Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1873-05-07
Clover As Manure.


better than to spread the manure over
larger area, and raise lighter crops. l
was common to recommend the application
Of 40 to so loads to the acre. aud in SOM
Gases il was reported that 20, so and ~
loads per acre, were applied. To furnisl
the large quantity thus required involved
no small amount OF abOr aud expense II
making muuurrs; but under the mos
favorable circumstances, and with the bes
means aud appliances that could be Sc
cured Gu most farms very few we're able
to make, or secure sufficient barnyard ma
nure to keep their whole farm improving
This being the case, some of the bis'
grain farmers gave more attention 10 clO-
yer and rotation Of crops, to help keep
Nd their land. John Johnston had long
sowu clover largely, by which, with bis
system Of making very large amount Of
rich manure, he brought up poor farm,
aud mads it cue of the most fertile aud
productive 10 The country. Hon. George
Geddcs made less manure, but BY tao
iudicious use Of clover was able 10 make
aud keep his large farm highly produ@;lve.
But Mr.. Geddrs was not alone in ;hus
using clover; many Of the best farmers IN
Onondaga County have also made and
kept their land rich by growing clover
In the "survey of Ououdaga County
Transactions of the State Agricultural
Society for 1859, Mr.. Geddes says:
The agriculture of ODondaga County
is based on the clover plant. 1t is used
for pasture, for hay, and for manure. If
our soils require improving, we turn the
clover crop under, and repeat the opera
ton until there is sufficient fertility to al
low US to carry the clover off. The Of
toner we can Gil the soil with roots, and
then turn them under, and thus allow
them to rot, the sooner we expect to get
our land in condition to crop with grain.
A very considerable part of the cultivated
land of this county has never had any
other manuring than this clover and gyp-
sum. and its fertility is undiminlsing"
Thus the cost of manuring ar acre with
clover and gypsum, is said to be 1892,
and that a field as described, having the
first year given crop of hay and an an
other of seed, the second year an acre
will nearly or quite pasture a COW from
May 10th to August 18th, when, if well
plowed, it will be in the best possible cen.
.dition for winter wheat. Several anal Uses
of the ash of clover there are then given,
showing the large percentage Of potash,
and Of the phosphates which il contains,
las well as the amounts removed in a ton
of clover; all which shows that growing
clover is very cheap way Of obtaining
these very essential mineral elements of
crops. Mr.. G. also quotes an analysis
showing that clover contains double the
"albuwinous or feshfOIming principle"
that isEcund in timothy.
In May, 1869, DR.. VOelcker, in lect-
ure before the Royal Agriculture Society
of England, said: Il have frequently
been struck with the remarkable luxuri.
ant appearance Of wheat, after heavy
crop of clover had been removed from the
land. at first dobted it /; but at last, |
was Obliged to confess that it invariably
followed when you get good crop of clo-
yer, that you get good crop of wheat.
An enormas amount Of heterogeneous organ
ic matter is left in the land after the re-
moval of the clover crop, and this gradu-
ally decays and furnishes ammonia"
Also that sc | have come to the conclu-
sion that the very best preparation, the
very best manure, if may say so, is a
good crop of clover. Nevertheless il is
fact, that the larger the amount of min.
era matter you remove in crop Of clio.
er, and the larger the anount Of nitrogen
which is carried off in clover hay, the
richer the land becomes" This is chem
ical anomaly which DR.. Voelcker has been
investigating, and only the previ-
Gus season had he been able to explain it.
Then he found that in " chemical point
Of view clover is the most exhausting
crop you can grow, while In a practical
point of view it is the most sestorative
crop, and the best preparatiun for wheat
you can possibly grow" The amount Of
nitrogen and of mineral matter secured
by one years growth of clover, is several
times as much as is needed for a crop of
wheat. A vast amount Of mineral matter
is brought within the reach Of the wheat
crop by growing clover. By means of its
long roots, clover penetrates large mass
of soil; it gathers up the phosphoric acid
aud the potash, which are reached by Its
long, deep roots, and when the land is
plowed the roots are left in the surface
soil. and decaying, they furnish the min
eraa substance most needed by the whea
plant. Without the help of clover roots
n laroe portion of fhesa suhstancas mus