Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-07-04
CLOVER-SHOULD 1T BE TURNED
UNDER? -r#.-. +

From an able and well written essay on
"Clover as a green crop to turn under,n
published in the Salem (Mass.) Standard,
we extract the following, believing at the
same time, from an experience of several
years, that clover enriches land quite as
much By rotting on the surface as by being
turned under. Whatever protects land
from the sun enriches it. Accordingly we
find fence-rows and sheltered positions be-
coming fertile. TO turn under clover in
August exposes the land to the burn
ing sun, and the evaporation which
takes placn diminishes the fertility
quite as much as the green crop
turned under, increases it.
If clover is allowed to fall down and rot
upon the land, the fertilizing principles are
all absorbed and the roots form conduits by
which the atmosphere is admitted
TO the subsoil, which deposits its
wealth Of ammonia, while the moisture
which IS preserved on the surface by the
fallen clover increases the absorptive capaci-
ties of the soil, and exerts powerful fertil-
ling influence. The essay before us is es-
pecialIy valuable from the experiment as to
the relative weight Of the top and root.
OF all the cultivated grasses, says the
essayist, clover, all things considered, Is the
best. Besides making excellent hay. it
produces more pasture than either Of the
others, and for soiling is invaluable. 1t will
not yield so much hay per acre on very
strong land, because it cannot stand up to
mature, but makes a very good mixture
with timothy on such land. Two crops Of
il can be grown in year, which cannot be
done with either of the others. Besides
being valuable for hay, pasture and soiling,
TO be returned to the soil, is invaluable as a
green crop for improving land. The reason
appears TO be large part Of the growth is
absorbed from the atmosphere, and by plow-
ing under is deposited in the ground for
feFtilizing other crops. Here appears
so be its great value. Neither mari
(unless of caleareous nature)
nor plaster will make wheat directly (al-
though mari has the reputation OF contain
ing an average Of two and one-haif per cent.
of phosphoric acid-the great wheat fertil-
zer) but they are the great stimulants for
clover anu OLner grasses, Nnen dpphou w
the surface, by the attraction they have for
ammonia and other fertilizers Ia the atmos-
uhere, or from some other cause, and clover
turned uuder will produce any osher crop.
Thus We see clover is direct fertilizer, be-
cause it returps TO the land much more than
iJ draws from it, while Of the other green
crops some are but little and some are of no
benefit. Therefore il is reasonable to con
cIude that other crops had previously alb
sorbed from the land what they returned
10 il.
The value of clover turned under, or OF
clover sod, depends very much on the
amount of vegetable matter contained
therein. Some farmers have contenoeG
that the roots contain large per cent. OF
vegetable matter when compared with the
tops. To test this question fairly went
into field Of second crop Of clover last
summer where the soil was deep, rich and
loalny, with a subsoil of like nature, so
the roots could easily strike deep, and dug
several stools of clover, with roots twelve
inches long, tapering nearly TO APPOINT. The
roots We're washed carefully. The tops were
measured in length mot height, for 1t was all