_ _ , American Agriculturist, November 1, 19', 
Hunting the World Over for the Ideal Forage Crop 
But the Average Farmer Must Go Slowly with New Crops Before They are Well Established 
By U. V. WILCOX 
T hose who are these days following 
closely the work of the scientists of the 
Government, men who, little known and 
poorly paid, are giving life service for the 
farmers and the tables of America, could well 
glory in the painstaking effort that is found in 
the development of just such common things as 
forage crops. 
For instance, a plant that digs a hole and de¬ 
posits therein its own seeds is now being developed 
by a series of experiments at the farms of the 
Department of Agriculture. The Bureau of 
Plant Industry is attempting to find a more suit¬ 
able forage crop that will be greater value than 
the various kinds now grown. 
The Subterranean Clover 
One plant that has thus far proved of value in 
this experimental work is the subterranean clover, 
and if certain difficulties can be overcome in its 
culture it will be a boon to farmers in many parts 
of the United States. 
It is this so-called subterranean feature that 
recommends it so highly—its ability to plant its 
own seed—a self-sowing plant. Once sown the 
farmer never has occasion to sow it again, as is 
necessary with nearly every other type of forage. 
With subterranean clover, once the seed pods 
are formed, the stem bearing them starts to bend 
and in a few days reaches the surface of the 
ground. But instead of running along the ground 
as most plants of that sort do, this strange clover 
plant continues the downward growth with such 
force that if the soil is reasonably soft, a slight 
excavation is made into which the ripe seed is 
dropped. All other varieties of clover depend 
upon the seed dropping and finding its way by 
chance into the soil, thus perpetuating them¬ 
selves. There is always a great loss of seed, for 
but a small portion finds its way into friendly soil. 
A species of subterranean clover is fairly com¬ 
mon throughout many sections of Europe, and is 
found as far north as Ireland, according to Dr. A. 
J. Pieters, agronomist, in charge of clover inves¬ 
tigations. In Europe its growth is usually abun¬ 
dant and it makes an excellent feed for stock. It 
is because of these qualities plus its ability to 
easily perpetuate itself that plants of that nature 
are being experimented upon by government sci¬ 
entists. 
When first brought here and attempts made to 
domesticate it and acclimate it, there seemed to be 
some reason why.it did not grow well, probably 
because the sections chosen experienced some 
chilly weather. But at the experimental farms 
at Arlington, Virginia, under the care of the sci¬ 
entists, this strange clover has survived winter and 
summer weather and now shows splendid promise 
for being one of the best forage crops that the 
farmer can obtain. Efforts are now being made to 
obtain a stock that can be adapted to all sections 
of the United States. 
Hunting the World Over for Clover 
The clover plant in its many species is the 
farmer’s forage standby, and the Bureau of Plant 
This is the appearance of the Korean cloverlike plant — 
Lespedeza stipulacea — upon volunteer growth. This plant 
measured 3 feet 8 inches across. It offers nearly ideal forage. 
Industry is looking the world over for the best 
obtainable that will suit climatic conditions on 
American farms. To this end, and in pursuit of the 
ideal, parts of the Orient have been searched. 
It is interesting right here to note that foreign 
missionaries and commercial travelers and those 
who are serving various interests abroad often lend 
their services to the Government and send in of 
their finds. Many times the seeds or plants found 
are not of special value, but now and then they 
may prove to be a real agricultural bonanza. 
Back in 1919 Dr. Ralph G. Mills of the Sever¬ 
ance Union General Hospital at Seoul, Chosen 
(Korea) sent in to the Office of Foreign Seed and 
Plant Introduction a package of lespedeza seed, 
which he thought might be of value. 
According to the regular routine of the Depart¬ 
ment this seed was given a serial number and in¬ 
vestigated. In this instance it was planted at the 
government experiment farm at Arlington, Vir¬ 
ginia, in 1921s and found of great potential value. 
To-day experiments are in progress with this 
Oriental cloverlike plant which also helps to per¬ 
petuate itself, due to the fact that the seeds do not 
form in bunches at the end of the stems, but occur 
at intervals along the main stalk. Even if it is 
mowed within an inch of the ground there are 
certain to be seeds left on the remaining stem to 
cause the plant to grow again without the need of 
a fresh sowing. 
Saving the Farmer’s Time 
Science is thus making easier or the farmer in 
self-perpetuating forage crops that once given a 
chance will just keep on growing year after year 
tor the benefit of stock and for the benefit of the 
farmer s bank account and thus for the increasing 
of the nation’s wealth. 
Unlike the subterranean clover this Korean 
lespedeza seems to thrive somewhat farther north, 
however, not as far north as was hoped. Of the 
two varieties brought over from the Orient, one 
Irom Japan and known as lespedeza striata and 
the other trom Korea and known by the scientific 
name as lespedeza stipulacea, the Korean plant 
has the very practical advantage of ripening its 
seeds fully two weeks earlier than those of any 
other kind of clover now grown in this country. 
That gives the plant an opportunity to get its 
seed started before the soil becomes too cold. 
Here then are three clover-like plants. One 
brought from southern Europe and two from the 
(Continued on pa<je 316 ) 
This Farmer Says Bank Credit Not Practical 
Answer Says Cash Stores Are Rapidly Increasing 
R EFERRING to issue of September 6th, the 
editorial, “What Credit Costs the Farmer,” 
either local conditions are different than what you 
describe, or I fail to see the point. 
Locally, I can buy a mowing-machine, an axe, 
a barrel of flour, a ton of feed or have a horse shod 
on'credit for the same price as though I paid cash. 
The credit time is not limited, though 
eventually one has to pay. In what way 
would it be cheaper jo pay cash? If any¬ 
thing, it would appear to be cheaper to 
ask credit, for one has the use of their 
money for a period of time from two to 
six months. 
As to borrowing from the bank, our 
local bank will not loan a dollar without 
an endorser, regardless of standing in com¬ 
munity, and will not loan on real or chat¬ 
tel mortgage, and we do not always wish 
to tell a third party our business, ask a 
friend to endorse, or ask a person to 
endorse our note without recompense, 
especially as we do not see where we 
can save any money by so doing. Please 
set me straight.—E. F. W., Oneida County, N. Y. 
* * * 
Mr. Myers’s Answer 
I THINK it is very doubtful if it is true in many 
regions that a farmer can buy a mowing-ma¬ 
chine as cheaply for credit as for cash. A few 
months ago I had occasion to buy one and at that 
time the price for cash was $80 or $85 for credit. 
If I obtained credit I paid $5 and in addition paid 
6 per cent, on a larger amount. If I obtained the 
credit for six to nine months the cost would be $5 
plus 6 per cent, or abour 12 to 15 per cent, per 
year. 
In feed stores it is more generally true that the 
same price is charged for cash as for credit. If 
that is true with Mr. Wilson’s local store then 
community should get together and select a car- 
door pooler to handle feeds and get their feed 
more cheaply for cash. 
If dealers continue this practice of charging 
everyone for credit whether he gets it or not they 
should get this kind of treatment. Eventually, 
these dealers will be forced to change their meth¬ 
ods or be forced out of business. There is only one 
sound way of merchandizing feed or anything 
else and that is to sell cheaply at the car door for 
cash, adding margins to cover the cost of any 
additional services that are required, such as 
credit, delivery, or warehousing. There is no 
sound reason for charging the man who gets his 
feed at the car door and pays cash for 
it for services he does not want, does 
not get, and does not want to pay for. 
Give every man the services he wants and 
charge, him the costs of these services. 
That is the only sound way of mer¬ 
chandizing. 
More and more the cash grocery stores, 
department stores, and other sorts of 
stores are making their way into the small 
country communities. These cash stores 
are the outstanding commercial develop¬ 
ment of the past decade. They have 
made fabulous profits but they have sold 
cheap for cash. It is an unusual condition 
indeed if your correspondent does not have 
cash and carry.grocery store within easy 
driving distance from his home from which he can 
buy his groceries on a cash basis. When people be¬ 
gin to realize more fully the costs of store credit 
the trend towards sounder merchandizing methods 
will be accelerated. You will remember that our 
friend Mr. Boyce of the Boyce- Feed Company of 
Attica said that the G. L. F. was a good thing 
for the feed business in that it was forcing feed 
dealers to put their credit on a sounder basis, 
0 Continued on page 306) 
A Letter and Its Answer 
A FEW issues ago we printed an editorial saying that farm 
credit at the feed dealer’s or other stores costs from two to 
three times as much as it should and that the place to get credit 
is at the bank. Last week Prof. W. I. Myers of the Department of 
Economics and Farm Management of the New York State 
College again discussed the subject of cash at the feed store and 
credit at the bank. 
In answer to our editorial, a farmer wrote a letter, which we 
are printing on this page, raising some practical objections to 
our suggestions. This letter is answered by one from Mr. Myers. 
You will be interested in these discussions on one of the most 
important farm problems. —The Editors. 
the.thing to do is to go to some store that will give 
a discount for cash. If there is no store that will 
give a discount for cash, then the farmers in that 
