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SEED MARKET NEWS 

VoL. VIII 
SLATE SEED COMPANY, INC., SOUTH BOSTON, VA. No. 1 


LADINO CLOVER 
This variety of giant perennial white clover has 
been in use for about ten years and is proving to be 
one of the most valuable introduction of recent years. 
It has a wide range of uses, being one of the best 
pasture crops known today. It makes a good crop of 
excellent quality hay, is a soil builder, and takes 
care of erosion. 
Every pasture mixture seeded on clay or loam soils 
should contain Ladino clover because it is easy to get 
a stand, it grows well with grasses and other legumes, 
it stands hot dry weather better than any other clov- 
er, it gives year around grazing, and if covered by 
high water, will come out again in a few weeks. 
Cattle relish it and will graze Ladino clover in pref- 
erence to any other crop. 
As a hay crop, it ranks with our other clovers but 
has the advantage of growing on soils that will not 
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grow other varieties. It is easy to get a stand of 
Ladino and it grows tall enough to make good hay. 
Can be seeded in wheat, oats, ete., in either fall or 
spring. 
Ladino clover has a spreading growth and propo- 
gates from both seed and runners. This makes it one 
of the best soil building crops available. Yet it is 
not hard to get rid of because one plowing will elimi- 
nate it. Ladino is a legume and adds valuable nit- 
rogen to the soil. 
Cultural directions for Ladino are practically the 
same as for any other clover. Can be seeded in either 
fall or spring at the rate of 114 to 2 lbs. per acre. 
The seed are very small but carry a good germina- 
tion and the plant is hardy and grows well on al- 
most any soil. The price per pound of seed is high 
but when you consider the small quantity required to 
seed an acre, its per acre cost is less than the aver- 
age. In fact, with the exception of Lespedeza, Ladino 
clover can be seeded cheaper than any other clover. 
And once established, it will last for years and gradu- 
ally get thicker. Sow alone or with other grasses and 

clovers. A good mixture for pasture is 2 lbs. Ladino 
clover and 15 lbs. Orchard Grass per acre. Alta 
Fescue goes well with Ladino and the same quantity 
of Alta Fescue may be substituted for Orchard Grass 
in the above mixture. 
ALTA FESCUE 
In 1918 Dr. H. A. Schoth, Senior Agronomist, U. S. 
Department of Agriculture at Corvallis, Oregon, made 
the original selection from Tall Fescue. For five years, 
he worked improving his selection and in 1923 sowed 
the first field. Alta Fescue today has a definite place 
in our farm program. 
The most outstanding values of Alta Fescue are its 
deep root system which help it to withstand dry 
weather and its ability to give late summer grazing 
when most other grasses have dried up. Once estab- 
lished a stand of Alta Fescue should last for years, 
because its dense rooting system has been 
known to reach five feet deep. This sys- 
tem of root growth makes it possible for 
this plant to live through extremes of 
both heat and cold. 
Alta Fescue is slow starting and should 
always be seeded with some other crop. 
We recommend 20 lbs. seed per acre and 
a good mixture can be made with 2 lbs. 
Ladino Clover, 15 lbs. Alta Fescue, and 
10 lbs. Orchard Grass per acre. Always 
sow Alta Fescue very early in the spring 
or during the fall. Late spring seeding is 
not recommended. 
LESPEDEZA 
This spring we find Korean Lespedeza 
occupying the position of leader in the 
legume field. Because all grasses and 
clovers are high this year and Lespedeza 
is cheaper than last season, it should 
prove very attractive in every section where it can be 
grown. As a soil builder and hay crop, Lespedeza has 
few equals and since the price is so reasonable this 
year, you can reduce the cost of your hay crop by 
seeding Lespedeza liberally. 
There are few crops that have done more for the 
South than Korean Lespedeza. It has built up much 
of our poor farm lands and made cattle a profitable 
item by supplying unlimited quantities of rich hay 
for feed. 
Lespedeza can be seeded on small grain at any time 
from February to May and requires so little prepara- 
tion that any farmer can find time to put in a good 
crop. The seeding rate extends from 25 lbs. to 50 Ibs. 
per acre. We think 30 to 35 Ibs. per acre sufficient. 
It stands hot dry weather and gives a good yield of 
highly nutritious hay while building up the soil. 
Check the cost of seeding various hay crops and 
you will find that Lespedeza offers the greatest pos- 
sibilities of any legume crop for 1949. Every farmer 
should sow his entire small grain acreage in Lespe- 
deza this year. 
