The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1893-09-05

purpose.
The following circular was sent cut
with the seeds:
n. @. AGRICULTURAL EXP'T Stain,
Raleigh, n, Q.
CRIMSON CLOVER
DEAR SRA ten pound bag of Grim
son clover seed in the chaff will be
sen by freight TO on --.
This will be sufficient to plant one fifth
of an acre.
Crimson clover CTrif0lium incarna-
tum) is known under a variety Of com
mon names-Annual, German, Scar
let, and Italian. This clover is easily
grown, and should come iuto quite
general use. It is an annual. and con
sequen5ly must be re seeded for eacd
crop, which makes it important to
grow seed at home. Seed may be s0wn
from July to October, but ;.I'a land
should always be well prepared for it,
o., if not, it should be well shaded, as
under a growth Of COW pea vines, or in
cora or cotton crop, when the seed
should be s0wn when the crop IL laid
by. Grown in This way il is Of great
service in enriching and holding the
| land from washing Its growth is made
in the cool w65 part Of the year, and
it Is ready 20 b5 made into hay at
season when planters are waiting for
| C )ttDn to veGetata for first working.
This il often dry time and the hay
can be quickly and easily cured. It
may often be best to SOW this clover
with oats, rye, Or barley, and cu5 ali
for hay IL april or May.
This clover will thrive on land in
moderate condition. but, like most
other forage plants, will pay best where
given rich soil The composition Of
crimson clover hay shows il To be- 9
| highly nutritious food. Il il SO rich
that for any use it may welt be fed
with some such fodder Of str2w,
meadow hay, or cotton seed hulls
! When fed for production OF milk, the
addition of c1rn, or corn ard cats, Will
tend TO add 10 the good quali'ies Of the
product.
This seed is part Of the crop Of 2, 687
! like it from Il acres, which is at the
rate Of /, 956 pounds of seed IN chaff
per acre We have made some tests
on this, which if true for the whole lot
| of seed, would yield at the rate OF
| Is 795 pounds, or 1913 bushels per acre
of clean seed. This seed usually sells
&t retail for 10 cents per pound, and
! dealers are now paying SIS so per bushel
| for it.
The long. well-flled heads warrant
| this a good cash crop where a good
stand can be secured on land in fair
condition. It can be grown in orchards
for the Improvement Of the soil, as in
Delaware, where it has come to be a
standard crop.
The one drawback is that q special
machine must be used to clean the seed.
nj, lIJil Is 1NJ74
could clean the seed of a whole town,
and perhaps a whole county by NOV,
| ing around as is usual with those and
| threshing machines.
When the crop from this seed comes
off, provided you got stand and have
crop TO harvest, should you think
favorably enough of this crop to grow
| it for seed, you will have enough seed
on hand for quite an acreage, which
should be sOwn early so as to get the
benefit of the rains and moist weather
of dog days Your neighbors will have
| seen and thought about this crop, and
| if you raise it there should be acreage
enough among your neighbOrs to war
rant the purchase of O clover seed
| hUller.
There are several advantages in
| growing annual clover sufficient to in
duce its cultivation from purchased
seed but il, instead of buying seed it
can be grown at profit and add one
more to the cash crops, how much bet
ter to accept this chance and foster it
than let it 60.
In maturing a crop Of seed, care
should be exercised to pull out weeds
and foreign plants and so keep the seed
clean. Let the clover get ripe, but not
| go as to shell out too freely before cut
ting and handle as little as possible.
| Pitch up into cocks from the swath
and draw in from the cocks in tight
wagons. IF tough, the cocks may be
! turned over from the bottom a half
| hour before drawing to shelter. House
on a tight floor and thresh out at the
first opportunity after the straw has
dried out enough to thresh well.
Very truly yours,
AGRICULTURIST,
n. @. Agricultural Exp't Stain.
Owing to exhaustion of our supply Of
seed in the chaff, a few lots are fur.
nished with but five pounds Of seed.
This amount will be sufficient for one
tenth of an acre. The later correspond
ents are being supplied with two
pounds Of cleaned seed, which will SOW
the same area, one tenth of an acre.
The numerous calls for seed received
in reply to the circular letter proves