The L'Anse sentinel., 1920-04-23

prepared by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture)
Glover is the most important crop
on the farm for keeping up the land.
Oldf Yes. But perhaps you remem-
Der that once when the queen of
France demanded something absolute
ly new In frock the dressmaker re-
piled, "There is nothing new-except
what has been forgotten" Maybe the
forage crops specialist of the United
States department of agriculture had
just that thought in mind when he
made the statement just quoted. Farm
ers have been drifting away from
clover. Apparently, some of them have
forgotten the old truth that clover Is
the most important crop for keeping
the land productive, and the clover
story needs to he told again.
Crops demand soil containing four
things-organic matter; nitrogen,
potash, phosphoric acid.
OF these four essential things, clover
supplies two, organic aetter and nitro
gen. 1t cannot add phosphorus or
potash, but 1t can return what 1t
takes out. The most important point
is that clover In the crop rotation will
supply the nitrogen or most Of It.
Numerous demonstrations of that fact
have been made by the state expert
ment stations. Land on which clover
Is grown in rotation with other crops
makes better yields than land on
which no clover is grown. The spe-
cialists believe that unless there Is
more general return to clover pro-
ductivity will certainly decline.
Be Sure Seed Is Right.
Here are some Of the things they
say about sowing clover this spring.
Glover seed is high-probably 60
cents pound at retail. Do not plant
1t unless you plant 1t right.
Have the seed tested. The state
seed laboratory or the seed laboratory
Of the United States department of
agriculture will do it. You can't af-
ford to take chance by not testing
It,
Glover seed is most commonly sown
on winter wheat in the early spring.
This is ordinarily good practice, but
If the wheat field was left rough in
the fall the seed bed may not be ia
vorable and much seed may be wasted.
Clover needs seed bed that Is firm
below but fine and loose on top. Use
a drill when possible. On loamy soil
harrow the seed In on the wheat, but
do not attempt 1t when the land is
wet.
If farmers would take as much
pains seeding clover as they do seed
ing alfalfa, there would be- fewer
clover failures.
Best Soil for Glover.
As a rule red clover will not do well
on land that Is "sour' either natural
ly or because 1t has been so long
cropped that the lime In the soil has
been used up. There are occasional
exceptions. Glover has been known
to do well on land that had lime re-
lulrement of 1,400 pounds an acre,
but this land had been heavily ma
nured and fertilized. Usually clover
wants soil that is neutral or nearly
so. 1t Is a safe statement that in
most cases where clover goes out or
fails to make fair crop two tons Of |
ground limestone an acre would help |
1 great deal. In many cases this
would make the difference between
success and failure. In other cases |
lime may have to be supplemented |
With phosphoric acid or potash. The
ise of potash will not be warranted
when the price is as high as It is, ex-
,ept in the rare case when this ele-
nent is decidedly the limiting fac
or. Lime. however, is fundamental.
There Is generally no use seeding red
lover on "sour" soil.
Use for Afslke Glover.
II the fsymer cannot lime and the
and II worn or "sour," or II the land
s poorly drained, low. and damp,
llslke clover should be seeded. It II q
common practice now to mix the red
lover with alsike for worn or partly
'un-dnwn land. Alsike likes lime, too,
,ut It win make crop ON land that
viii not bring red clover. This ID
true II the soil IL both
sour" and damp. OF course. son |