Growing Crimson CloverKephart, L. W. (Leonard Wheeler)
Science
Growing Crimson Clover
Kephart, L. W. (Leonard Wheeler)
Crimson clover
In many parts of the South crimson clover can be seeded in corn stubble if
an early variety of corn has been used. Although there is some risk that
the clover may not make enough growth before winter if seeding is delayed
until the corn is harvested, the danger of losing the stand is not as
great as if the clover were seeded earlier, while the corn was standing.
Crimson clover is sometimes seeded after a grass or clover crop if the
rainfall in July is sufficient to cause the sod to decay. In the far South
it can be planted after peanuts, while in all sections it can be sown as
a catch crop on land where cotton or other crops have died early in the
season.
=REQUIREMENTS FOR OBTAINING A STAND.=
Probably the difficulty most commonly experienced in growing crimson
clover is failure to obtain a satisfactory stand. Sometimes the seed does
not germinate well; more commonly good germination is secured, but the
seedlings wither and die before they can become established. Frequently
not more than 50 per cent of the plants survive the first three weeks,
while a complete failure of the crop is a common risk even in the sections
where crimson clover is most widely grown.
The most common cause of failure to obtain a stand is hot, dry
weather after planting. The seedlings of crimson clover are tender,
succulent, and shallow rooted and are easily killed by lack of moisture.
Unfortunately, in most of the crimson-clover area the weather during late
August and early September is very likely to be hot and droughty, making
the planting of the clover at that time rather hazardous. Some farmers
attempt to avoid this difficulty by planting either in early summer or in
October, after the fall rains; there is danger, however, that the plants
will make too much or too little growth to survive the winter. In the
long run it is probably better to plant at the regular time and depend
upon thorough preparation of the seed bed to offset any deficiency in the
rainfall.
=SOILS.=
Crimson clover can be grown successfully on almost any type of soil if it
is reasonably rich, well drained, and supplied with organic matter and the
proper inoculating bacteria. Probably two-thirds of the crimson-clover
acreage is found on the sandy soils of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, but
the crop is not necessarily restricted to sandy soils and is in fact
increasing in importance on the red-clay soils of the Piedmont region and
in the limestone valleys of Virginia and Tennessee.
[Illustration: Fig. 4.--a crimson-clover failure on ground too poor in
humus.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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