The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-07-21
AN ESSAY ON CLOVER.
PLANTING, MOVING, VALUE AS FORAGE
AND AS A REVIEWER OF LAND.
An Essay Read before the Ninety-Six
Farmers Club by MIR. w. l.. An
dersOn, ST., of that Place.

EtriueES SiuD " Nnr. w. II. All
dersOn, ST., of that Place.
Brother FurmerS:
You were kind cnought, at your last meet
Ing to usk me TO read an essay on clover.
The word Essay" seems to include moro Of
a scientific description of this plant than my
knowledge would warrant
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD SEED.
Iproposc simply to give in plain language.
few words Of my experience With this
most valuable OF all the forage or hay plants
about or varieties Of clover, what is said on
this occasion will be about red clover. "Trifo-
lium Pratense." TO begin at the beginning,
Let say T0rd aoou SHed farm ana
iOus plants that will give you trouble and 10.
Dor to exterminatc. My children have had
many a holiday curtailed In keeping down
ts %d or wd aby
10 "posseSs the land" will not be questioned
by those acquainted with 1t, and has been
forcbly impressed on me while visiting, my
native place ut Waterloo, Laurens Co, where
all the uncultivated land, fence corners, ditch
banks &c. are white with Its blooms at this
season of the year. The survival of the ft-
test" is In this case, The survival or the most
useless, for no stock will cat wild carrot, so
far as l know. What remedy, you ask, have
we against this difficulty? answer while 1t
is impossible to look over and pick out nox-
it is perfectly feasible to watch the first ap-
pearance Of these pests and destroy every
plant before maturing seed, mt a time when
there arc but few OF them, ~ or II pounds or
seed are sufficient to SOW un acre; but be
lievc it would be much better to SOW 10
pounds of red aud 13 or II pounds of Alsyke
or Swedish clover. This last, thought little
known, is Il valuable hay plant, and Will
grow about half as high as red clover.
KIND OF LAND AND AMOUNT OF SEED TO
ACRE.
Where shall we SOW clover9 If you own
red clay land, sow freely and without fear. If
gray land would still say SOW clover, but
sandy land, but, as rule, it requires a clay
and when use the word "perpetuate" 1
mean IL. Some who hear me no doubt think
clover is q deal Of trouble, and that 1t requires
reseeding year after year like wheat or oats
This Is not the case. There Is a plat OF acres
in front of my house that was first set in clo-
yer Il or 10 years ago. 1t has not been neces-
sary to resow this land since, and honestly
think there is enough seed to-day In the soil
Of that acres to seed 20 acres OF Land. Dur
worked in usual rotation, as cotton, corn,
small grain, then clover. / have never kept
1t to successive years in clover, though l see
no objection to SO doing; nor has 1t been my
custom to take two cuttings in one season. L
have left the second growth heretofore TO be
plowed under for the benefit of the land and
TO I'LL the soil with seed, always ready to come
up when wanted. Some may not know that
and then come up. I hope may not be con-
Sidcred as playing on your crcdulity oy tne
statement1 now make. In company with
our noighbor MAJ. r. A. Griffin, this morn:
ing rode over field of his on which still stood
the shocks Of oats, among the oat stubble there
was what estimated as q half stand of clio.
yer, and in many places perfect stand. Now
this field had been run in clover for several
VOC ht1t W nlnynr
purposely destroyed, and none had been al
lowed to go to seed since; for every year that
II has been In small grain, II was plowed and
seeded in peas as soon as the grain was off.
1t is impossible to reach any other conclusion
than that clover seed had remained dormant
in the soil for 10 years and then gcrminated.
DO NOT CRAZE CLOVER AND CUT 1T BUT
ONCE YEAR.
often destroy two or three stands Of clover
In the spring in the preparation Of land for
cotton or corn, yet when sown down in small
grain there is always plenty OF clover comes
up; and Just here permit me to mention
with clover, 1t is, that second cutting Is
never 10 be taken from the land in one sea-
son. would further insist and beg you TO
remember that at no time should stock Of
any kind be allowed to Craze on red clover.
The temptation is very great to turn them on
the second growth after removing one cutting
of hay. Don't do 1t, unless you wish to ex-
terminate tHe ClONeI ,itlo LOU IIe ltuo vi iGs
due share ef the benefits of clover Now
friends should any Of you think the two last
directions rather strict. even uselessly so, l
can only remind you that am giving my eX-
pcrience and the rules by which have made
clover q success. not, by any means, thinking
that wisdom will die with me, or that this Is
the very best plan that can be devised; but
hope that these jots of mine may provoke
some Of you to good works in redeeming our
south land from the slavery Of all cotton.
The fine colts and Hoistiens, and Jerseys, so
plentifuly exhibited at your last stock show,
seem to say there Is a leaven of treason to
king cotton permeating the land. Heaven
grant that it. may spread till the whole is
leavened and with our armorles-our barns
well supplied with cloTcr hay, verify believe
we can afford to rebel against the feecy
monarch.
TINE TO SOW.
Red clover Is generally sown with some
kind of small grain, and this Is undoubtedly
the most economical plan, unless the grain is
very rank and thick on the ground; when IT.