Why We Advise Using Sweet Clover 
It is the Greatest of All Soil Builders 
I am not trying to say all the things that can 
be said about soil conservation. That would take 
a book covering terracing, strip farming and many 
other things. One thing I know about Sweet 
Clover and that is its great soil building power. 
It first of all adds enormous quantities of Humus 
(decayed vegetable matter) to the soil. Soils well 
supplied with humus absorb more moisture. Acts 
more like a sponge. Therefore such land gen¬ 
erally does not wash as readily. Soils with humus 
contain more air and more bacterial life. That 
means that the plant food already in the soil is 
made more available to growing crops. It means 
a soil that warms up quicker in the spring. You 
can cultivate it quicker after a rain. 
Sweet Clover does more than that it takes free 
nitrogen from the air, changes its form and makes 
it available to other crops. Then this most ex¬ 
pensive of all fertilizers, nitrogen is brought to 
you free by sweet clover. Other clovers can do 
this too but none as quickly or in such great 
abundance as sweet clover. 
Checks Soil Washing 
The Serious Soil 
Situation 
Our precious heritage of rich 
fertile soils is on an alarming 
number of farms being destroy¬ 
ed. You can see signs of this 
along fence rows and by com¬ 
paring the depth of soil be¬ 
tween permanent pasture land 
and cultivated fields. It is a 
long ways down to the center 
of the earth but after you get 
through a few inches of top 
soil the land will not grow 
profitable crops. Already tens 
of thousands of acres have 
been abandoned and hundreds 
of thousands more will be un¬ 
profitable in another 10 years 
if conditions are not corrected 
promptly. Sweet Clover will 
help to correct it. 
Sweet Clover Adds Humus and 
Nitrogen 
I have pointed out in the 
previous column how sweet 
clover by adding humus to the 
soil makes it more sponge like 
and absorbent. Sweet Clover 
has big fleshy powerful roots. 
They go down deep, penetrat¬ 
ing hard sub soils and may 
even break up hard pan. When 
crop is plowed under these 
roots decay quickly leaving 
channels for water to find its 
way down into the soil instead 
of running over the top and 
carrying the precious top soil 
on its way to the ocean. Even 
while growing it checks wash¬ 
ing, holds the soil in place and 
conserves the soil wealth that 
might otherwise wash away. 
Largest Crops Follow Sweet Clover 
A corn crop following sweet clover will show 
an increase in yield of 20 to 25 bushels per acre. 
See page 8 and 9 of this book for other suggestions 
on sweet clover and how to get the most out of 
this crop. You can figure on a crop of sweet 
clover plowed under as fully equal to 25 big loads 
of good manure. This is second in addition to 
its pasture and hay production. Is it any wonder 
I am enthusiastic about sweet clover and urge 
you to sow it. 
There is another reason that should appeal to 
many and that is the low cost of seeding. Com¬ 
pare the cost of sweet clover seedings with those 
of other clovers. The cost per bushel is generally 
far lower and the acre cost materially below. 
Generally it is half the acre cost of red clover. 
Sometimes it is less than that. It will cost only 
1-3 to 1-4 as much per acre as alfalfa. While it 
is not so fine for hay as those crops, it excels 
them in soil building and pasture value. Sow 
sweet clover for low first cost and for maximum 
soil benefits. 
