The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1886-07-08
MAINTAINING FERTILITY.
Clover Pho wed Under or Burned Better
Than Commercial Fertilizers.

Clover Piowed Under or Burned Better
Than Commercial Fertilizers.
An experience Of over twenty years
on my farm shows me that The farm
itself will furnish all the fertilizers
necessary to keep it at high skate of
product;vencs5 and that clover seed is
the only fertiIi ser CD l need to buy,
and that | can grow, if | wish TO. My
general plan OF m mag I'm elt is this: l
have seeded down in bluegrass for per
malent pasture enough OF my land
which is rolling and least Suitable for
cultivation to enable M to raise stocl,
to consume the hay and corn-fOdder
and work the straw into the compost
heap. The remainder of my land,
sixty five acres in all. is in one enclos-
ure, and no stock is ever turned on it,
either summer or winter. On this We
follow a rotation which brings it all
into clover at least every thirl year.
About oI2-thirI of it is sown in wheat
each year and clover is always sown
with the wheat. a few. acres are sown
to oats each spring;. SOM five to eight
acres planted to potatoes; five to ten
kept in tim 9thy for meadow, and the
reminder is planted to corn.
The larger part of the clover does not
stand to make Il crop ut all, but as it is
not pastured after harvest we get in all
favorable autumnS as heavy growth
as is usual in June, and then this is
plowed down late in the fall or early
the following spring. On the poorer
part of the land we allow the clover 10
stand and cut the first crop for hay and
either plow under the second growth
or cut it for seed. but on twenty-five
acres of my best land have grown
crop OF grain or potatoes each year for
twenty years and have plowed down
ten a:res Of clover grown in the fall as
stated above. l call this raising three
crops in two Years, and consider the
clover crop thus grown nearly as val
liable as the. grain crops. | conclude
after careful comparison with manure
that this fali-grown crop OF clover is
worth as much to the land as twelve
loads of manure per acre, which wOulI
cost me il cash and labor eighteen dol
lars, and this with no expense except
for seed and sowing, which rarely ex-
caeds one dollar an acre and sometimes
falls below scyenty-five cents. There
is one point in my practice which l
presume will be criticised by many uf
my readers. burn Of the clover If
not plowed under in the fall. have
experimental in this matter until feel
we'll assured that this is best.
We lose no organic matter by the
burning, and think the rains of winter
have washed most of the nitrogen into
the soil. and l find the mechanical con-
dition of the soil much the best where
the clover is burned. prefer to burn
Early when the land is frozen and then
the fine coat of leaves that has been
washed into the soil does not barn bnt
only the coarse stalks. The ash makes
a fer ilizer that is powerful and acts
quickly in giving the young plants a
start. In 1856, when / had crop of
wheat which threshed thirty-three
bushels to the acre and was cut with a
cradle which necessarily left very
heavy stubble on the ground, l wished
to put the field in wheat again but
found it impossible TO pillow the stubble
under and so fired it. About half tho
field burned over, but in places where
the stubbie was lighter it was not
burned. In two weeks after the wheat
came up one could stand at the side of
the field and tell to foot where the
stub5le had been burned by the rank
growth aud good color of the plant In
another casa a field of clover had been
allowed to grow all the season to plow
under. bat after worrying half day
the owner gave it up and applied the
torch. The result was yield of sixty
two bushels of wheat to the acre.
which is tie heaviest yield l ever heard
of in our country.-Haldo +. Bro.ss,
Iis ". Y. Tribune.