The Prescott daily news. (Prescott, Ark.) 1907-1941, 1914-05-15
CRIMSON CLOVER A USEFUL,
CROP.


IN the spring can be turned to the
farmers advantage are pointed ont in
Farmers Bulletin $40, Crimson Clio
yer Utilization" In the Southern and
Central Atlantic States this crop is of
particular value. Generally speaking
it suffers from the severe winters in
the North and from too great dryness
west of the Mississippi. In Florida
also it has proved less successful than
elsewhere.
Crimson clover, says the bulletin.
has two great advantages. 1t is an
excellent fertilizer and it can be used
for pasture and hay before any other
green growth is available, the land
being then sown with an ordinary
summer-grown crop. The clover it.
self can be sown toward the end of
the summer on land where such late
crops as corn or tomatoes are still I'M
under cultivation. It's use, therefore.
does not interfere with other products
and its benefits cost little but the la
Dor and seed involved
To obtain the full value of crimson
clover as a fertilizer, the entire green
crop should be plowed under, thus
adding to the soil large quantity of
nitrogen and humus, or decayed vege-
table matter. The poorer the land
the greater is the benefit that the
succeeding crop derives from this pro-
cess. A yield of 30 bushels of corn
per acre may ordinarily be increased
by Crimson clover to As, but on richer
land an increase of more than 10
bushels is uncommon. A convenient
method of calculation is to consider
a full crop of crimson clover, weigh
ing, with roots and tops, about 10
tons an acre, as the equivalent of a
distribution of tons of fresh barn
yard manure to an acre. In this way
the soil is greatly enriched each year
without interfering in any way with
the regular money crops such as corn,
cotton, or tomatoes.
1t is, however, by no means neces-
sary to sacrifice the entire crop of
crimson clover to fertilizing purposes.
Excellent results can be obtained by
blowing under merely the roots and
sutbble This it is estimated, re-
turns to the soil 40 per cent as much
nitrogen as the green crop. When
this is done the clover itself can be
used either for pasture, before ordi-
nary grass is sufficiently far advanced
to be available or for hay which can
be gathered in time to leave the land
free for another crop.
Crimson clover intended for hay
must, however, be cut at the right
moment, when the most advanced
heads are beginning to show faded
flowers at their base. At this stage
the plants contain the maximum
amount of protein and dry matter
while the leaves are still present and
the stems comparatively green. If
the harvest is put off, the short hairs
on the stems and flower heads become
dry and stiff. In this stage there is
danger that they may form hard hair
balls in the intestinal tracts of horses
and mules to which the hay is fed.
These hair balls, solid, compact, felt
like structures, nearly always cause
death. Early cutting, however, and
judicious mixing with other hay will
obviate this difficulty to great ex-
tent, and, under any other circum-
stances, cattle are rarely affected. By
dairymen, crimson-clover hay is con-
sidered roughage feed fully equal
if not superior to either red or alsike
Fer early pasturing crimson clover
is even more satisfactory, its chief
drawback being the limited period in
which it can be utilized for this pur-
pose. This period, however, is ample
to enable the ordinary grass pastures
to attain a growth which will greatly
increase their carrying capacity later
in the season. After the cattle are
removed, the uneaten plats and ma
nure left behind are plowed under,
the manure of course forming val
liable addition to the fertiizing effect
of the clover.
AS pasture, hay, or fertilizer, there
fore, crimson clover offers itself to
farmers at time when the ordinary
summer-grown crops are not avail
able Incidentally. it should be said,