30 BULLETIN 159, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of crimson clover both as a forage crop and as a soil renovator has 

 led to its quite general introduction into the crop rotation of the 

 Maryland-Delaware Peninsula. The crimson clover is sown in the 

 growing corn at the last working or at a special working in early 

 August. It is also sown in the tomato fields. After the corn is 

 harvested the clover makes a good fall growth and then lies dormant 

 during the winter. In early spring it grows rapidly and is ready 

 for cutting for hay by the middle of May. This allows the cutting 

 of a hay crop, ranging from 1-|- tons to as high as 3 tons per acre, 

 and the plowing down of the stubble in time for the planting of an- 

 other crop of corn, tomatoes, or cowpeas. 



Some farmers obtain a crop of corn, follow with a seeding to 

 wheat, and after the wheat is harvested either plow or disk harrow 

 the wheat stubble, seeding to crimson clover. The next spring the 

 clover is either cut for hay or it is grazed off by hogs, sheep, or cattle, 

 in which case a considerable residue of the plant is available to be 

 plowed under as a green manure for a succeeding corn crop. 



The favorable effect of crimson clover upon the Sassafras sandy 

 loam in securing increased yields of the other staple and special crops 

 has led to a gradual extension of its production, especially in cen- 

 tral Delaware and in adjacent parts of Maryland. The yields of 

 corn grown upon a crimson clover sod are materially greater than 

 where the crop is grown on land upon which no winter cover crop 

 has been planted. 



It has been found desirable to apply lime to a field where crimson 

 clover is first to be seeded. This may be done at the rate of 1,000 

 to 2,000 pounds per acre of quicklime, or at the rate of 1 or 2 tons 

 per acre of ground limestone. 



Medium red clover is quite commonly seeded in the spring on 

 wheat upon the Sassafras sandy loam. The clover usually gives a 

 good hay crop, ranging from 1 to 2 tons per acre. To a limited 

 extent timothy and clover are used for seeding for mowing lands 

 and a fair yield of mixed hay results. The success attained with 

 crimson clover and with red clover, however, restricts the area 

 seeded to mixed grasses. 



A very small acreage of buckwheat is grown upon the Sassafras 

 sandy loam, chiefly as a catch crop or as a winter cover crop. 



In the southern Maryland counties the Maryland pipe-smoking 

 tobacco is grown to some extent upon the Sassafras sandy loam. The 

 yields range from about 1,000 pounds to as much as 1,500 pounds per 

 acre. The quality of the tobacco is usually good. 



While the general farm crops occupy by far the larger acreage 

 upon the Sassafras sandy loam, special vegetable and fruit crops are 

 also grown to a considerable extent, especially in central Delaware 

 and the eastern counties of Maryland. 



