Growing Crimson CloverKephart, L. W. (Leonard Wheeler)
Science
Growing Crimson Clover
Kephart, L. W. (Leonard Wheeler)
Crimson clover
In Europe six or seven different varieties of crimson clover are
recognized and sold by seedsmen, varying from extra early crimson flowered
to, extra late white flowered and from very hardy to non-hardy. By the use
of a succession of these varieties the European farmer is able to spread
his harvest over six or seven weeks instead of having it concentrated
within a few days, as in America. Similarly, the culture of the plant has
been extended northward from Italy to Sweden by means of hardy strains.
A wild form of crimson clover having yellowish flowers and hairy foliage
occurs in southern and eastern Europe and in England, but it is not of
economic value.
In America no sharply defined varieties of crimson clover are recognized,
except a white-blooming variety which is sold in the South and is two
weeks later than the ordinary crimson-flowered sort. Hardy strains have
been developed and used in a small way in Massachusetts and Ohio, but
these are not commercially available.
=USE IN THE ROTATION.=
=SEEDING IN INTERTILLED CROPS.=
In former years a large percentage of the crimson-clover acreage was
seeded in corn or other intertilled crops at or shortly after the time of
the last cultivation. In most of the crimson-clover area it is possible
to make such a seeding, obtain a good growth during the fall and early
spring, and mow or plow under the clover in time, for breaking up the land
for another crop of corn. This has been the standard method of growing
this clover, and it is still the leading practice in many of the older
sections. Corn in the summer with crimson clover in the winter is a cheap
and convenient method of growing a cash crop and a restorative crop the
same year, and the reputation of crimson clover as a crop increaser is
largely based on this simple rotation. Instances are by no means rare
where the yield of corn has been gradually increased from 10 bushels per
acre to as high as 70 bushels by this means.
The difficulty with this method is the possibility of the stand of young
clover failing through drought. The growing corn makes a heavy demand on
the soil moisture, and if there is not enough moisture for both clover and
corn the latter gets the larger share and the tender clover plants are
likely to succumb. Because of the risk involved, farmers in the upland
sections are seeking other and more reliable methods of seeding, and the
sowing of crimson clover in corn is gradually decreasing.
Where the danger from fall drought is not serious, crimson clover may be
sown in corn at the time of the last cultivation or when the corn leaves
have just begun to wither. South of central Virginia there is likely to be
much hot weather after the corn is laid by, in which case it is best to
delay the seeding of the clover until after the first rain. The appearance
of a field of crimson clover seeded in corn the previous summer is shown
in figure 3.
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