The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1876-09-09
agricultural department.
CONDUCTED BY ALBERT CHAPMAN.
Clover-Unfamiliar Facts.

1t has Il fair chance that many suppos
1t to DO far more hardy than " really Is
Few plants are more easily killed o
need more CAREFUL treatment. hav,
been surprised to see how plainly lit
tie tramping 10y horses and wagon. o
even by the hoofs of cattle, Will b.
ehown in the hay crop. Wherever /
wagon wheel or hoof crushes tn,
crown OF the clover root, It's vigor il
destroyed and The plant can only max,
9. feeble. -iunled growth Usually
where young clover is pastured, The
injury is so eVenly distributed over the
ueld thnt Il is not observable. This
year, however. have watched the
growth Of a clover crop that has never
been paatured Down ono side a wagon
was drawn few times--noi more than
iozeu-last winter, while the ground
wa frozen. Along the line of this
track the clover is almost an entire
failure, while on either side the crop
Ia Jane showed fully two tons per
acre.
Glover generally makes poor
growth In hard or baked soil On
heavy land. At least, the mellower and
!eeper the soil the better will be its
growth Experience has convinced
many farmers that mellow seed bed
Two or three inches deep, resting on
firm and rather hard substratum, Is
netter for wheat than to have the soil
mallowoi 10 great depth But what Is
best Tor tie wheat crop is not best for
tho clover catch l suspect that the
officially of1en experienced in getting
clovor after a clover sod, originates in
lie fact that farmers have learned to
glow their summer fallows once, and
DO all after cultivation on The surface.
Cnder the old fashioned practice OF
cross blowing the summer fallow one
or more times, the clover made ram
pant growth, though the mellow sol
absorbed great amount Of water and
frost lifted the grain badly. The lux
nllnnce Of the clover Is generally in
inverse proportion to that ofthc wheat
Possibly something Is due TO the fact
that heavy grain crop dwarfa the
growth Of every thing else but am
also convinced that the conditions fol-
the beet growth Of wheat and Of clover
are, In many rcspocta. dissimilar:
With the largest possible wheat crop, |
there will be little or no clover. Prob
ably II better way, where the soil |. |
rich enough, Is to grow two wheat |
cronq In succession frst large |
crop without seeding, and the second |
showing less wheat, out getting the
Held well seeded with clover.
On poor soils Of clayey tendency
.hore is 4 successive Improvement in
the clover crop with each seeding A,
first, even with the hest care, the clover
roots will ho unable to penetrate very
deeply the hard aud sterile subsoil
And ye! there il much more of fertii-
zlng elementsin this apparently sterile
subsoil than could be supposed. 1t on
~ needs that clover roots should pull
verlze 1t and admit light and air,
This, however, they can only partially
10 at first, On heavy soil that has
been long cropped without clover, the
first growth Of this rcnovntor will be
small. AT the second seeding the clio
yer roots will go TO greater depth.
II the Held is manured of course the |
process il haseened, but it is al encour. 1
aging fact that there Is continued In
crease in fertility by the use of clover
"ith no manure but plaster. The re. !
suit Is that where land Ia well man
aged, the soil is better able to bear > J
crop after series Of yeara, thsp r. !,
had laid without blowing. sor,e veors
pGo Mr.. F. p. Root ofthi' county, and
one Of tho most SUCCESSFUL farmers in
western New York, related TO the
tarmers' Club q remarkable illust.a.
lion of this fact. He had occasion 10
lake mp fence between two fields, S
which had occupied the ground many
years In the fence corners was a
heavy sod Of biua grass and timothy,
and as II hsd never been cropped. Mr..
K e"qpos9d that this strip would pro-
inee more tGan the remainder of the
heid. 70 his surprise he found instead. {
a strip Of poorer crops through the .
middle Of his field, marking where the :
Old fence stood 1t took some manure
ana one or two seedlings with clover {
before the balance Was restored. This s
incident IS encouraging as showing the ,
progressive Improvement which clover
a'Nkes In Tie soil rendering cropped I
fields richer thaH those. which have al
way been moved or pastured.
- Is NOT generally remembered,
though the fact 10 usually known by
mnst intelligent farmers, that clover is
q blenuiM. When it grows and rlpen-
It's seed the second year, that Is the end
Of the plant. OF course, much of the
seed viii be dropped to tho ground and
make some growth the following sea
son but it Is mighty poor dependence
'o' either hay OF pasture. All over the 3
country are seen the sad effects of try 8
ing to save clover the third year. ,
Thousands of acres are yearly over.
grown with thistles and other weeds, s
which have all the soil to themselves
because the clover has stepped out"
Probably more loss results to farmers {
from failure TO pillow their clover fields {
when needed. than from any other ca {
silly prevented evil. By all means !
add timothy, or some other staying" ,
grass, with your clover If you intend to 7
leave II unplowed more than two years. /