“The increased amount of nitrogen occurred in fine root-fibres and other organic matters of the soil, and not in the coarser bits of roots which were picked out by the hand. It may be assumed that the finer particles of organic matter are more readily decomposed than the coarser roots; and as there was a larger amount of nitrogen in this than in the preceding soil, it may be expected that the land at the bottom of the hill, after removal of the clover, was in a better agricultural condition for wheat, than that on the brow of the hill.”
[ CHAPTER XXVI.]
EXPERIMENTS ON CLOVER-SOILS FROM BURCOTT LODGE FARM, LEIGHTON BUZZARD.
“The soils for the next experiments, were kindly supplied to me, in 1866, by Robert Valentine, of Burcott Lodge, who also sent me some notes respecting the growth and yield of clover-hay and seed on this soil.
“Foreign seed, at the rate of 12 lbs. per acre, was sown with a crop of wheat, which yielded five quarters per acre the previous year.
“The first crop of clover was cut down on the 25th of June, 1866, and carried on June 30th. The weather was very warm, from the time of cutting until the clover was carted, the thermometer standing at 80 Fahr. every day. The clover was turned in the swath, on the second day after it was cut; on the fourth day, it was turned over and put into small heaps of about 10 lbs. each; and on the fifth day, these were collected into larger cocks, and then stacked.
“The best part of an 11-acre field, produced nearly three tons of clover-hay, sun-dried, per acre; the whole field yielding on an average, 2½ tons per acre. This result was obtained by weighing the stack three months after the clover was carted. The second crop was cut on the 21st of August, and carried on the 27th, the weight being nearly 30 cwt. of hay per acre. Thus the two cuttings produced just about four tons of clover-hay per acre.
“The 11 acres were divided into two parts. About one-half was mown for hay a second time, and the other part left for seed. The produce of the second half of the 11-acre field, was cut on the 8th of October, and carried on the 10th. It yielded in round numbers, 3 cwt. of clover-seed per acre, the season being very unfavorable for clover-seed. The second crop of clover, mown for hay, was rather too ripe, and just beginning to show seed.