202 
CLOVER 
clover. The quality of the honey appears 
to be very similar to that of red clover. 
CULTURE OF CRIMSON CLOVER. 
Land should be selected for growing 
crimson clover that is well drained, has 
been previously cultivated and leveled, is 
fairly fertile, contains sufficient lime, and 
has been inoculated with the proper bac¬ 
teria. As the seedling's are tender and 
easily destroyed, it is a good plan to test 
the suitability of a locality by growing 
first a small experimental plat. At the 
time of seeding the soil should be well 
settled, fine, and in a moist condition. If 
crimson clover follows a crop, as potatoes, 
which has been well fertilized, the soil will 
probably be sufficiently fertile; but other¬ 
wise an application of barnyard manure 
or about 400 pounds of acid phosphate is 
desirable. If the soil is acid it should 
be limed as described for the other clovers. 
In sections where crimson clover has been 
grown previously, inoculation is usually not 
required, but in a new section it is gener¬ 
ally necessary. The beneficial effects of 
inoculation were very clearly shown by ex¬ 
periments performed at the Alabama State 
Agricultural Experiment Station. When 
the plants were inoculated 4,057 pounds 
of crimson clover were obtained, but in the 
absence of inoculation only 761 pounds. In 
another test the .inoculated plat yielded 
6,100 pounds of cured hay per acre, while 
the uninoeulated was a total failure. 
SEEDING. 
Crimson clover is usually seeded at the 
rate of 15 pounds to the acre, altho the 
quantity used may vary from 12 to 20 
pounds according to conditions. It may 
be broadcasted by hand or drilled in; but 
should not be covered deeper than one inch 
in sandy soil and half an inch in clay soil. 
Ten pounds of seed per acre, if every seed 
germinated, would produce 30 plants to the 
square foot; but in actual experience much 
of the seed fails to appear above ground. 
If seeded in early spring, blooming time 
comes during hot dry weather, which kills 
many of the young plants; sometimes, how¬ 
ever, an excellent crop is obtained if there 
is an abundance of rain and the tempera¬ 
ture continues moderate well into the sum¬ 
mer. South of the Ohio River crimson 
clover may be sown from August to Octo¬ 
ber, but north of this boundary it must be 
sown during July or August. It should be 
stated that in the northern part of the 
State of Ohio there have been many fail¬ 
ures. One of our standard writers on agri¬ 
culture says that thousands of dollars have 
been wasted by farmers in trying to grow 
crimson clover; yet at Medina, Ohio, four 
or five acres each year have been seeded 
with no failure. The reason for this suc¬ 
cess is largely that the ground is thoroly 
underdrained and highly enriched with 
barnyard manure. 
A fine stand of crimson clover has been 
obtained by seeding the land immediately 
after a crop of potatoes, which had been 
planted comparatively early, had been re¬ 
moved. Before sowing the clover the soil 
was worked with cutaway and Acme har¬ 
rows. Sown in August it wintered splen¬ 
didly, in September fairly well, but later- 
seeded plants were almost a total failure. 
But it is seldom grown alone, usually be¬ 
ing seeded with corn, wheat, rye or other 
grains, and with buckwheat, cow peas, tur¬ 
nips, truck crops, or cotton. When seeded 
with wheat, rye, or winter oats, both the 
clover and the grain may be cut at the 
same time the following spring; and a 
larger yield is thus obtained than if the 
clover were sown alone, and it is also 
prevented from lodging badly. A most 
luxuriant growth of wheat and clover has 
been obtained at Medina by April 25, the 
wheat acting as a mulch during the win¬ 
ter. 
SEEDING CRIMSON CLOVER AVITH 
BUCKWHEAT. 
Crimson clover may be grown in land 
lightly seeded Avith buckwheat or cow peas, 
these crops affording protection from the 
heat of the sun in midsummer. The buck- 
Avheat and clover come up together, but the 
buclvAvheat being the stronger grows more 
rapidly, and the clover makes but little 
showing until the buckwheat is harvested. 
Then the crimson clover during the cool 
moist Aveather of fall rapidly covers the 
ground. Should frost kill the buckwheat, 
the clover will rise above it in a very brief 
period; while the dead buckwheat straw 
makes an excellent mulch. The finest crop 
of crimson clover ever obtained at Medina 
