The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1873-05-16
Glover as Manure ,

MUCH DGJICf IMAM TO spread inc ulduuI0
over a large area, and raise lighter
crops. 1t was common to recommend
the application of 40 to so loads to the
acre, and in some cases it was reported
that 70, 80 and 80 loads per acre, were
applied To furnish the large quantity
| thus required involved no small amount
of labor and expense in making ma
nures but under the most favorable
circumstances, and with the best means
and appliances that could be secured on
most farms, very few were able to make,
| or secure sufficient barnyard manure to
keep their whole farms improving.
This being the case, some of the best
grain farmers gave more attention to
clover and a rotation of crops, to help
up their land. John Johnston had long
sown clover largely, by which, with his
system Of making q large amount of
rich manure, he brought up a poor
farm, and made it one of the most fer
tile and productive III the country.
Hon. George Geddes made less manure,
but still by the judicious use of clover
was able to make and keep his large
farm highly productive. But Mr..
Geddes was not alone in thus using
clover; many of the best farmers in
Onondaga County have also made or
kept their land rich by growing clover.
In the d" Survey of Onondaga County"
Transactions of the State Agricultural
Society for 1859, Mr.. Geddes says:
The agriculture of Onondaga coun-
ty is based on the clover plant. It is
used for pasture, for hay, and for ma
nure. If our soils require improving,
we turn the clover crop under, and re-
peat the operation until there is suffi-
cient fertility to allow us to carry the
clover off. The oftener we can fill the
soil with roots, and then turn them IN
der, and thus allow them to rot, the
sooner We expect to get our land in con-
dition to crop with grain. A very con-
siderable part of the cultivated land of
this country has never had any other
manuring than this clover and gypsum,
and its fertility is not diminished"
Thus the cost of manuring an acre
with clover and gypsum, is said to be
So 80, and that n field as described, hav-
ing the first year given crop of hay
and another of seed, the second year an
acre will nearly or quite pasture a COW
from May 20 to August 10, when, if
well pIowed, it Will be in the best pos
sible condition for winter wheat. Sever
al analysis of the ash of clover are then
given, showing the large percentage of
potash, and of tie phosphates, which it
contains, as we'll as the amounts remov-
ed in a ton of clover all which shows
that growing clover is a very cheap
way of obtaining these very essential
mineral elements of crops. Mr.. Geddes
also quotes an analysis showing that
clover contains double the 'albuminous
or fesh-forming principle" that is found
in timothy.
In May, 1869, DIR. VOelcker, in a lee
ture before the Royal Agricultural So
ciety of England, said: 81 have fire.
, queutly been struck with the remarka-
bly, luxuriant appearance of wheat after
heavy crop of clover has been remov-
ed from the land. at first doubted it;
7 but at last I was obliged to confess that
? it invariably follows when you get a
9 good crop of clover, that you also get q
r good crop of wheat. An enormous
G amount of heterogeneous organic matter
is left in the land after the removal OF
the clover crop, and this gradually de-
Gays and furnishes ammonia" Also
0 that-"I have come to the conclusion
q that the very best preparation, the very
s best manure, If 1 may say so, is a good
crop of clover. Now, at first nothing
seems more contradictory than to say
a that you can remove a very large guam
f titv of both mineral and organic plant
! food from the soil, and yet make il
8 more productive, as in the case of clover.
! Nevertheless it is fact, that the larger
I the amount of mineral matter you re.
s move in crop of clover, and the larger
f the amount of nitrogen which is carried
Y off in clover hay, the richer the land be,
h comes" This is a chemical anomaly
b which DR.. Voelcker had been inYesti.
j. | BaiJllltS ten car tt4ANA Ol14J lllS
previous season had he been able to ex.
Y plain it. Then he found that in g
n chemical point of view clover is the
|, most exhausting crop you can grow
:. while in practical point of view it j,
d the most restorative crop, and the best
:. preparation for wheat you can possibly
grow" The amount of nitrogen and Of
e mineral matter secured by one year:
= oroth of clover is several times as mucf
I as is needed for crop of wheat A
q vast amount of mineral matter /,
Z brought within the reach of the whea-
o crop by growing clover. By means o
: its long roots clover penetrates a larg,
mass of soil it gathers up the phos
I phoric acid and potash, which are
b reached by its long, deep roots, anC
h when the land is plowed the roots are
r left in the surface soil, and decaying
n they furnish the mineral substance mos
c needed by the wheat plant. Without
s the help of clover roots large portion
|. of these substances must remain IN &
e locked-up- condition, in which they are
not available for growing wheat. The
p accommodating of nitrogen in the soil by
) growing clover is very large 'sThe