10 
N. C. AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
The composition of crimson clover hay and the coefficients of its 
digestibility show it to be a highly nutritious food. To bring out 
more clearly its nutritive value comparison is made below with other 
well known and highly prized leguminous plants in a table showing 
the actual amounts of digestible nutrients in one hundred pounds of 
dry matter of each. 
Pro¬ 
tein. 
Carbo¬ 
hydrates 
Fats. 
Ratio. 
1 to 
Alfalfa hay, average of O’Brine* and N. Y. Ag. Ex. 
Stationf..... 
Alsike clover hay—Jordan!..... 
10.55 
9.31 
6 64 
12.45 
44 31 
46.96 
42.64 
43.70 
1.35 
2.76 
0.80 
1.25 
4.52 
5.78 
6.72 
3.76 
Red clover hay—Armsby§ ..... 
Crimson clover hay (this experiment)__ 
Scarlet clover (Trifolium incarnatum) is known under a variety of 
common names—Annual, German, Scarlet and Italian. This clover 
is easily grown, and should come into quite general use. It is an 
annual, and consequently must be re-seeded for each crop, wdiich 
makes it important to grow seed at home. Seed may be sown from 
July to October, but the land should always be well prepared for it, 
or, if not, it should be well shaded, as under a good growth of cow- 
peavines, or in a corn or cotton crop, when the seed should be sown 
when the crop is laid by. Grown in this w r ay it may be of great 
service in enriching and holding the land from washing. Its growth 
is made in the cool wet part of the year, and it is ready to be made 
into hay at a season when planters are waiting for cotton to vege¬ 
tate for first working. This is often a dry time, and the hay can be 
quickly and easity cured. It may olten be best to sow this clover 
with oats, rye or barley, and cut all for hay in April or May, as 
above. 
This clover will thrive on land in moderate condition, but, like 
some other forage plants, will pay best where given a rich soil. 
The high protein content, large proportion of amides and narrow 
ratio are especially noticeable in this hay. It is so rich that for any 
use it may well be fed with some such fodder as straw, meadow hay, 
or cotton-seed hulls. When fed for production of milk, the addi¬ 
tion of corn, or corn and oats, will tend to widen the ratio, and 
probably add to the good qualities of the product. 
* Bulletin No. 8, Col. Ag. Exp’t Sta. 
f Eighth Annual Report, p. 143. 
t Maine Ag. Exp’t Sta., Ann. Rep. 1889, part 2. 
£Uniy. of Wise., Ag. Ex. Sta. Bulletin No. 3. 
