Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-12-12
Remarkable Phenomena in Field and
Forest.

Public attention has been so much alb
sorbed by the remarkable political revo
lutions Of the age, that natural phenom-
ena which otherwise would have excited
attention and investigation, have almost
entirely escaped the notice Of the press;
Within very few years past, botanical
stranger has appeared in our State, and
quietly taken possession of more OF our
lands than the trooly loil" have yet
been able to seize, and with the promise
of more real and permanent advantage
to the impoverished soil Of the coun.
try than cargoes of costly fertil-
izers would confer. That stranger is
the Lespedera Strata (genus fryotian),
q luxuriant clover supposed TO be
native of China and japan. 1t suddenly
and mysteriously appeared in portions OF
this State, and is believed to have stimuli
taneously sprung up all over the State:
In the old fields and worn and exhausted
lands of the up country, even to the very
spurs of the Blue Ridge, it extends,
springing up spontaneously, and covering
the soil with rich growth, fifteen inches
in hight choking the weeds and grass
and atfording excellent pasturage, espe-
cially for sheep. Like the red clover
(trifolium pratense), and unlike some of
the grasses, it is easily managed, and
when turned under with the plough, re-
news the soil, furnishing the pabulum
required by more profitable crops.
Twenty years ago, the planters in the up
country applied money and labor largely
to the culture of the red clover, with
the double purpose Of securing pastur-
age and improviog their lands. Their ex-
periments failed; all their efforts were
fruitless and were finally abandoned,
with the reluctant conviction that there
was something in the soil or climate fatal
to the clover. Taking fresh courage,
however, from the appearance and spread
of the Chinese clover, they have renewed
their efforts with the red clover, and met
with the most gratifying success. The
experience of twenty years ago having
been uniformly unsuccessful, would have
doubtless discouraged any further at
tempts in the same direction for genera
tions to come, but for the mysterious ap-
pearance of this botanical volunteer.
How or whence it came, no one can thus
far tell. To escribe it's introduction to
the straw-packings of imported goods, or
to the deposits Of migratory birds, is by no
means satisfactory, as such explanation
would not account for its simultaneous
appearance in places remote from trade,
and which are unvisited by strangers of
the feathered tribe, and where it COW
ers an immense area and in quantities
which preclude the supposition of any
deposit of seed in the manner suggested
by such theories. Botsnists, horticultu-
rists and scientific observers generally,
confess themselves at fault in all their
attempts to solve the mystery. The fact
is so conceded; the clover covers the
land, and is welcomed everywhere; it
has suggested and induced the renewed
and now successful culture of other vari-
eties, so important to the stock raiser,
the dairy farm, and the owners OF thin
and feeble Soils but how or whence it
came, and why it appears and hourlshes
spontaneously in country where twenty
years ago none Of the family could be in
duced to live, with all the encouragement
which money, labor and skill could
afford, remains phenomenon which
battles the curious and learned alike.
Louisville Courier Journal.