The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1924-02-01
Italian Seed Is
Not Satisfactory
Has Resulted in Poor Crop
or Failure in Nearly
Every Trial.

Of Agricuiture.)
In October last, the United States
Department Of Agriculture called at
;ention to the fact that the American
ed clover seed crop for 1923 appeared
% be q short one and that therefore
{ was probable that considerable i'm
portations Of foreign seed would be
made. Present indications are that
such importations will be heavy and
from widely separated regions of pro-
auction and therefore will include seed
varying greatly In Its adaptability to
the climatic conditions of different por-
lions OF this country. This makes 1t
important for the farmer to consider
In the light Of available information
what kind Of clover seed will be best
Tor him to buy.
Points Well Settled.
While the department has not yet
accumulated sufficient information
through its tests in. cooperation with
the state experiment stations to make
possible determination of the adapt
ability Of red clover from all the for
eign sources, the following points are
regarded as fairly well settled:
1. Italian red clover seed is un-
suitable for any part of the clover
area except the Pacific Northwest.
italian seed has resulted in a poor
crop or a failure in nearly every trial
made by the department, both in its
own tests and those made in co-opera-
ton with. the state experiment sta
tons except In the Pacific Northwest.
How much Italian seed will be import
ed Is not known and, unfortunately, 1t
is not possible to tell how much Ital-
Ian grown seed will be offered under
some other name.
2. In the Central Northwest where
winters are severe and the snow cover
usually light. northern grown red
clover seed only should be used. If
that Is not to be had, other domestic
seed may be used. except that from
Oregon. which produces a less hardy
plant.
8. So far as trials have been made,
the Chilean, French, and northern
European seed has given good results
In the Ohio and Mississippi valleys and
in the North Atlantic coast states.
However, where there is trouble from
clover diseases. especially anthracnose.
the foreign clovers are more likely to
lose out on the second crop.
A. In Virginia and westward to Ten
nessee. where anthracnose is likely
to be destructive, an effort should be
made to develop local disease resistant
strains. At present there is prac-
tically no such seed on the market.
Under these circumstances seed grown
In the eastern United States as near
as possible to where the seed is to be
used, or Chilean, or French seed sown
In August rather than in the spring
may be expected to give fair results.
On suitable land good crop Of hay
may be commonly expected even
though q second cutting may not be Sc
cured.
8. In Oregon, washington and Idaho
all strains have done well, the place
Of origin of the seed seems to make
little difference for these regions.
6. Buyers should insist on knowing
the origin Of the seed offered and seed
should be purchased from firms or or
CARNATIONS of known integrity and re-
sponsibility.
uss only Domestic Seed.
Z. 1t would probably be desirable
for all American farmers to use only
domestic red clover seed. That is at
present impossible. however, and too
great ipsistence on this might lead
TO an excessive increase In price to-
gether with the sale of much imported
seed under. domestic labels. Wherever
imported seed Of suitable kinds can
be safely used. this course would seem
advisable to follow rather than to re-
duce the acreage seeded because Of
difficulty in securing domestic seed.