Michigan State Farmers' Institutes Volume 2 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896 edition. Excerpt: ...But I don't believe clover. is gone. Two years ago I went to New York to deliver a lecture, and the questions asked related to how we raised clover in Michigan. The insect had been there, had done his work, and was beginning to go away, and I believe he will leave us. In forty years of seeding clover, I have never lost a crop until this last year. I have seeded with other crops and without. I lost outright last year thirty acres, and saved fifty-seven. One thing I found an absolute protection to the effects of drouth, and that is to cover the soil with a thin coat of manure. That is, where sowed with wheat. I make a great ' deal of manure, make it at a loss sometimes, so far as the results of the feeding, but I don't believe we need to be thoroughly discouraged. Try other experiments. Rye is worth something. There is force in the suggestion of the professor that we try sowing the clover without sowing the grain. Q: Did I understand you to say that alfalfa would not do well on heavy clay soil? Mr. Luce: With a solid heavy subsoil, I don't believe it will. In California the roots grow large and long, and I know of no reason why it should not be a good fertilizer if you can make it grow. At one of these institutes, a man said he could not get rid of the roots. They were like the old fashioned oak grub roots, but whether there is any danger of that occurring, I don't know; I should not be afraid of it on my farm. 1 ' have a slaty subsoil; and I have no faith, from wathching the growth of alfalfa in California and Utah, that it will do anything on my farm. Mine is a gravelly loam, tinctured with lime, and below is a slaty subsoil. Q: Is it a success to sow clover seed on rye?. Mr. Luce: Yes, sir; rye is better than...