Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 August 1876 — The Manorial Value of Bed Clover. [ARTICLE]

The Manorial Value of Bed Clover.

If a ton of green clover is worth five times as much for fertilizing purposes as a ton of common yard manure mgde by animals fed on straw or timothy hay, and with straw litter largely intermixed, then a good crop of clover might he rated in value about as follows: Two tons of stalks and leaves, estimated Wh&ft converted to dry hav, Would be equal to at least four tons of tho green material, and half this amount in roots would be two tons more? the whole six tons multiplied by five, to bring it to the standard of common manure, would show a heavy crop of clover to be worth thirty tons of ordinary yard manure. This estimate may not be strictly correct, and it cannot always be, as yard manure varies much in its value, according to age, amount of straw or cornstalks used, and mode of heaping or preserving. But let the estimate be varied so as to meet the differing circumstances, and it will atill beseen that clover possesses eminent advantages.

The influence which the roots possess In loosening and rendering mellow the heavy soils in which they grow is one of great Importance—assisting as they do the diffusion of the manure of the leaves and stems through the soil in the process of decay. Those who have been inthe prnc. tice of working heavy or clayey land, can appreciate the great difference between the condition of an inverted sod turned over like brick clay, when nothing but timothy or grass lias grown upon it and another sod thoroughly loosened and pulverized by the roots of clover, which have every where penetrated through it. The one is like clammy, unleavened bread. The other like the spongy texture of a well raised loaf. It is in this way that clover may exert a beneficial influence, either iu the ordinary processes of cultivation, or in favoring the intermixture of common manure through the soil, nearly as great as its enriching value. • Estimating the value .of a good clover crop as equal to .thirty loads of yard manure, cultivators may easily figure which will be most economical in application, including the drawing and spreading. On hills, or on parts of large farms remote from stables, the balance will be found to be much in favor of the green crop. Every thrifty farmer manufactures and saves all the yard manure which he can; but in common mixed husbandry it is insufficient of itself to keep up a high state of fertility in all the fields. A rotation, comprising the frequent turning under of a growing crop, becomes absolutely essential to a successful and profitable husbandly. Such a rotation will usually be found most advantageous if the crop is plowed under at two years of age. The plants will then have attained full size. It may be cut for hay the first year, and, if cured without becoming wet, will not only make an excellent nutritive feed for cattle and sheep, but the manure resulting from this feeding will be of high value. Since the introduction of mowing machines, hay tedders, liorserakes and horse-forks, there is little necessity of allowing a crop of clover to become blackened and spoiled by rain. The practice of top-dressing wheat fields with fine manure applied in autumn when the grain is sown is not only highly advantageous to the wheat, but insures the germination and vigorous growth of the clover.— N. T. Herald.