Crimson Clover: Growing the CropWestgate, J. M. (John Minton)
Science
Crimson Clover: Growing the Crop
Westgate, J. M. (John Minton)
Crimson clover
The ordinary rate of seeding is 15 pounds per acre, although some use 20
pounds, while others are able to obtain satisfactory stands with only 12
pounds per acre. One pound of seed per acre provides for three seeds for
every square foot; hence, if every seed produced a plant, 2 pounds per
acre would be theoretically sufficient to secure a satisfactory stand.
Under ordinary circumstances, however, it is necessary to allow for some
of the seed being covered too deep, while a considerable proportion may
prove to be covered too shallow for successful growth. The principal
justification of seeding such a quantity and at varying depths lies in
the fact that in case a dry season develops after seeding the more deeply
covered seeds will be able to withstand the drought better than those
covered to a medium depth. If an unusually wet season develops, the
shallow-planted seeds will give the best results. Moreover, some of the
seed will fail to germinate. It is also well to have a fairly thick stand
of the young plants, so that the ground may be well covered even during
early fall, and thus prevent the winter-growing weeds from establishing
themselves.
It is held by many farmers that they are more certain of getting a stand
of crimson clover if they sow the seed in the hull rather than use the
hulled seed as it ordinarily appears on the market. It is claimed that
the hulls hold the moisture to some extent. Seed in the hull can easily
be obtained by flailing out a load of crimson clover which has been left
uncut in the field until the seed is mature. Many farmers run the clover
through an ordinary grain thrasher, which delivers the seed in the hull.
=VARIOUS METHODS OF SEEDING CRIMSON CLOVER.=
Crimson clover may be seeded in late summer in any of the ordinary
intertilled crops. It may be seeded alone following any farm crop which
can be removed from the land by early summer, so that the seed can be
sown in late summer or very early fall. It may also be seeded for hay in
mixture with grain, such as wheat, rye, barley, or winter oats, which are
ready to cut for hay at about the same time as the clover the following
spring. A very light seeding of an animal catch crop, such as buckwheat,
may be made with crimson clover in time for the catch crop to make its
growth before winter.
=SEEDING CRIMSON CLOVER IN INTERTILLED CROPS.=
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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