354 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 23 
CRIMSON CLOVER REPORTS. 
IT LIVES HEBE AND DIES THEBE. 
I sowed 65 acres of Crimson clover last August 
20 to 30, on freshly-plowed old meadow land, some 
with buckwheat, some on rye stubble plowed, 
some rye stubble disked, and some on oat stubble 
disked. It all came up nicely in a few days and 
grew reasonably well till winter. If all that is 
alive now was on one acre, it would be about 
thick enough. I think, however, that if I had 
got it in 20 days earlier, it would have been 
much better. The past winter has been excep¬ 
tionally severe on it, as the stakes and posts in 
most vineyards were badly heaved out. a. i. l. 
North East, Pa. 
Crimson clover has wintered safely with us the 
past two seasons. American-grown seed was 
sown about September 1 , in an apple orchard pro¬ 
tected by a forest on the north and west sides. 
The soil is a clay loam with a clay subsoil. Fine 
ground bone, 200 pounds, and muriate of potash, 
100 pounds, were sown the spring previous. I 
think that Crimson clover is more valuable for 
orchards than Red, owing to its early and rapid 
spring growth. We turned under a heavy crop 
June 1 last, and the trees appeared to break 
easier under a heavy crop of fruit the following 
autumn, than those where no clover was grown. 
Forest Lawn, N. Y. o. w. d. 
Last year’s drought extended from May to De¬ 
cember, consequently we have very little Crimson 
clover in this State. Seed will be very scarce, so 
will clover hay, soiling and ensilage, but the 
greatest sufferer will be our fields—untouched by 
the magic of this great conservator of fertility. 
We pray to be hereafter delivered from such a 
dessication as we suffered in 1895. The winter 
raintall has been insufficient, also, and the 
springs are yet low, a condition not favorable for 
withstanding drought in 1896. A party in Ken¬ 
tucky who sowed largely of my seed last year, 
writes me that his prospect seems good for 1,000 
to 1,500 bushels of seed. He must have some 
streaks of moisture such as we failed to get. 
Delaware. e. h. Bancroft. 
I purchased one pound of Crimson clover seed 
early in 1895, and sowed it without a nurse crop 
on sandy soil. July 2. About July 20, it was grow¬ 
ing. The weeds were cut two or three times dur¬ 
ing the summer and autumn. It grew well dur¬ 
ing autumn. Snow came before the ground froze 
much, about the middle of November, and re¬ 
mained until about Christmas, when we had 
heavy rains. The clover was waviug in the wind. 
Snow came again, and was on the ground most 
of the time until the last part of the winter 
months. Some appeared dead during early 
spring, but most of it is alive now', and looking 
well. If I succeed in saving seed, I may sow 
again. l. j. s. 
Eaton Rapids, Mich. 
On August 19, 1895, I sowed 22 pounds of Crim¬ 
son clover seed on 1 acre of light, loamy land, 
frishly broken up from mowing, and put 500 
pounds of muriate of potash on at the same time. 
The seed came up finely, and grew well all through 
the fall into December, but was entirely killed by 
the cold weather in January, there being no 
snow on the ground at the time, and the ther¬ 
mometer registering 10 to 15 degrees below zero. 
I do not think that Crimson clover can stand the 
winter here, but if it could, it would be of great 
value in the orchard as well as for keeping some¬ 
thing growing on the land during the fall after 
an early crop has been taken off. I have not seen 
a live Crimson clover plant this spring, j. e. g. 
Spencer, Mass. 
To get early feed for my cows, I sowed on July 
24, 1895, Crimson clover in the cnaff on my tomato 
patch, then cultivated the tomatoes both ways 
for the last time, as the vines covered the ground 
so that I could not cultivate longer. I think that 
not a seed came up till we had a rain, Septem¬ 
ber 1 , then every seed seemed to spring up at 
once, and I think it has not stopped growing 
since. I commenced mowing it April 23; it was 
then 12 inches high, and as thick as it could 
stand. September 13 last, I sowed one-half acre 
of ry r e; on March 15, I commenced cutting it. It 
w t as then 18 inches high, and before the month 
was out, it was 2*4 feet high. I sowed another 
piece of rye October 20; it is now three feet high, 
and I am cutting it. d. f. 
Salem, Oregon. 
I had tried Crimson clover once before, several 
years ago, in a small way, but it mostly heaved 
and what was left, made a very feeble growth in 
the spring. I thought that, perhaps, it might 
have been foreign seed ; so last summer, I sent 
for Delaware seed. Five pounds of clover seed 
were sown August 16, on one-half acre among the 
corn and cultivated in very lightly. Some was 
also sown in the orchard at the same time, and 
harrowed in ; it came nicely, as it rained immedi¬ 
ately after. The seed lying on the ground was 
sprouted in 24 hours, and in 48 hours, it began to 
appear above ground. In my orchard, the soil 
was very thin, and a dry spell last fall killed 
most of the clover. Among the corn, it was a 
good catch, and it went through the winter all 
right; the soil is fairly good for this section. 
The clover is now in full bloom ; the average 
height is 12 inches. The ground was covered 
with coarse stalks, manure and cane stalks, all 
that the plow’ w’ould turn under last spring, for 
the corn. The cane stalks appeared to be a dam¬ 
age to the corn. I do not consider Crimson clover 
as valuable as Red clover here. My only use for 
it would be to sow among corn, at the last culti¬ 
vation, and after early potatoes, to have some¬ 
thing growing on the soil while it otherwise 
would be idle and wasting its fertility. 
I sowed four pounds of winter oats on 17 square 
rods September 11 after the corn had been cut. 
Part of this plot had a good coat of stable manure 
last spring, the higher and drier part. It slopes 
toward a pond that has been drained. The whole 
plot is nearly level. On the lower corner, where 
the ground inclines to the west, the oats practic¬ 
ally all froze out. On the drier corner, there is a 
very good stand left, They have stooled wonder¬ 
fully, and the ground is now well covered. They 
promise well now. I have spring oats sown 
alongside, and after harvest, shall be able to tell 
which is the more profitable. c. E. B. 
Crossville, Tenn. 
I have sowed Crimson clover in corn twice, and 
have lost seed and labor because of drought. I 
have raised winter oats 24 years, with only two 
failures, while spring oats do not make a fair 
crop oftener than one-fifth of the time. My win¬ 
ter oats were sown very late last fall, because of 
the long, dry spell, consequently they did not get 
root enough to stand a snowless winter. My 600 
acres were not covered with snow except a few 
hours in March. Winter oats sown in the spring 
will do better than spring-raised seed; but the 
seed raised from it will not be as safe to sow 
again for winter. I can make any oat a winter 
oat, simply by going through one winter. The 
same can be done for spring wheat. There is 
much humbug and fraud, practiced, not only in 
the sale of winter oat seed, but also in all kinds 
of seeds. I think that there is more in seed pota¬ 
toes than in any other one kind. w. m. E. 
Amherst, Va. 
On June 29, 1895, I sowed Crimson clover in the 
corn at the last working, part behind the harrow, 
but most was sown just before harrowing. When 
nearly done, a heavy dash of rain fell, and de¬ 
layed finishing until July 2, when the former sow¬ 
ing was coming up. No difference was per¬ 
ceptible between what was covered, and that 
sown on top. The soil is light, sandy, bottom 
land. I do not entirely condemn Crimson clover, 
but think that, for our purpose. Red clover has 
proved itself more reliable. I shall use it this year 
on stock ground intended for wheat the following 
year, and try Crimson clover again on ground in¬ 
tended for planting to corn. I am contemplating 
planting a field, which missed Crimson clover, to 
cow peas. Is it advisable ? If so, what variety 
would you recommend ? r. k. w. 
Kirk’s Mills, Pa. 
R. N.-Y.—A variety known as the Early Black 
cow pea is considered best for green manuring. 
We would secure seed that was grown as far 
North as possible. 
In a recent R. N.-Y., I find discouraging reports 
about Crimson clover. I have been growing it 
with good results. Last July, I turned under an 
old strawberry bed, fitted it as thoroughly as 
though preparing it for wheat, and sowed about 
one acre to Crimson clover the last of July. I 
rolled the ground so as to make a firm seed bed, 
and sowed about 20 bushels of ashes. Notwith¬ 
standing the drought, the clover came up well 
and made a fair growth. It wintered well, and 
to-day (May 8 ), it is about one foot high, and 
blossoms begin to show so that I have just picked 
a fine bouquet. It completely covers the ground, 
and I expect a fine lot of seed. On ground tha 
heaves badly, neither Crimson nor any other 
clover will prove a success if sown late in the 
season. If you treat Crimson clover as you 
would any other crop where you expect success, 
you will be well rewarded. After other crops 
have taken up all the available food for the sea- 
s m. one must not expect any crop to prove 
a success. An animal going into winter quarters 
nearly starved to death, will riot winter well. When 
we learn to treat Crimson clover decently, we 
shall be able to give good reports about it. My 
soil is a sandy loam, and underdratned where 
necessary to prevent heaving. s. s. bailey. 
Kent County, Mich. 
I sowed one peck of Crimson clover seed August 
20, 1894, in the midst of the drought, and we bad 
no ram for a month later. Not more than one- 
half of the seed germinated, and, owing to the 
dry weather, it made but little growth in the 
fail. The following March, it froze out some; 
being on a level piece of ground, the water stood 
on it during every thaw through March, and on 
April 1, I thought that it would be a failure, and 
had a mind to plow it under. But, taking the 
advice of The R. N.-Y., I did not disturb it, and 
to my surprise, by May 25, it was in bloom, and 
had stooled out so that it covered nearly all the 
ground. It measured 26 inches in length, and on 
June 21, the seed was ripe. I cut it with a mower, 
raked it with a hay rake, the same as hay, and 
hauled it to the barn. I tramped the seed off the 
straw with the horses; it shells very easily, and 
I had to handle it while damp, or I would have 
lost half of the seed. 
July 4, 1895, I sowed some of the seed in the chaff 
just as it came off of the straw, in a cantaloupe 
patch, some in corn, and the rest I had hulled. I 
got 5*4 bushels of clean seed after sowing eight 
acres, chaff and all. I sowed all the seed I had, 
and bought two bushels besides. I made sowings 
almost every week, from July 4 until September 
11. The best piece of clover that I have, was 
sown about July 12, and the next best August 11. 
The piece sowed about July 12 is as beautiful a 
patch of clover at this writing (May 4) as I ever 
saw. It is 6 to 10 inches tall, and so thick that I 
can’t see the ground. It did not freeze out a bit. 
It was sown on a watermelon patch. The soil is 
a sandy loam. I have some on sharp sand, and it 
stood the drought last summer remarkably well. 
Our Red clover all froze out last winter; it never 
froze out so badly within my recollection as it did 
in this section last winter, and my Crimson clover 
stood the winter, so that convinces me beyond a 
doubt that Crimson clover will stand the winter 
in eastern Pennsylvania. 
I sowed by hand at the rate of 15 pounds to the 
acre. Crimson clover, with me, will never take 
the place of Red clover, but it fills a place that 
Red clover cannot fill, that is, to so w among truck 
and corn for early pasture, and for plowing under 
for spring crops I think that it is one of the 
grandest things that ever has been introduced 
into this country. I first saw the description of 
Crimson clover in The R. N.-Y., and was induced 
to try it by reading accounts of it there. I thank 
you a thousand times for bringing it to my notice. 
This season alone it will be worth to me a hun¬ 
dred times the subscription price of The R. N.-Y. 
You can count on me as a life subscriber. Talk 
Crimson clover, preach Crimson clover until 
every farmer in the country tries it, and if the 
farmers once try it, it will ever be a moneymaker 
for them ! If they get the hardy variety, it will 
stand the winter as well as the Red, the drought 
much better, and it will grow on land too poor to 
grow Red clover. j. w. c. 
Halifax, Pa. 
On August 3, I sowed one-half acre of heavy 
loam to Crimson clover, where water often stands 
in wet weather, and where ice lies in the hollows 
most of the winter. I finished sowing at 3 o’clock 
in the afternoon, being driven from the field by a 
severe shower, and at 10 o’clock on the morning 
of August 5, the young plants of clover could be 
seen all over the field. How much sooner the first 
plants appeared, Ido not know; but I know that 
the most of the crop was above ground in less 
than 45 hours ! When severe cold weather set 
in, the clover had made a growth of some eight 
inches, and was a beautiful sight. The ground 
remained clear of snow all winter, and the mer¬ 
cury went below zero several times, once as low 
as 16 degrees. When the frost had left the ground 
in March, the clover was still green, but most of 
it showed about one-lialf inch of root exposed. 
On the nights of April 1 and 2, the ground froze to 
the depth of an inch, and in a few days, one-lialf 
of the clover was dead, having been frozen off at 
the exposed portion of the roots. I dug up several 
of the roots and found them as sound as ever be¬ 
low the surface line. In the hollows, nearly all 
escaped injury. I am convinced that a roller run 
over the field when the frostfirst came out, would 
have saved nearly all. What remains is now 
about eight inches high, and growing vigorously, 
though everything else is suffering from lack of 
rain. 
I sowed an acre with Hungarian grass seed 
(Contmued on next page.) 
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§ 714 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. 2 
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