St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1916-03-29

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and plenty of moisture. which can not
| be expected in most of the clover belt
1t is not always easy to tell when a
soil has enough lime. There are sew
eral methods for testing the lime re-
quirement' of soils; but for practical
purposes, this may be roughly deter
mined by the kind of plants growing
on the land. If trouble has been ex-
perienced with red clover, but if a fair
growth of timothy and of alsike clover
can be gotten, the land probably needs
some lime, say 1000 pounds of ground
limestone per acre; if timothy and al
sike clover are crawded out by redtop
or if such weeds as sorrel are abund-
ant the land needs plenty of lime, at
least ton of ground limestone to the
acre, and probably more While the
functions of lime both in the soil and
in the plant are not thoroughly under
stood, we can confidently say that the
clover plant is healthier when there is
plenty of lime than when the soil is
sour. and being healthier the young
plants will withstand a dry spell better,
and the old plants will come through
the winter better than plants growing
on sour soil. To sow red clover seed
on so-called acid soils is usually to
waste time and money.
B.
been found to be very beneficial, but
here again there is no way to tell how
much is needed without trying. If
clover has not done we'll on a farm, the
need of lime or phosphorus, or perhaps
both, is indicated, and the farmer
would do well to buy a bag or two of
ground bone or of superphosphate and
a ton of fine ground limestone and ap-
ply separately or in com bination to a
part of the field. The growth of the
clover during the following season will
| tell the story of the needs of his SOIL
The bone meal and phosphate may be
applied at the rate of 200 or 800
pounds per acre. OF course, if there
is time and opportunity it will be well
worth while to try different rates of
application so as to find what rate will
give best returns at smallest expense
On sandy soils potash may also be
needed. For the healthy growth of
the clover plant then, lime, phosphor-
US, and potash must be present; the
presence of nitrogen is of minor i'm
portance, though, of course, the young
plants will do better if nitrates are
available. If clover has not been on
the land for many years it will be wise
to scatter dirt from a clover field or to
inoculate the seed with the nitrogen
plant can draw on the nitrogen of the
air.
Value of HumuS.
The mechanical condition of the soil
must be good. A soil that becomes
hard, excluding the air from the roots
will not grow good clover. Lime will
help loosen UP such a soil, but decay
ing vegetable matter or humus is the
greatest need of such land. This can
be furnished in stable manure or by
turning under other crops that are not
as sensitive as is clover A soil with
out humus will dry more readily than
one with plenty of vegetable matter
and in dry season this fact may be
all important to the young plants
Most of our partly rundown soils have
lost much of the organic matter they
had originally. The growing of wheat
and corn uses up the soil humus at a
rapid rate, and so the time comes
, when a severe drought destroys the
plants on a soil that does not hold the
moisture to the extent that it formerly
. did. Then the plants die, and the
farmer blames the dry weather While
it is true that a severe dry spell may
kill all vegetation, even when the soil
is in good condition, it is just as true
that clover plants can endure drier
times and hotter weather on soil that
has lime and humus, and that conse-
quently produces stronger plants and
holds what moisture there is, better
than on a soil worn out by overcrop-
ping.
Good seed should, of course, be used.
; Even though seed is high in price this
. year, poor seed is relatively higher
j, than good seed and should never be
used. Glover seed is small, and only
! those seeds can be expected to make
! plants that are dropped within a half
inch or an inch below the surface.
This is for the average loan or clay
loan soil. In sandy soil little deep
er planting will do no harm. Seeds
dropped on the surface will sprout. if
there is moisture, but the small plant
is subjected to all the chances of hot
, days and cold nights and to the drying
: winds that so often come in spring,
and they may be killed before they
can get their roots down far enough
for safety
Seeding Clover.
Glover is usually seeded on winter
grain or with spring grain. In either
event it is much better to put the seed
in with a drill than to SOW it broadcast.
. If sown with a drill only about one
half as much seed is needed as when
sown broadcast, and with seed worth
> around 20 cents per pound this may
become a very important item. Less
seed is needed, because the chances of
loss by leaving the seed on the surface
or by having it drop into the cracks
of a honeycombed field so deeply as to
be lost are avoided. If broadcasted,
the seed should be covered by running
light harrow over the field. This
i will not hurt the wheat and it is bet
| tier to delay seeding the clover until
the land can be narrowed than to SOW
on the frozen or wet ground and let
the seedlings take the chances of the
weather. 1t often happens that seed
sown early terminates. and then the
young plants are killed by a late freeze.
All this may be avoided by seeding a
little later and narrowing the seed in
/ TO the soil