‘The destination of the clover crop is exceed- | 
ingly various; and the treatment of it must, in 
a main degree, be ruled by the destination. In 
favourable seasons, and on rich soil, it frequently 
attains a considerable height and luxuriance be- 
fore the commencement of corn-harvest; and, in 
such instances, the corn crop amongst which it 
grows may be cut very low, so that a portion of 
the clover may be mixed with its straw, and 
add to the sweetness, nutritiousness, and bulk 
of its fodder. But when, from any cause, the 
clover continues to be low and feeble till the time 
of corn-harvest, it ought to escape all touch of 
| the instrument at the cutting of the corn-crop; 
and it may afterwards shoot up with such rapid- 
ity as, before the close of the season and without 
injury to itself, to afford a hearty though cau- 
tious bite to a flock of sheep. In all situations, 
unless when it suffers some disaster, or is diverted 
from its natural course of productiveness, it yields 
two disposable crops in the second year,—the 
first and best, when it is coming into flower in 
the beginning of summer, and the second when 
_ it has again rushed into full vigour in autumn; 
| and in some very favourable circumstances of 
soil, situation, and weather, it even, during the 
| second year, produces three good disposable crops. 
| Thé most common practice is to make the first 
of the two crops of the second year into hay, and 
to feed off the second crop; and another common 
practice, though a severe one, is to make both 
crops into hay. But these practices are, in mul- 
| titudinous instances, superseded or greatly modi- 
| fied by others. 
| upon clover as early in spring as it will afford 
Many farmers turn their stock 
them sustenance, and keep them upon it till 
May; and some afterwards treat it for a crop of 
hay, while others let it stand for a crop of seed. 
In general, in the vicinity of large towns, clover 
is treated as much as possible for hay; in dis- 
tricts remote from large towns, it is always more 
or less liberally fed off, and occasionally culti- 
vated for seed; and when prolonged into the 
third year after sowing, it is usually pastured or 
fed off in a similar manner to turnips. 
The general hay-making process with clover, 
as well as with meadow-grass, will be noticed in 
the article on Hay. The grand difficulty in the 
case of clover is so to dry it, as to avert the risk 
of moulding, and prevent damage to its tender 
foliage; and this difficulty is increased when, in 
order to insure the due richness of the hay, the 
clover is not cut till fully in flower. In most or- 
dinary and all careless methods of hay-making, 
both the foliage and the flowers of clover are in 
imminent peril of being destroyed; nor is any 
method safe which shakes or disperses the swathe, 
or which does more than regularly and cautiously 
turn it. The mere drying of the crop is, in any 
circumstances, tedious, and in wet weather im- 
practicable. The German agriculturist Schwertz 
dries the clover on a sort of parrot perches, stuck 
into the ground. The perches are about 8 feet 
high, and capable of bearing a load of 2 cwt. of 
green fodder, mowed 24 hours, and in a somewhat 
withered condition. “ This method,as I haveseen 
it practised in the Duchy of Baden,” says Bous- 
singault, “answers well; but there is consider- 
able ccst for manual labour, and, in the first in- 
stance, for perches.” Buta alien, easier, and 
far more economical method was invented, tested, 
and published, a few years ago, by William Bell, 
Esq. of Hunthill. He originally designed erly 
to avert the injury which usually arises from 
letting the clover lie in swathes just as it falls 
from the scythe; but he obtained results which 
involved the superior preservation, colour, fra- 
grance, and nutritiousness of the hay. Mr. Bell, 
writing to the Directors of the Highland Soak aie, 
in the beginning of the winter bf 1839-40, says: 
“On Thursday 26th September, 1839, an acre of 
a heavy second crop of clover was cut. On the 
same day, a stack of oats was thrashed, being 
also the produce of about an acre; and the straw 
was spread on the surface of the grass as it lay 
on the ground. That same evening, the whole, 
without being worked up in any way, was put 
into hand-ricks. On Saturday the 28th, the 
whole was spread out; and in the evening, it was 
put up in larger ricks, about three of the first in 
one. On Monday the 30th, the whole was again 
spread out, and in the evening was put in larger 
ricks, standing about six feet high. It was then 
considered to be quite ready to be carried to the 
stack ; but on Tuesday the 1st October, the wea- 
ther, which had been good, changed, and a heavy 
rain wetted the whole to a serious extent. On 
Thursday the 3d October, however, on being once | 
more spread out, the whole was found to be so 
dry, that it was put up in large tramp ricks, in 
which state it stood for about two weeks. It 
was then stacked, and has remained ever since in | 
the best condition, no part of it having become | 
at all heated, and the whole being as fragrant as 
the best clover hay. Horses preferred it greatly 
to the hay of this season of good quality, and the 
straw was eaten as readily as the grass, with 
which it is intimately mixed.” And after he had 
experience of it till the end of spring, 1840, he 
said, ‘The cattle and horses have eaten it freely, 
and continue to do so till the present time. 
Where a quantity of the clover happens to have 
been kept together, it is brown in colour, as is 
usual with the best clover hay ; where it has been 
intimately mixed with the straw, the stem and 
leaf remain essentially green, and the flower red ; 
the whole mixture is fragrant, and in excellent 
condition.” This method, therefore, besides fa- 
cilely and cheaply averting mischief from the 
clover, secures a large, easy, and most profitable 
increase of prime winter food for cattle and 
horses, and may prove eminently beneficial in 
rainy districts or in bad hay seasons. 
On good land, the first crop of hay will produce 
two tons of hay per acre, and the second crop 
one ton and a half; and if the land be very highly 
| j CLOVER. 897 
