I7O THE FORAGE AND FIBER CROPS IN AMERICA 



character and the harshness of the flower heads. It has been 

 reported to injure cattle by forming "hair balls" in the digestive 

 tract. 1 The Delaware Station recommends it for silage. 2 



189. Seed. The seed of crimson clover is enclosed in a 

 capsule which opens transversely as in the case of red 

 clover. The seeds are relatively large, 125,000 to 150,000 to 

 the pound. Seedsmen usually sell 60 pounds for a bushel. 

 This clover is not usually adulterated in this country, but 

 in Europe berseem seed is used, and is difficult to detect 

 because of the similarity in size, shape and color. Berseem 

 seed is less glossy, is less uniformly and perfectly oval, the 

 radicle being more apparent, and usually the hilum and sur- 

 rounding portion are darker colored. The standard of purity 

 should be 98 per cent, and of germination 90 per cent. The 

 seeds are said to deteriorate rapidly with age. They are 0.09 

 to 0.12 inch long, 0.06 to 0.07 inch wide and 0.05 to 0.06 inch 

 thick. The radicle, which is at least one-half the length of the 

 seed, is not prominent. The seeds are, therefore, quite globular. 

 The color is reddish-gold, or straw-yellow, varying to brownish. 

 The hilum is usually fringed with reddish-brown, a trace of 

 which may extend toward the end of the seed. When seeds 

 are old they become wrinkled and brown. 



Crimson clover is raised chiefly in Delaware and surrounding 

 states. One method is to sow buckwheat in July or August 

 with a grain drill, using three-fourths of a bushel of seed per 

 acre, and follow with crimson clover, using a wheelbarrow 

 seeder, at the rate of one peck of seed per acre. The buck- 

 wheat is harvested in the fall, and the crimson clover the follow- 

 ing spring. Crimson clover is also sometimes sown in maize 

 at the last cultivation. 



In cutting crimson clover for seed, it is necessary to cut in the 

 night time or early in the morning when the dew is on, in order 



1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Agros. Circ. No. 8. 

 2 Delaware Sta. Bui. No. 16 (1892). 



