The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1898-02-19
FARNERANDP PLANTER.
BURR CLOVER.


4 Forage Plant Not Hs Vel Appreciated
a tie Souzh a. It. Hsrits Deserve
u his section Of tie south lMzssis-
siapiI ne have clover that 5 grown .
limited extent kn0Hn - Barr Of Cal
iIornia Bal clover. The natnral per
sumption Is that this clover Fas org
Inallr introduced iato the south from
California. ! think that IN lie state
naued il j. sometimes called Aha-4
eloFer, The seed having been imported
from thai country i IS an annual
resseaine Itself. The seed are iaeased
Ia 4 brown. tough burr-lIks covering.
! have never yei seen an halied
Or clean seed. TIE plant springs
up IN early fall when tie
rams afford moisture enough
10 gerninate tie seed = TIE
seed thai lave remained On tie
ground perfectly preserved and IN
dormant state from spring ~ autumn,
IhIs clover Is green the entire winter;
every warm spell Of weather il makes
good growth. Ii viii stand as much
abuse from excessive grazing and
ramping a anr member OF The clover
famiIy-possi bly it siIl stand more
abuse than any. Of them. Like nearly
al the true ci0ners. stock are not nat
urally fond Of il al first. In this case.
Ii requires more time than usual for
tie stock 10 acquire 4 taste for it.
Ii viii thrive on an fairly rich soil
where there j. DO standing water. 1t
grows well on Bermuda soil
The stock ought 10 be taken off Of
the clover some lime IN April to give
it time to mature seed il May. Il dies
down about The middle Of May. If the
seed that fall 10 the ground are per-
United 70 lie on the ground until the
fall rains one is sure Of a good stand
Of clover. The hot sun of summerdoes
not injure the terminating power Of
the seed. Sometimes the seed lie in The
soil for years and when tuffed 10 the
surface again, and the conditions are
favorable, they terminate aud grow
healthy plants.
Ii one cares to do SO, the ground can
be plowed after the plants seed and the
seed fall to the grounds; and tie saine
land can be planted to some crop that
Will mature reasonably early in tie
fall, such as corn. In the fall tile
clover will spring up and possess the
ground the same as If no crop had been
grown on the land. Thus we get two
crops from the same land in one year.
The clover is doubtless a most excel
lent fertilizer. The plant usually bears
a heavy yield Of SEED. Since the SEED
are sold III the burr state, and as the
burr-lilte covering catches and holds
much OF the trash that comes in con-
tact with 1t, more or less foreign mat
ter is sold with the SEED. Seed sell at
from 81 to 81 per bushel | know of
one party gYho sold sl0g worth OF SEED
several years ago from half acre Of
land, thai same laad well sodded to
Bermuda grass. lie received about s.
per busliei for the seed.
Ibis clover Is mainly valuable for
grazing. | have never known anyone
10 make hay of it. In winter, when
Tie stock are confined 10 dry fool. d
small amount OF grazing on burr elo-
YER daily is highly relished as an ap
petizer for the dry feed. A little OF
this green stuff aids digestion and
tones up the whole system. In
sowing the seed there IS no neees-
sity Of breaking the land and making
special reparafion of the soil for the
reception Of the seed; they can be sown
on the ground without any Of this ex-
ira expense; but in order to insure
stand, il will be advisable 10 sow early
ia the season. 50 the burr will have
good time to soften and decay, and the
seed sufficiently imbedded toinsure the
plant roofing.
Burr clover is not as much appreciat-
ed in this southern country as its mer-
its deserve. Its growth ought to he ex-
tended. There il a demand each sue
ceeding year for many times more seed
than il offered for sale in the market.
Raising The seed alone as a money crop
will pay a very handsome profit. We
know this latter statement 10 be an es-
tablished fact, as several parties of our
acquaintance in this locality have been
growing seed for ten TO twenty years.
and they themselves admit that the
crop is very remuneratiye one. None
of them have any seed for sale now,
the supply having been exhausted long
ago.-Cor. Farm and Ranch.