170 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



crop ; it should, indeed, sow fields of it especially for 

 its soil-building effect, and to use as forage for winter 

 grazing with pigs, calves and sheep. It should grow its 

 own seed, which could easily be done, and learn to inocu- 

 late new soils, for this is one of the clovers that resents 

 a raw, uninoculated soil. There are many legumes that 

 will help the South, and this, it seems to me, is chief of 

 them all at present, since it is tolerant of poor soils, and, 

 growing during southern winters, \vould put the land to 

 double use, besides stopping the waste of nitrogen from 

 leaching of winter rains. The chief reason why crimson 

 clover has not met with more favor in the South is that 

 commonly it has been sown on uninoculated soil. An-, 

 other difficulty is the dry weather in the fall that some- 

 times interferes with getting a stand, especially on clay 

 or buckshot soils. Crimson clover grows commonly 2' 

 or more high, and stands erect with less tendency than 

 red clover to lodge. It makes much less weight of hay 

 than one is led to expect from seeing it grow. It is 

 better fed green than made into hay. If fed after the 

 heads begin to ripen, there is danger of death to cattle 

 and horses from the forming of "hair balls" in their 

 stomachs. While crimson clover makes good forage and 

 is relished by all classes of animals, its chief worth is as 

 a soil-renovating plant. It is sown in orchards to be 

 turned under, after truck crops come off the land, or 

 after corn or cotton. ' In Virginia it is commonly used 

 as a forerunner of alfalfa. When thus used it is turned 

 under when in full bloom, and the land afterward given 

 good culture for some weeks till late July or early 

 August, when the alfalfa seed is sown. It is very notice- 



