372 



FIELD CROPS 



is often substituted for red clover. It makes hay of excel- 

 lent quality, but the yield is usually less than that of red 

 clover, and only one cutting can be made during the season. 

 It is less adapted to use in pastures than white clover. When 

 sown in mixtures with grasses, about 4 to 6 pounds of seed 

 are used. The hay is somewhat easier to cure than red 

 clover hay, because the stems are smaller. The plant lives 

 from three to five years, and is therefore 

 more permanent than red clover. 



CRIMSON CLOVER 



469. Crimson Clover, Trifolium incar- 

 natum, is an annual clover which is sown 

 along the southern Atlantic Coast as a 

 winter cover and green manure crop, and 

 is also used to some extent for the pro- 

 duction of hay. This plant was intro- 

 duced from Europe at a comparatively 

 recent date and is not extensively grown. 

 From Delaware southward, it makes an 

 excellent cover crop in orchards and else- 

 where. It should be seeded in July or early in August 

 and plowed under or cut for hay when it comes into bloom 

 the following spring. The plants, which reach a height of 

 3 feet on good soil, are erect in their growth. The heads 

 are terminal, and are much longer than those of the other 

 clovers, forming a dense spike. The bright crimson flowers 

 are very striking in appearance. The reddish yellow or 

 straw yellow seeds are larger than those of red clover. 

 Twelve to twenty pounds are sown to the acre; a mixture 

 with other seed is seldom used. 



Crimson clover may be sown along the Atlantic Coast 

 in August and plowed under in May in plenty of time to 



Fig. 115. Crimson 

 clover. 



