Fortunately most of the soils in the crimson-clover sections appear to be already inoculated. This is especially true in sandy soil areas where crimson clover has been grown for a number of seasons. In sections new to this crop inoculation in some form is usually necessary. On clay soils inoculation is not always present, even though crimson clover may have been grown, for a number of successive seasons on other fields of the farm. An experiment conducted by the Alabama State Agricultural Experiment Station shows how essential inoculation is on soils which have not previously grown crimson clover. In this experiment a yield of 4,057 pounds of crimson clover hay was secured where the plants were inoculated, as compared with only 761 pounds where no inoculation was provided. In another test by the same station the inoculated plat of crimson clover yielded at the rate of 6,100 pounds of cured hay per acre, while the uninoculated plat was a total failure. Inoculation by the use of soil from a crimson-clover field is considerably more certain than is inoculation by the use of pure cultures, but soil inoculation is open to the danger of introducing noxious weeds, insects, and plant diseases, especially if the soil is brought from a distance. There is much less danger in this respect if soil from inoculated plants can be obtained in the same neighborhood. One very practicable method is to apply a bottle of pure culture[3] to a pound or two of the seed and sow this in the corner of some field, or even in the garden. The resulting plants will be quite sure to be inoculated and will furnish an abundant supply of soil for inoculating much larger areas at the next seeding. Care must be taken not to allow the sun to shine upon either the pure cultures or the soil, or even on the seed after it is broadcasted. For this reason it is safest to seed on a cloudy day or after sundown. One very satisfactory method of soil inoculation consists merely in mixing together equal parts of the proper soil and seed and sowing immediately in front of the covering harrow. [3] Pure cultures are sent free by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Full instructions for using them accompany each bottle. =SEEDING CRIMSON CLOVER.= Crimson clover may be sown broadcast, by hand, with a wheel-barrow "sheep-trough" seeder, or with any of the familiar types of rotary seeders. It is sometimes drilled in and there are a number of specially constructed drills designed for this purpose. The consensus of opinion among farmers is that shallow seeding is generally best, especially upon the clay soils. An inch in sandy soils and half an inch in clay soils appears to be about the right depth except in times of drought.