Crimson Clover for Cover. 199 



almost any time during the summer. Some idea of 

 the dense growth of the vetch this year may be 

 obtained when I say that one patch overcame and 

 obscured a heavy growth of horse-radish which had 

 been in the ground two years. I am confident that 

 upon fairly good soil, good results can be obtained 

 with vetch sown as late as the middle and possibly 

 the last of July." 



Crimson or scarlet clover was brought emphati- 

 cally to the fore as a cover plant for orchards by 

 the Delaware Experiment Station* in 1892. It has 

 been the occasion of much speculation and much 

 misunderstanding. Like other novelties, it has been 

 hailed by some as a plant which is bound to revo- 

 lutionize orchard management and to make planta- 

 tions productive; and others, who have failed, have 

 discouraged its use entirely. The fact is, as already 

 pointed out, that crimson clover is only one step or 

 round in the ladder of cover crops, and it is ordi- 

 narily the last and the highest. By this it is meant 

 that it will not thrive upon hard or poorly tilled 

 land. It must be sown in midsummer or a trifle 

 after, when the ground is likely to be dry. The 

 seeds are small and oily, and the grower is very 

 likely to fail in securing a "catch." Upon the better 

 tilled lands, however, crimson clover may be expected 

 to succeed as often as any other plant of its class 

 will. People have also made a mistake in expecting 

 too heavy a growth of herbage in the crimson clover. 

 It is an annual plant, normally completing its entire 



*Bull. 16, Del. Exp. Sta., March, 1892. 



