When crimson clover is grown for the first time an additional inoculation
treatment is recommended if weather conditions are dry and hot after
seeding. This supplemental inoculation consists in mixing commercial
cultures with sand, soil, or cottonseed meal and broadcasting the
mixture over the soil surface during cloudy, rainy weather as the young
seedlings are emerging. A bushel-size culture mixed with 60 pounds of the
above-mentioned material is sufficient for an acre if distributed evenly.
Soil from a field where inoculated crimson clover has been grown may also
be used for the supplemental treatment.
=Unhulled Seed=
Using unhulled common seed increases the chance of obtaining thick stands.
When the soil is dry, light rainfall does not cause the unhulled seed to
sprout, but hulled seed germinates readily and the seedlings may die from
lack of moisture before they can become established.
Its bulky nature makes unhulled seed more difficult to distribute
uniformly than hulled seed. It must be broadcast and may be harrowed in.
It is also difficult to market and is not generally handled by the seed
trade. But farmers can harvest seed for their own use and save the expense
of having it hulled.
=Companion Crops=
Rye, vetch, ryegrass, and fall-sown grain crops are often seeded with
crimson clover. Such crops are seeded at half to a third the normal rate,
and the crimson clover is seeded at half to two-thirds the normal rate.
Seeding is done at the same time, but, as a greater depth is required
for most of the seed of the companion crops, two seeding operations are
necessary.
Farmers often use a mixture of 5 pounds of red clover and 10 pounds of
crimson clover per acre with excellent results. The first growth of the
mixture may be grazed or harvested for hay or for crimson clover seed,
while the second crop is wholly red clover. Dixie crimson clover has given
good results when planted with Johnson and Bermuda grasses.
=Diseases and Insects=
The most serious disease that affects crimson clover is crown rot. The
effect of this disease is seen early in spring and is characterized by
the plants dying in patches. The stems rot at the surface of the soil or
where they join the crown. Continued damp, cool weather during winter and
early spring favors the development of the disease. This disease can be
controlled by not growing clover or other legumes in rotation for 2 to 5
years.
Sandy soils in the southern part of the crimson clover belt are often
infested with nematodes. Nematode injury stunts and yellows the plants.
While the clover-seed chalcid, the pea aphid, and other insects sometimes
become numerous in crimson clover, insects do not ordinarily cause
appreciable damage.
=Utilization=
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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