Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-07-21
Clover.

CLOVER is great institution, the yalue
OF hich is not as fully understood as il
should be. The field Tor its development
IS the prairies of the West, where the fer
Witty OF the soil is annually depreciat,ue
Ion want Of manurial matter to supply
the drain that is made upon it.
When there is but little stock in pro
/ Porton TO the number of acres cultivated
anu mat little is not stabbed in winter, a
iNge amount OF manure cannot be saved
u enrich the broad fields of corn and
Whest What shall be uoneY Twothirds
o! the Utility, so tar rs wheat is concern
ca, Is lost already. Soils that few years
since Yielded thirty three bushels now
| yieid eeven. The remedy is forthcoming
Just Wien 1t is wanted, and experience is
teaching how to use it. 1t is wonderful
now nature keeps her treasures stored up
until the necessities OF man compel him
10 eek Tor them. Coal has been buried
IN The bosom Of the earth until man
wants II TO convert water into steam, and
iron ore into rails and ships, aud now he
| nnns IL cropp ne out all over the earth.
! The fertility accumulated in the virgin
sof has sufficed for one generation, and
now the little brown clover seed has been
given to furnish machinery by which the
elements of fertility may be absorbed
IRON the atmosphere, and pumped out OF
the earth to supply the wants of another
generation On most lands four or five
pounds of clover seed and two or three
hundred pounds of plaster to an acre,
| VIII IN little more than year, If the soil
Is toierahly good, be converted into two
| tons Of the very best hay. This material
has been chiefly derived from the atmes.
phere by the plants which have the pow
er Of changing carbon and oxygen into
solii matter il their stems and leaves.
This they deposit in the soil when they
have completed their growth and fall and
decay, and thus ferlilizing matter is drawn
from the atmosphere by the ton. annually,
and placed just where it is wanted for the
next crop.
And the clover roots, yes, clover roots
what have they been doing all this
timey If not interrupted they work on
two years, and then Withdraw from the
field to make room for other workers who
succeed them. We call them biennials
indicating that they take two years Jobs.
But what an amount of work they do in
this short time. They will push them
selves into the soil, one, two, three, four,
ing it, pumping up water from it, and The
various minerals held in solution, and de-
alon,s; viii 1f' tie TTnaaterials drawn from the
atmosphere, and thus we have compost
of slick, lime, potash, soda, nagncsia,
alum, IRON, and the rest, mixed with car
bon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc, as food for the
next crop. These clover roots are grand
WORKERS. They are no oilers. They do
not stop when they have worked eight
| hours. When one of these little fellows
| finds particle of lime or sulphur, away
/ down three or four feet under ground, he
SEXES it as his lawful prey-indeed it is
the very thing he went down after, and
has been hunting after all summer and
now he sucks it INTO his open mouth, and
/ pulls and tugs like boa constructor swal-
! D1ing goat, until he gets it within his
/ Gsophsgus, then he pushes it on and on
through the four or five feet Of his longi.
Rde, and deposits it in the stem OF the
plant to be used where it is wanted in the
process Of construction. We should like
IA see all the roots from an acre OF thrifty
clever washed and shock out, dried and
thiown into heap. Would there be two
toy of them, as much as there IL OF thu
pI,a,s above ground? If SO, these foul
or i've pounds Of seed would have drawn
from the air and the ground four tons o.
solid matter, ready To be rotted down into
plant food for the crops that are To follow
Not only has this amount Of manufia
matter been prepared, but the soil has
bsen bored and loosened in all directions
50 that the air could penetrate 1t and
warn It, and act upon the mineral matter
it contains. This soil is then in q very
different condition from what it was wher
The clover seed was sown. Its mechani
col condition is greatly changed. The rail-
can penetrate it, The roots Ut wheat car
ran down into it. The decaying vegeta
bic matter upon the surface, as it dissolve
by the rain, can accompany the roots int
the earth, ano yield up TO them the nour
ishmcnt 1t contains.
4 Ii the soil is too poor, or too much ex
bausted to vi Id full crop of clover at Tn,
FIRST 80 wing, pillow 1t into the ground, ane
repeat the process. The crop VIII De In
creased, and the soil improved by ever,
repetition. until at length you will get tai
thirty bushels OF wheat
Bnt we are impatient. We want to ge
the 80 bushels In one year. We canno
wait. But Providence Is patient: Tbs
mills Of the z DDS grind slow" We mus
Walt. ouhDO az wv tcHb "iiN visa
transported thousand miles, won't pay
and ii it would pay one year, 1t will leav'
the land in worse condition than 1t fonnt
il. We must make the manure On TIT
soil where 1t - To be used. We can &c
labor " hen we cannot get manure. w
must put as much labor on ten acres q
we now put ON twenty, and we shall &c
more wheat, and more corn, and improve
the soil instead Of exhaustiDg It, Venus
raise clover. Kng,and Farmer.
THE butter In England Is chiefly cate
fresh, within week, or at the turthes
two weeks, of its being made, and yer,
little salt Is used, not fourth OF what J
, mixed with It In America. When 1t
posted down il il done in the same wa!
I e in this country, but 1t 10 then calle'
the butter, and is sold at little more tina
y III lard sells for.
fEARL n. WALTON, who recently CON
sAtted suicide In Woodlswn cemeter.
iikr Boston, left note declaring that -
J lsje garden he laid out had been devss
sted BIZ the chickens Of his son, he ha
/ become tired Of lie, and WAS going
meet his beloved wifs."