7b* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
619 
Sweet Clover and Soil Restoration 
E XHAUSTED SOILS.—There are very few sec¬ 
tions in the entire country today which have 
not felt the devastating effects of continuous crop¬ 
ping. and in accordance with our usual wasteful 
custom we cast aside the old when it weakens to 
take up new regions of virgin soil to exploit it in a 
similar manner. However, there is a limit to the 
North and there is a limit to the West. The Last 
has been a special sufferer from soil depleting prae¬ 
tors. because of its nearness to the world's greatest 
markets, which have willingly bought the last straw. 
With pride the old farmers may boast of having sold 
so many tons of hay. of their records with wheat, 
and when this no longer paid turned to rye. because 
the combination of grain and the straw added more 
to the total income than any single grain alone. Hut 
they never seemed to know that they were selling 
the very heart and soul of their land and leaving a 
lifeless thing behind. This is why the cheapest farm 
land in the United States today can be found in the 
New England and Atlantic Coast State's. 
At its best soil authorities classed 
these regions as third or fourth by 
comparison, placed them among the de¬ 
forested sections with soil thin and 
lacking in humus. Most, of the land, 
however, as virgin soil gave abundant 
crops until robbed of its richness. 
Were it not for the fact that this 
land responds promptly to “kindly” 
treatment, the outlook would be any¬ 
thing but encouraging. 
XLW IDEAS NEEDED.—Necessity 
—that potent factor of progress—steps 
in at this point and compels readjust¬ 
ment in the farmers’ program. New 
ideas alone can break the bonds of the 
old habits and replace them with a 
consistent program of soil-improving 
practices. One of the hardest lessons 
to learn, however, is to place a crop 
primarily for soil improvement, and 
stick to the sacrifice until the benefit is 
reaped in a succeeding crop of improved 
yield. Many crops placed with the good 
intention of soil improvement have 
looked so good when the time came to 
plow them under that Mr. Fanner lost 
his nerve, responded to lmhit. and the 
crop went the usual course of grain for 
market or food for his own or others' 
cattle. “There is a withholding more 
than meet which tendeth to poverty, 
and there is a scattering abroad which 
givetli increase." Breaking from the 
“rut” presents a situation which will 
call for the greatest skill in manage¬ 
ment and planning so as not to inter¬ 
fere with the living you are expected 
to draw from the farm at all times. 
Financial demands may often interfere 
and cause the loss of a year of prog¬ 
ress, yet gameness to the end will bring 
its own reward. Habit has played an 
important part in bringing about that 
state of soii depletion which makes for 
the “abandoned” farm, and it will play 
as equally important a part in the establishment of 
a new course of practice, which is to make “two 
blades grow where one grew before.” 
A BEE CBOP ON DEPLETED SOIL.—In large 
sections of Kentucky the ground became so depleted, 
through continually raising tobacco and wheat, that 
h did not pay to plant any more, and the farms were 
abandoned. Sweet clover was sown on some of these 
abandoned farms as bee pasturage by those inter 
ested in the business. It was discovered, however, 
from this practice that the ground made a "come¬ 
back” through the service of the honey plant, and 
that improved and paying crops of tobacco and 
wheat could again be grown. About the same thing 
occurred in sections of the South where ground had 
Icon kept so continuously in cotton that a man could 
not get back the cost of his seed and fertilizer, let 
alone a fair wage for his time. Sweet clover again 
saved the situation, and this is the way it does it: 
DRAWING ON NATURE'S NITROGEN.—When 
ground has become so depleted that other crops can¬ 
not be grown successfully Sweet clover will thrive 
remarkably, provided the ground is not sour. It is 
a bear for hardiness and a wolf in its ravenous 
hunger for every vestige of available plant food. Its 
remarkable root system laces the soil in every direc¬ 
tion. and sinks to depths never reached by the root 
systems of other plants—not even Alfalfa—in search 
of its plant food, which it brings to the surface as 
deposits for the nourishment of the crop to follow. 
Among the elements thus made available will be 
found phosphorus, potassium and calcium. This is 
in addition to its great capacity to add nitrogen to 
the soil through the service of the nitrogen-collecting 
bacteria which it harbors in nodules upon its roots. 
This is the only “home brew” , plan known to us of 
tapping the great natural supply of nitrogen in the 
air (70.000,000 lbs. of atmospheric nitrogen over 
e'.cry acre) for the benefit of the farmer. Data from 
the Illinois Experiment Station give the amount of 
nitrogen added to the soil by one acre of Sweet 
clover in their tests as 22S lbs in over six tons of 
dry matter, consisting of tops, roots and stubble. 
This amount of nitrogen is equivalent to that sup¬ 
plied by 25 tons of good stable manure, and as nitro¬ 
gen. the most expensive fertilizer element, is the 
limiting factor in plant growth on most soils, it is of 
vital importance to know just how to keep the ground 
supplied therewith. 
THE GREAT QUESTION.—Shall an aggressive 
feeder like Sweet clover be used to deplete the 
ground further by taking away a great portion /of 
the plant food which it gathers, or shall we use it. 
as a turning point in the establishment of a giving- 
back process to restore to the soil a wider margin 
of available fertility, of which it has been robbedV 
In Thr R. N.-Y. editorial on page 330 a report was 
made of the good results attained by the Ohio Ex¬ 
periment Station with annual Sweet clover as a 
forage or hay crop, yet the writer agrees with the 
editor that its chief value will lie in its ability to 
produce a large amount of green manure in a short 
time, which is the especial need of the Atlantic coast. 
BIENNIAL SWEET GLOVER.—As few if any 
“land improvers” will have the annual white to use 
this year, or in fact for several years, it would seem 
the part of wisdom to put the biennials to work, as 
they will do as much if not more than Alsike or Red 
for general farm use. and are far superior when soil 
improvement is considered. For years back The R. 
N.-Y. has contained reports of excellent results with 
these clovers, and a study of these reports shows a 
fairly even division of the favor with which the two 
varieties have been received. Some have preferred 
the white, whereas others have openly expressed a 
preference for the yellow. To one who has grown 
both for live or six years they are brothers, differing 
in traits of character, but both capable of “delivering 
the goods.” They are both wonderful feeders ami 
nitrogen collectors. If the amount of humus to turn 
under is the thing desired, the white has the advan¬ 
tage. although better results have been obtained with 
corn upon turning under the yellow, because of its 
finer texture, than a similar treatment of the white. 
The yellow is two or three weeks earlier than the 
white, which permits it to complete its growth cycle 
farther north or in higher altitudes, and its 5 to 7-ft. 
growth gives a most generous supply of humus when 
raised for the purpose. Biennial yellow hay approxi¬ 
mates Alfalfa very closely in appearance, and is 
reported slightly higher in protein, with 
less crude fiber. When grown side by 
side with the white in pastures the 
stock show their preference by “clean¬ 
ing up” the yellow first. It. is the bi¬ 
ennial yellow which is used as a gen¬ 
eral farm crop throughout Europe. On 
the whole, the Sweet clovers are an 
excellent family with which to be ac¬ 
quainted. The new member, “llubam.” 
may wear the laurel wreath with a 
wide field of usefulness before it, yet 
his sturdy brothers will always have 
their circle of friends who will keep 
them actively on the job. To grow any 
of them successfully means an appre¬ 
ciation of their nature, with the willing¬ 
ness to meet the conditions required. 
New Jersey. r. m. hanna. 
The Story of Cornell No. 11 
Corn 
AKING A START.—To any farmer 
who believes in the gospel of bet¬ 
ter seeds as a limiting ^factor in more 
efficient crop production the following 
story, telling how Cornell No. 11 husk¬ 
ing corn was developed in Cayuga Coun¬ 
ty. will be of interest. Starting, as this 
story shows, with a small amount of 
seed, the co-operators have been able to 
develop a superior strain of husking 
corn; a strain that is gaving satisfac 
tion. Cornell No. 11 was developed at 
Brightside Farm by the owner, E. W. 
Mosher, co-operating with Dr. II. .1 
Webber, then head of the Plant Breed¬ 
ing Department at the New York State 
College of Agriculture. Ithaca, N. Y. In a 
discussion with Dr. Webber some 1 I 
years ago, Mr. Mosher told him that lie 
was not satisfied with tin' corn he was 
then growing, which was a good variety 
of flint, and asked for suggestions re¬ 
garding a better variety. Dr. Webber 
showed him 100 ears of a fine-looking 
yellow dent corn which had been sent him from Iowa. 
This was a Pride of the North type. Dr. Webber 
told Mr. Mosher that if he would furnish land and 
co-operate with him they would test out the corn and 
see if the variety was of value in the East as a 
husking corn. This Mr. Mosher readily consented 
to do. and thCj result of their efforts is a heavy yield¬ 
ing, early maturing corn which is rapidly forging its 
way to the front as a superior variety for husking 
purposes, and in the hill sections it. is used quite 
largely as a silo corn, because it matures better than 
some of the regular silage varieties. 
SELECTION FOR PLANTING.—To fully com¬ 
prehend what Mr. Mosher’s visit to Dr. Webber will 
ultimately mean to corn growers of New York State 
one should be able to see the mature fields of this 
corn in the Fall in Cayuga County, as Prof. John 
It. Barron of the State College and myself saw them 
last Fall when we were making the corn inspections 
for the Cayuga County annual crop contest. The 
story of the development of Cornell No. 11 follows: 
The 100 ears of corn were planted each ear to a row 
in the Spring of 1008, and where it became large 
enough it was thinned to an even stand of three 
stalks per hill. In the Fall Dr. Webber came to the 
Exhibit of Cornell No. 11 Corn nl the Cayuga County. N. Y., Reed Fair. Fig. 230 
Slone Base Being But in Road at Sodas, N. Y. Fig. 21/0 
