The progressive farmer., 1900-09-18
CRIMSON CLOVER.


great land renovator and stock feeder
have appeared in The Progressive
Farmer, hardly think too much can
be said of it. The truth is, the more
you grow it the better you like it,
and the more you praise it the more
you want to laud it's good qualities.
Crimson clover is sometimes called
German clover, and by some Annual
clover. It is a much surer crop than
red clover and grows much more
rapidly and natures quicker. The
red clover has the advantage of be-
ing biennial, but it has to occupy
the land through the summer as we'll
as in winter
The crimson should be planted in the
fall or any time from the latter part
of August to the first of November
The best time is in September, though
if the month is very dry and hot,
October would be better.
It can be sown on most any of our
soils with reasonable hope of sue
cess. 1t will grow on sandy lands
that are entirely too light for red
clover.
1t is a mistake to try to grow it on
poor land. If the land is thin, help
it out with some stable manure, or
if need be with a mixture of COM
mercial fertilizers. You cannot get
something out of nothing, so if your
land is poor, give it a start as you
would anything else, and you will
surely reap your reward. Crimson
clover needs little encouragement
while young, as it is very small and
tender.
On poor sandy lands it is best to
put on some stable manure, and a
complete fertilizer. On most of the
stiff heavy soils acid phosphate and
little cotton seed meal is enough.
The best results are obtained for the
average lands by applying a com
plete mixture until the land gets in
''good heart" say
Acid phosphate 121a26. 1, 900 lbs.
Cotton seed meal " 600 "
1900 lbs. kainit 13 400 ="
1900 lbs.
Put this mixture on the land and
harrow in with seed, or better still
harrow in alone with disc harrow.
and then SOW seed and harrow them
in lightly, as they are small and
must not be put in too deep.
This crop is often sowed in the
hull, or trough, as some speak of
it. In that case the ground is not
broken up, but the seed are sown in
the corn or cotton field and the rains
cover them sufficiently to cause ger
mination. In fact, the seed will ger
inmate in the hull as it lies on the
ground if protected by grass and
leaves. 1t is best, however, to run
through the cotton after the first
picking, and through the corn with
light One-horse harrow and let this
cover the seed already sown. A little
extra work insUres a good stand and
like all other crops, that is half of
the battle. Sow 20 pounds of clean
seed per acre and 25 pounds to 40
pounds of the seed in the hull. Be
careful in buying to get fresh seed,
as those two years old are not worth
sowing. Those having a greenish
color all right, but those of a brown
ish yellow color are from the last
years crop and should be avoided,
Don't be fooled into buying old seed
because they are cheap.
This crop, like vetch, grows in the.
winter and saves the land from
teaching and washing There is no
loss from the land to speak of when
covered with clover. So it is saved
from loss, but that is not all. It is
storing up nitrogen from the air and
filing the soil with innumberable
roots that loosen up the soil and
aid in subsoil drainage and in stor-
ing up water in the soil. Hence we
can claim that it conserves moisture.
When the crop is cut for hay
nearly one-third of it's fertilizing
value is still left in the soil. If cut
at the proper time there is no danger
whatever from feeding to stock. On
the other hand it makes excellent
feed, eaten readily. by all kinds of
farm stock.
Its renovating value cannot be inn