THE VALUE OF CLOVER.

Waipa Post, Volume IV, Issue 181, 21 January 1913, Page 4

THE VALUE OF CLOVER.

EXHAUSTIVE INQUIRIES.

' The value of the clover plant, both from the manurial and stock-feeding aspect have been investigated by the Americans of late. Professor W. P. Brookes carried out exhaustive inquiries at the Massachusetts experiment farm, and his conclusions have been looked for with much interest. He is most enthusiastic in his advocacy of clover. He regards it as among the most valuable of all fodder crops. Where stock are kept, he says, it will probably not be found advisable to use clover as green manure, as it can be better utilised by feeding or cutting for hay. But where certain varieties of fruit are grown it is an excellent crop to supply humus to the soil. The most valuable feature ot the plant, he recognises, is its capacity to take nitrogen from the air, and nitrogen is a costly manure. On the other hand, the mineral constituents taken out of the soil are comparatively cheap, and could easily be replaced. The permanency of the crop is illustrated by the fact that some of the plots have not been broken up for 24 years. The plants are, as a rule, comparatively shortlived, so that it is clear that as the plants die other plants spring up from the seed to take their place. From the stock point of view the great value of clover rests in its supply of protein, which is essential to the formation of flesh. Hay made from grasses contains only 6 to 8 per cent of protein; but it may contain as much as 12 to 14 per cent when made from clover. Professor Brookes summed up his conclusions bv saying that, “ For four important reasons clovers are among the most valuable of forage plants. First, the manurial cost of their production is low; second, they are richer in protein than most of the forage crops —far richer than grasses ; third, they enrich the soil in nitrogen as well as subsoil it, so that the following crops are almost invariably good; fourth, in permanent mowings they ultimately so enrich the soil in nitrogen that the grasses as well as the clovers make vigorous growth.”