CRIMSON CLOVER IN DELAWARE. 
STILL THRIVING ON ITS OLD STAMPING GROUND 
In Partnership With Potash. 
One day last week, a farmer from Rockland County, 
N. Y., came into The R. N.-Y. office with a long 
bundle in his hand. “See here,” he said, “I have 
come here to show up The R. N.-Y. for advocating a 
big fraud and farm pest—that Crimson clover hum¬ 
bug. 1 sowed some—now just see what 
I got out of it.” 
With that he untied his bundle, and 
disclosed two beautiful stools of the 
clover. It was at least two feet long, 
thick and heavy, with over 25 stalks to 
the stool. “Mow,” he said, “just think 
what it means to get that stuff on my 
farm ! It’s way ahead of Medium clover 
in size, and grew without interfering 
with any other crop. Stock are crazy 
for it. Plowed under for corn, it means 
tons of manure to the acre, and think 
how it will cut down the fertilizer bill ! 
I have only two acres of it; 1 wish 1 had 
it all over the farm. It's the best new 
fodder plant we have struck yet. If 
The R. N.-Y. hadn't cautioned us to go 
slow with it, I might have had more in.” 
This clover was a remarkably fine 
specimen. It was grown after oats, and 
this year that farmer will sow a larger 
area. His experience is that early or 
middle August is the best time for sow¬ 
ing. He may well feel pleased at the 
success of this crop, for it means more 
to his farm than he now realizes. We 
were glad to compare this clover with 
the crop in Delaware, which we had a 
chance to examine last week. 
Last year we saw the clover on the 
farm of E. H. Bancroft, of Camden, Del., 
and this year we determined to visit the 
same farm in order to observe the effects 
of last year’s crop, and note any changes 
that may have been made in seeding or 
handling the clover. Our older readers 
will remember that Mr. Bancroft is a 
dairyman with a herd of 60 Jerseys. 
His crops are asparagus, small fruits, 
tomatoes, peaches, apples, corn, pota¬ 
toes, etc. He has over 100 acres of 
Crimson clover growing this year—all 
sowed last fall in orchards or among 
corn or tomatoes at the last cultivation. 
Sowed in this way, it does not interfere 
with any other crop, while after serving 
its purpose in the spring, it leaves the 
soil in ample time for potatoes, tomatoes 
or corn. A good part of the clover is 
cut green, and put into the silo for the 
cattle. The cows never go into a past¬ 
ure, but are fed all through the summer 
on this Crimson clover ensilage and 
cotton seed meal. When dry, they get 
no grain at all. Other fields of clover 
are plowed under as green manure, 
still others are permitted to ripen, and are thrashed 
for the seed crop. 
A Crimson Clover Rotation. 
In consequence of the cold and backward spring, 
the clover, like all other crops, was from 10 days to 
two weeks behind. Still, it was an inspiring sight to 
stand near Mr. Bancroft’s barn and watch the vast 
expanse of green and red clover that stretched away 
on every hand. You can’t describe it on paper. We 
are very patient with men who accuse us of exaggera¬ 
tion in giving the facts about this plant, because we 
are frank to say that we did not believe the stories 
ourselves until we actually saw the Crimson clover on 
Mr. Bancroft’s farm. We would not keep hammering 
away at Crimson clover culture if we were not con¬ 
vinced of two things: 
1. At home this plant is the most economical soil- 
improver and weed-killer of any growing thing. 
2. The limits of its home have not yet been defined. 
The R. N.-Y. wants to help its readers to determine 
where and how it can best be grown. 
A walk over Mr. Bancroft’s farm disclosed a dozen 
different ways of sowing the clover. For example, 
here was a field which on our visit last year had a 
thick mat of clover which had been sown the summer 
before in a crop of tomatoes. The 1894 crop was put 
into the silo. The sod was plowed and planted to 
corn. At the last working of the corn, clover was 
sown in it. Later the corn was cut into the silo, 
and now the clover stands two feet high in a dense 
mat all over the field. This can be all plowed under 
and rolled for sweet potatoes, or it can be cut off for 
the silo or for seed, and the sod plowed for tomatoes 
or for corn again. Here were peach orchards where 
the clover is grown year after year. The crop may 
be plowed under, leaving a narrow strip between the 
trees. When this seed ripens, a light harrow run 
crosswise of the rows works down the furrows, and 
so scatters this seed that another full crop of the 
clover grows to be treated the following 
spring in the same way. 
Mr. Bancroft's soil is light, so that 
large quantities of organic matter are 
needed to keep it in a high state of cul¬ 
tivation. This organic matter is obtained 
from the manure from the ensilage fed 
the cows, and from crops of clover and 
cow peas plowed directly into the soil. 
Last year a crop of clover had just been 
cut from one field into the silo. The 
sod was plowed at once, and cow peas 
were sown—with a liberal supply of 
muriate of potash and dissolved rock. 
These cow peas were cut in the fall, and 
put into the silo with corn, the land 
again plowed and sowed to clover and 
winter oats, which go into the silo, and 
again the sod is plowed for corn. The 
result of this continued cropping is that 
the soil is kept full of fresh organic 
matter, while there can be little loss 
of nitrogen, since some crop is always 
growing to utilize it. 
Mr. Bancroft uses one load of cow 
peas to three loads of corn for his win¬ 
ter ensilage. It makes an excellent feed 
for cattle with two pounds of cotton¬ 
seed meal per day, and a little Alfalfa 
hay and Crimson clover straw. He con¬ 
siders the mixed ensilage better than the 
pure corn. The cow-pea crop not only 
gives a better “balance” to the ensilage, 
but it leaves the soil in fine condition, 
and, coming between two crops of Crim¬ 
son clover, it gets the soil in fine shape 
for strawberries or tomatoes, or, in fact, 
any crop. 
Some Facts About Seeding. 
Mr. Bancroft pointed out a number of 
differences in the fields, which are 
chiefly due to different conditions of 
seeding. In one (last year’s) corn field, it 
was easy to see where the corn rows had 
een, as the clover had not started near 
them. This was explained by the fact 
that the corn was so dense and thick, 
that it gave the young clover too much 
shade, and it did not make growth 
enough. Sometimes in such heavy corn, 
it is not possible to get a good stand in 
ordinary seasons, in which case the seed 
is sown after cutting, though further 
north this might be too late. On a neigh¬ 
boring farm there was a singular illus¬ 
tration showing the effect of fertilizers. 
Between the rows of a peach orchard, potatoes had 
been planted with an ordinary “phosphate” in the 
drills. A whole field away one could pick out these 
old “phosphated” rows by the larger and greener 
growth of clover. The Crimson responds wonderfully 
to applications of potash and phosphoric acid, and 
these Delaware farmers are learning to use the pot¬ 
ash for the whole rotation on the chyver. In fact, the 
most successful Crimson-clover farmer in that neigh¬ 
borhood is the man who has used potash most persist¬ 
ently. We shall speak of his practice in due time. 
