The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-10-09
Red Clover.

than red clover. This fact Is fully estab- lished in the northern and western states, where for years this has been the lead ing clover for both pasture and for hay.
 The natural range of adaptability does not unfortunately. extend very far south So far only in isolated cases has this plant proven a success south of the lime stone lands which are underlaid with the heavy clay of middle Tennessee. How ever, there are many sections of the south and especially so in northern Ala bama, where red clover may be grown with success and profit. However I think that for nearly all sections south Of mid dle Tennessee that it would be best to use red clover as an annual instead of bi- ennial or triennial For this sowings should be made in the fall, in October or November. September is rather early for sowing. as we are likely to have dry, hot weather in this month. Sowings made on good soil in either of the months recom- mended and put in good condition will give a large yield of good pasture by early spring, or the crop may be left to grow for hay, which should be harvested in early May when the soil may be broken and planted to some other valuable crop.
 Besides it's great value for pasture and for hay, 1t still has another value-that of being one of our best plants for fertilizing the soil. In fact, it is a soil renovator or builder, and farmers in counting up the cost of growing this plant should take into account it's fertilzing values, which are always plainly shown in the greatly increased yields of crops that follow after a crop of clover. In this connection l would urge the importance of using this clover in the rotation of crops.
 This matter of rotation of crops I will take up later on, when shall try to show that 1t is possible under well regulated system of crop rotation to grow more corn or cotton in three crops than has been grown in five crops or in five years Of con- tinued cropping. So in order for the farmer to be in full readiness for this system of rotation he should commence now and get his soil ready and SOW some of the clovers and grasses this fall, and especially should he SOW either or both the crimson or red clovers. Not only this, he cannot only have a larger yield of crops, but at the end of the live years. rotation his land will be in higher state of cultivation than it was when he com menced the rotation. Red clover is too well known for me to take time here to give a minute description of the plant. The main idea is to try to induce our readers to a closer study of the value of the plant for the purposes mentioned and to try to pursuade them to give the ques- ton of soils suited for the plant, as well as how to prepare these soils so as to make their efforts a success. know how hard it is to convince farmers of the southern states that red clover may be grown to profit in the south. Their ex- periences conducted along lines which were not at all such as to secure success Is large.y to blame for their failures. Soils have not been prepared as they should have been, and this is one of the mos. common causes for failure.
 I have shown in other papers how im- portant is this part of the work, and that without this thorough preparation one need not expect to succeed in growing clovers and grasses. The evidences are abundant in many sections of the south to show that red clover will grow and grow abundantly under the right kind of persuasion. In fact, I have noticed as l fine plants as one could wish for growing | in many sections along the roads where trains or birds had scattered the seed. | But, as I have previously stated, and now wish to impress this one fact more forci- bly, if possible, that we cannot crop our lands in corn and cotton until we rob them of all plant food and then expect them to produce fine crops of grass or clover.
 What lessons should we learn from the volunteer plants of both clovers and grass that we find growing along the waysides. Do they not plainly teach us that here where the soil has not been robbed of all plant food, that this Is why they thrive? These are all lessons that nature is constantly teaching-object les sons for every farmer and student of botany. Learn from nature, gather vai- tLA fa1a nfo tN.nn clovers; for here are stored greater object lessons than can be had from any other source. Learn of these.
 Soils.
 Of course some of the soils are much better adapted for red clover than others deep clay loam is best for red clover but if good supply of either mineral or vegetable food be present 1t will grow on other soils. Limestone clays are espe- cally favorable to it, and 1t will grow even on peat but 1t usually fails on new ly broken prairie and sandy soils that are deficient in lime.
 This queStion of lime in the soil for clover is De well worth our southern farmers attention; for no doubt but what we have soils where lime would be of great benefit in the growing of red clover; while as we have before shown lime Is not of itself really considered fertilizer, d and assists in making fertilizers more val uable. There could be nothing lost in liberal use of lime on many of our soils in the south In their preparation for clover growing.
 I will not stop here to denne what is really needed in the preparation of the soil This has been explained in previous paper But there is one thing I wish to say about fertilizing lands for clovers. which Is that If the soil has been fully prepared, with plant food enough to last until the plants get a start, that they will then draw a sufficient amount of nitrogen from the air for their support However, all clovers or grasses which are being grown as perennals will need some fer tilizer-a good top dressing of some sort A good narrowing once or twice each season is also good, when this top dress ing may be narrowed in or sown imme- diately after the narrowing. In such cases nitrogen may be left out of the fertilizer used, If possible. as the plants when once established will draw from the air A sufficient amount of nitrogen. so that potash and phosphorlc acid only are necessary But in cases where much diff ficulty has been experienced in getting a crop started the fertilizer should contain at least per cent nitrogen. Then an ad- dition of lime from twenty to fifty bush els of pure rock lime sown broad cast per acre would be of great benefit on all soils deficient in lime. On this question of the value of lime on such soils I know that there exists a difference of opinion among the leading agriculturists. When I took this position regarding the value of lime on soils more than twenty years ago