The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-02-03
agricultural department.
BY ALBERT CHAPMAN,


w ith 1Oui BCtmiooiOb, VIII DItStut
some remarks, partly as an answer aud
partly as an explanation, in regard to the
subject brought up by Mr.. z. A. Gilbert,
p. 307. 1t may be we'll first to state that
/ do not claim to be an agricultural
chemist, but can ONLY present such facts
and deductions as l have been able to
gather from books and papers l would
also state that l very much prefer the
scientific information which appears to
agree with the practical experience Of
the best farmers.
The quotation Mr.. Gilbert makes from
my article, p. 22S, that "thc clover plant
absorbs nitrogen from the atmosphere
and returns it to the SOIL" should in sub.
stance have been credited to DR.. Voolck-
err Mr.. Gilbert will find that this is
done on p. 260 he will also find in that
article, Glover us Manure" the great
accumulation Of nitrogen by the growth
Of clover more fully explained by Dr.
Voelcker. Still more to the same effect
might be quoted, but perhaps it may be
os well TO quote from Prof Johnson's
How Crops Feed" pages SO, "a and SIS.
He says:
at has long been known that certain
crops are especially aided in their growth
by heterogeneous fertilizers, while others
are comparatively Indifferent to them
Thus the cereal grains and grasses are
most frequently benefited by applications
of nitrate of soda, Peruvian guano, dung
of animals, fish, flesh and blood manures,
Or other matters rich in nitrogen. On
the other hand, clover and turnips four
ish best, as a rule, when treated with
phosphates and alkaline substances, and
are not MANFRED with animal fertilizers
so economically as the cereals. 1t has,
in fact, become rule of practice in some
of the best farming districts of England,
where systematic rotation Of crops is fol.
lowed, to apply heterogeneous manures TO
the cereals, and pbosphates to turnips.
Again, it is fact, that whereas nitro.
genous manurcs are often necessary to
produce a good wheat crop, in which, at
30 bu. of grain and 2,606 lbs. of straw,
there is contained As lbs. of nitrogen;
crop Of clover may be produced without
heterogeneous manure, in which would be
taken from the field twice or thrice the
above amount of nitrogen, although the
period of growth of the two crops is
about the same. Ulbrcht found in his
investigation of the clover plant US. ST.,
w., p. ~ that the soil appears to have
but little influence on the contents of nj
trogen Of clover, or Of its individual or.
gans. These facts admit of another cx-
preston, viz: Glover, though containing
two or three times moro nitrogen, and re-
quiring correspondingly larger supplies of
nitrates and ammonia than wheat, as able
10 supply itself much more easily than
the latter crop In parts of the Geneseo
wheat region it is the custom to alternate
clover with wheat, because the decay of
the clover stubblc and roots admirably
prepares the ground for the last.named
crop. The same preparation might be
had by the more expensive process of
dressing with a highly heterogeneous ma.
nure, and it is scarcely to be doubted
that it is the nitrogen gathered by the
clover which insures the wheat crop that
follows. 1t thus appears that the the
plant itself causes the formation in its
neighborhosd Of assimulato compounds of
nitrogen, and that some plants excel others
in their power of accomplishing this i'm.
portaDt result. Furthermore,
the clover cut Tor hay leaves behind much
more roots and stubble per acre than
grain crops, and the clover stubble is
twice as rich in nitrogen as the stubble Of
rircned grain This is result of the
fact that the clover is cut when in active
growth, while the grain is harvested after
the roots, stems, and leaves, have been
exhausted Of their own juices to meet the
demands Of the seed.
Whatever may be the value OF our ex.
plantations, the fact is not to be denied
that the soil is enriched in nitrogen by the
culture Of large'leaved plants, which are
harvested while III active growth, and
leave considerable proportion of root,
leaves, or stubble on the field. On the
other hand, the field is impoverished in
nitrogen when grain crops are raised upon
it,"
1t will be seen that Prof. johnson and
DIR. |oelcker very nearly agree os to the
large amount Of nitrogen accumulated by
the growth of clover. the more confident
and emphatic statements Of the latter be.
ing due perhaps to the larger amount of
attention and investig cation he has given
to the subject 1t may be worthy Of re-
mark, however, that while Prof. johnson
carries the idea that part of the difference
in the amount Of nitrogen accumulated by
clover and by grain crops is due to the
fact that the former is cut while in full
growth, while the latter are allowed to
rlpen, this is not in accordance with DR..
Voelcker's views, as he shows that clover
stores up in the soil the m oct nitrogen
when cut for hay and thon allowed so 20
to seed. But the great point, Of most
Importance to all practical farmers, is the
fact that clover does thus largely store up
nitrogen. On this al! our leading scien.
THO teachers appear to agree so it may
be accepted as settled point. How this
nitrogen is obtained or secured by clover,
SO long as it does not impoverish the soil,
would seem TO he Of much Importance
but as the question is raised. it may be
briefly considered.
| believe it is generally admitted that
the full growth of clover crop leaves
more nitrogen in the soil than it finds
there, for if this were not the case, how
could clover benefit wheat? johnson
says clover takes off twice to three times
as much nitrogen as wheat, so that if this
is taken from the soil, it would of course
leave it so much poorer but this is not
the case as is always shown by the much
better crops of wheat which are uniform.
ly grown after clover. How clover could
thus take off more nitrogen than other
crops, and still leave the land richer in
nIfr0UaOous an bctapoaS than - ,uoo -