2. It is, on the whole, longer lived than the medium red variety and has greater power to grow in a sandy soil and under conditions in which moisture is not plentiful. 3. It provides more pasture than the medium red variety during the early part of the season, but not so much after harvest, the season of growth being less continuous then than with the former. 4. The hay which it furnishes is usually considerably more bulky and coarse, and because of this it is not so highly prized by stock. 5. It blooms about three weeks later than the medium red variety and remains a little longer in bloom and seeds more freely, but can only be cut once in a season. 6. It furnishes more green food for plowing under than the medium red; hence, it is, on the whole, a better improver of the soil. CHAPTER VII CRIMSON CLOVER Crimson Clover (_Trifolium incarnatum_) is also known by the names French, German, German Mammoth, Italian, Egyptian and Carnation clover. In America it is common in certain areas to speak of it as winter clover, from the greater powers of growth which it possesses at that season as compared with other clovers. The plants have an erect habit of growth, and yet they are soft and hairy, and they have much power to stool. More than 100 stems have been produced by one plant, but under conditions the most favorable. The leaves are numerous. The heads are oblong, cylindrical, and considerably cone-shaped, and are from 1 to 2 inches long, and much larger than those of medium red clover. The bloom is scarlet or crimson and of the richest dye; hence, a more beautiful sight is seldom seen than that of a vigorous crop of crimson clover in full bloom. The average height of the plants may be put at about 18 inches, but they have been grown to the height of 3 and even 4 feet. The root growth is fully twice that of the stems. The roots are strong, go down straight into the soil, and are to some extent branched. Crimson clover is an annual, although usually the growth covers a part of two years. Sown in the summer or early autumn, growth is completed by the advent of the following summer. It is, therefore, pre-eminently a catch crop, and because of this, when conditions admit of it, serves a purpose in American agriculture, which can be served by none of the other varieties of clover that are now grown. It has much power to grow in cool weather, when the clovers are practically dormant. It does not cease to grow until the ground has become frozen, and as soon as the frost leaves the soil growth begins at once; hence, the greater relative value this plant has for areas in which the winters are mild. [Illustration: Fig. 6. Crimson Clover (_Trifolium incarnatum_) Tennessee Experiment Station]