BURR CLOVER 415 



crop has not been developed. It is the general custom in New 

 Jersey to sow the seed in the fall, usually during August or Sep- 

 tember. North of New Jersey, when grown at all, it must be sown 

 in the spring. 



In the large potato and truck crop districts along the Atlantic 

 Coast crimson clover is very generally sown after the potato crop is 

 taken off. Probably the most common way of sowing it, however, 

 is in the standing corn at the last cultivation. As it is grown more 

 commonly for a green manure crop than hay, it may be turned under 

 early enough the following season to put in another cultivated crop. 

 It makes a very rapid growth during the fall and early spring. 



Utilizing the Crop. When crimson clover is cut for hay, it 

 should be cut rather green, as the flower heads are covered with hard, 

 stiff hairs that are likely to give trouble when the hay is fed. These 

 hairs form the compact " hair balls " which sometimes form in the 

 stomachs and intestines of animals fed with crimson clover. How- 

 ever, if cut fairly green there is little trouble from this source. It is 

 also generally believed that it is better to feed only a part ration of 

 crimson clover hay. 



It is common practice, when crimson clover is intended for 

 hay purposes, to mix it with winter wheat or winter oats, cutting and 

 curing all together. The yield is not only much heavier, but thought 

 by many to make a more desirable hay. 



BURR CLOVER 



The burr clovers (Fig. 179) are related to the alfalfas, and while 

 they resemble them in the shape of the leaf, the burr clovers are all 

 spreading, prostrate plants. There are both annual and perennial 

 forms, but in general are adapted only to southern climates. The 

 name is due to the seed pod, which is usually covered with short 

 spines, giving the whole an appearance of burrs. There are two 

 forms of burr clover commonly found in the United States, generally 

 known as spotted burr clover, due to a dark blue purple spot on each 

 leaflet, and toothed burr clover, from the dentate leaflets. Both of 

 these burr clovers have become generally distributed through south- 

 ern California, where they form quite an important natural herbage. 



