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- 
eally 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 sueceed 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 ig an annual plant, normally completing its entire 
* Bull. 16, Del. Exp. Sta., Mareh, 1892. 
