where the 
soil is rich and the grain thin, we occasionally secure 
a fair stand of clover, but in the absence of another 
crop it probably would have been two or three times 
as heavy. With another crop, a good, even stand is 
the exception, and on our depleted soils is out of the 
question. 
SOWING AND RESEEDING—If the field cannot 
be given exclusively to the clover, and a good seed 
bed prepared and sown early in the Spring, a whear. 
or rye stubble field may be prepared in July by burn¬ 
ing off the stubble, if necessary, and thoroughly har¬ 
rowing it. If a Cutaway or disk harrow can be used, 
burning will not be necessary. As soon as the grain 
can be removed the soil is friable and will pulverize 
easily. Give this bed 15 to 18 pounds of common 
Red or 20 pounds of Crimson clover and harrow in 
well. There will be no danger of covering it too 
deeply. At this season it must have a good depth 
to keep it through the hot, dry weather. If the soil 
is loose and dry, especially if it is sandy, it should 
be rolled after seeding and before the last harrow¬ 
ing. A clover sod, after the second year, may be 
reseeded by using the Cutaway harrow to chop it up 
thoroughly. So of any sod. An early potato field 
makes an ideal seed bed for either the Red or Crim¬ 
son clover. Of course, Crimson may be sown in corn 
before the last cultivation in July, and a fair stand 
secured, provided the corn is a small variety and is 
rowed north and south four feet apart, especially if 
the ground was well limed or potashed before plant¬ 
ing. As shown in a very decisive manner on my 
own place, there is a wide difference between the 
growth of clover on ground that had previously raised 
clover for several years and that on ground which had 
never borne clover, owing to the fact that the first had 
become well inoculated with clover bacteria, while the 
latter seemed to have few. In rare cases it has been 
found necessary to inoculate the ground with soil 
brought from a good clover field and evenly spread at 
rate of six or eight bushels per acre. Careful experi¬ 
ments have shown this to be successful, clearly prov¬ 
ing the necessity of these bacteria to the full develop¬ 
ment of the clover plant. The U. S. Department of 
Agriculture has propagated bacteria cultures that are 
furnislied for ttifi purpose nf sol] inoculation, but 
ordinarily these inoculations will not be found neces¬ 
sary. Supplying the conditions above named will 
usually insure a fair stand, at least, the first seeding, 
which will be increased in subsequent crops on the 
same ground. A very important measure in develop¬ 
ing a root system and adding another security against 
heaving out the young plant, is clipping it in Sep¬ 
tember. No matter when sown, or whether it be the 
first or second crop, this will be found of great ad¬ 
vantage. Never allow the young plant to produce a 
head. Unless needed for the seed, the aftermath of 
the Red clover should be clipped as it comes to head¬ 
ing. This clipping, if sufficient to smother the plant, 
may profitably be fed to the cows. It will be found, 
as I have repeatedly discovered, that the July clover, 
sown and treated as I have indicated, will present a 
better developed root system by the first of December 
than will be found in the March-sown clover that 
struggled against its unfavorable surroundings until 
harvest time, and was then suddenly exposed to the 
heat and drought by the removal of the grain. 
Lawrence Co., Pa. i. a. thayek. 
THE POTATO SPRAYING QUESTION. 
During the past few months much has appeared in 
the various papers on the subject of potato spraying. 
Such remarks as the following are common: “Does 
it pay? The experiment station men say that it does 
—the practical man questions it.” “I used to think 
it paid well; now I am not so sure about it.” “Am not 
certain that it pays, but shall continue to practice it.” 
fhen there are some 
who report that they 
sprayed several 
times but they could 
see no difference be¬ 
tween their fields 
and their neighbor’s 
unsprayed fields, or 
that tne sprayed 
plants lived only a 
week or two longer 
than unsprayed 
plants. Howe ver, 
not all of the prac¬ 
tical men have this 
lurking uncertainty 
in their m i n ds— 
many strong advo¬ 
cates of the practice 
of spraying potatoes 
can be found. Occa¬ 
sionally a man is 
found who knows 
by actual experi¬ 
ment that spraying 
has paid him. To 
all but the last class 
of men the practice 
of spraying is a 
question, an uncer¬ 
tainty, and doubtless 
will remain so for 
year after year un¬ 
til they take the 
pains to solve it for 
themselves, on their 
own farms, under their own methods and conditions, 
and on a basis of dollars and cents. So much guesswork, 
uncertainty, judging by appearances and rough com¬ 
parisons should not have a place anywhere when 
the question is one so easy to determine for a cer¬ 
tainty. Who knows for certain how much difference 
a week’s growth of potato plants at the very end of 
the season will make in the yield? If sprayed plants 
grow even a week longer than unsprayed plants, it 
may be found by actual experiment that the extra 
week’s growth has made a good increase in the yield. 
To determine for certainty, or to your own satis¬ 
faction whether it has paid you to spray potatoes 
or not is a simple matter. Go at the work in a busi¬ 
ness-like way. Keep an account of the time used of 
men and horses, the cost of the chemicals and repairs 
to machinery, if any, or interest on the investment. 
Select a few rows in the field that will fairly repre¬ 
sent the average of the whole field; reserve these for 
a check, and do not spray them for the blight. Give 
them in all other respects an equal chance with the 
sprayed plants. Keep the beetles off by spraying with 
Paris-green or arsenic. During the season, note the 
difference in the foliage of the sprayed and unsprayed 
plants. See how much longer the sprayed plants re¬ 
main green than the unsprayed, if any. Dig the 
unsprayed rows separately, and carefully grade them 
into two grades; marketable tubers and culls. Weigh 
each grade. In the sprayed portion of the field select 
the same number of rows as was left unsprayed; dig, 
grade and weigh these in the same way. Determine 
the number of rows tc the acre, and you will then 
have a basis for figuring out what has been the gain, 
if any, by spraying for the blight. By keeping an 
account of the expense it will be an easy matter to 
tell exactly in dollars and cents whether spraying has 
paid or not. H. J. eustacjs, 
New York Exp Station. 
