Physical Benefit Of The Roots
Categories:
THE CLOVERS
While the roots and stubble contain
less than two fifths of the total plant-food in a clover crop, one may
not safely infer that the removal of the crop for hay reduces the
beneficial effect of the clover to the soil fully 60 per cent, or more.
The roots break up the soil in a way not possible to a mass of tops
plowed down. They improve the physical condition of the subsoil as well
as the top soil. The amount of the benefit depends in part upon the
nature of the land. Its value cannot be surely determined, but the
facts are called to mind as an aid to judgment in deciding upon the
method of handling the clover crop.