Crimson Clover: Growing the Crop

by J. M. Westgate

In North Carolina and southern Virginia it has been found possible under favorable conditions to obtain a satisfactory stand of clover by seeding in cotton. The clover should not be sown until 10 or 12 weeks before frost and the last working of the cotton comes ordinarily at an earlier date than this. It is necessary that the cotton be given very clean culture, as well as special attention paid to conserving the moisture in the prospective clover-seed bed. Unless the first show of cotton is picked early it is difficult to cover the clover seed without unduly injuring the opened cotton bolls. In the higher and more northern parts of the cotton belt it is possible to make the clover seeding before the bolls begin to burst.

Crimson clover may be seeded in practically any of the cultivated truck crops which receive their last cultivation from 8 to 12 weeks before the first frost. It is not practicable to seed the clover in late potatoes, as the digging of the potatoes in the fall practically destroys the stand of clover. The heavy application of fertilizers necessary for the truck crop makes possible a vigorous growth of the clover. The result is that the soil is materially built up in both nitrogen and humus. The clover makes its growth at a season of the year when the land is not ordinarily occupied by any of the regular truck crops.

When timely rains follow the seeding it is possible to seed the clover on the surface of the ground among cantaloupe vines and allow the first rain to cover the seed. The shade is apparently too dense under watermelon vines for the clover seedlings to survive. The writer has obtained a good stand by seeding the clover seed, without covering, in sweet potatoes the first week in August on sandy land near Washington, D. C. By hand-digging the potatoes with a spade a fair stand of the clover plants was left unharmed.

SEEDING CRIMSON CLOVER AFTER EARLY-MATURING CROPS.

It is possible to seed crimson clover after practically any of the ordinary farm crops which can be removed from the land three months before frost.

It is somewhat difficult to obtain anything like an ideal seed bed for crimson clover where a field of grain stubble has been plowed under. The soil in a stubble field is apt to be dry and cloddy when plowed, while the stubble tends to form a dry mat at the bottom of each furrow. Such a condition is likely to continue for a number of weeks after plowing and to result disastrously to the clover seedlings unless there be abundant and frequent rains. It is ordinarily a better practice to disk the grain stubble and harrow every week, or at least after every rain, in order to settle the ground and assist in holding the moisture pending the time of seeding. Such frequent harrowings will also kill the successive crops of germinating weed seeds, which might otherwise injure the young stand of clover.

On the other hand, the ground from which early potatoes have been removed is very favorable for the establishment of a stand of crimson clover. The residual effect of the fertilizers used on the potatoes is partially responsible for this, while the well-settled seed bed, which requires only leveling and harrowing, also presents favorable conditions for the crimson-clover seedlings.

SEEDING CRIMSON CLOVER WITH LATE SUMMER-SEEDED ANNUAL CROPS.

Crimson clover may be seeded in midsummer or in late summer with a very light seeding of buckwheat. The buckwheat soon forms an ideal shade for the young clover plants and unless frosts occur very early a crop of buckwheat may usually be harvested. This method has been suggested as being applicable when seeding the clover in cotton. If the buckwheat is not seeded until August it will not ordinarily produce seed in the latitude of Washington, D. C. Wherever possible, the seeding of buckwheat and crimson clover should be made so early that there will be time for the buckwheat to mature its seed crop, as in this way the buckwheat itself will pay for the expense of starting both stands. A light seeding of the buckwheat must be made, as an ordinary stand of buckwheat shades the ground so completely as to destroy the crimson clover.