The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1870-02-26
Glover as Il Manure for Wheat.

from recent lecture by Or. Eoclcker,
than whom there is no better scientific
authority
In connection with other field expert
ments, one was undertaken to investi-
gate the causes of the benefits of grow
ing clover as preparatiyc crop for
wheat. 1t is well known in England
that if farmers can succeed in growing
Il good crop of clover, they are almost
certain to get good paying crop of
wheat. All agricultural matters de-
pend on each other If we can enable
the farmer to produce good crops of
clover, we shall place him in the very
best position to obtain paying crops of
grain Hence, it is concluded that the
very best preparation, the very best
manure is q good crop Of clover Now,
at first sight, nothing seems more CON
Trajectory than to say that You can
remove very large quantity Of both
mineral and organic food from the soil,
and yet make it more productive, as in
the case Of clover. Nevertheless it is
a fact, that the larger the amount Of
mineral matter YOU remove in a crop of
clover hay, the richer the land becomes"
This, it is said, is strange chemical
anomaly, which cannot be discarded,
and which invites invcstigaton-an in
vesti@ation that has occupied more than
ten Years. But only during the past
season has Dr.. Noclckcr been able to
explain thoroughly the strange anomaly
that is presented by the growth of clio
yer as a preparatlve crop for wheat
The explanation is simple, though puz-
zling when the chemical points are not
understood. In Il chemical point of
view, clover is the most cXhausting crop
that can be grown; whilst in a thor
oughly practical point of view, it is the
most restorative crop, and the best pre-
paration for wheat that can he grown
The large amount OF mineral matter
and OF nitrogen, removed in a crop Of
clover hay is given. On comparing
this with what is removed by crop of
wheat, it is found that in clover crop
there are fully three times as much
mineral matter, and more than six times
as much nitrogen removed. as there is
in crop Of wheat. 1t might be expect
ed that clover, which removes so much
nitrogen from the soil, would lie bene-
fitted by heterogeneous manures; but the
reverse is the case. Wheat is benefited
by such manures; but this is not the
case with clover, which is most benefit
cd hv DniDar.l papuroS. and ,4,,;,l
standing the large amount removed,
leaves the land much richer in these
matters than it was before growing
clover, By growing clover vast
amount Of mineral matter is brought
within reach and rendered available to
the roots of the grain crops, that other
wise would remain in a locked up con-
dition. Glover, by means of its long
roots, penctrates a larger mass of soil
1t gathers up, so to speak, the phos-
phoric acid and the potash disseminated
throughout the soil: and when the land
is ploughed and the roots left in the
surface, they leave, in an available con-
dition, the mineral substances which
the wheat plant requires. And, while
Il large amount Of such matter is
removed in clover, still the amount rem
dercd available, and left for the succeed
ing crop of grain, is very much larger
than the quantity removed in the clover
hay.
The accumulation Of nitrogen after
the growth Of clover is also extremely
large. Even when the crop is small
the amount left in the surface soil
amounts to tons; and the better the
clover crop, the greater the accumua-
ton OF nitrogen. In experimenting
to determine the amount, it was
found that wheat was much the best
where the clover was largest, and
that it was due to the accumulation of
nitrogen that the wheat grew so much
more luxuriantly. Another experiment
was made to asCer ain whether there
was more nitrogen left in the soil after
the clover was cut twice, than when it
was mown once and allowed to 90 to
seed. Generally crops are most exhaust
| ing when allowed to 20 to seed. But
in clover we have a remarkable eycep-
ton to this rule as it is found that after
| growing clover for seed, very much
larger quantity of nitrogen remains in
the surface soil, than when the clover
is twice. 1t was also asccrtained
that when you feed Off clover by sheep,
while it is still young, and everything
is returned to the soil, the land is not
| in so good a condition as when clover
hay is taken off. This is against all
reason, but the positive evidence of the
clover fields ought to be conclusive
Those practically acquainted with the
subject must have seen that wheat was
not so good where clover was fed off
| quite young, and that the best crop of
wheat is produced where clover went to
seed. DIR, Noeickcr has repeatedly
and repeatedly seen ii.
Much Of the accumulation of nitro
gen is due to the clover leaves; when
we grow clover for seed, the leaves
continually drop and enrich the soil
The clover plants take the nitrogen
from the atmosphere and convert it into
their own substance, which, on decom-
position Of the clover roots and leaves,
produces abundance of ammonia. In
reality the growing of clover is equiva-
lent, to great extent, to manuring with
Peruvian guano; there is larger
amount OF nitrogen accumulated in the
tlrst six or twelve inches of soil than
here is in the heaviest dose of guam
that any person would think of using.
The total quantity of nitrogen calculated
for twelve inches of soil on an acre.
amounted, in the field mown twice for
hay, to 5,249 - lbs; whereas the
nmnunt Mhnrn tho FOLD No. .,,t ,,....,