August and September are the best months for sowing crimson clover, the exact date depending upon the condition of the soil. Either hulled or unhulled seed may be used, the latter giving somewhat greater certainty of a stand.
Crimson clover is often sown with a nurse crop of buckwheat or cowpeas, to protect it from the sun. A light covering of straw is also effective.
Combinations of crimson clover with oats, hairy vetch, or other fall-sown forage crops give somewhat higher yields and a surer stand than crimson clover alone.
No insects trouble crimson clover seriously, and the only severe disease is the stem-rot, or wilt.
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief
Washington, D. C. August, 1920
GROWING CRIMSON CLOVER.[1]
L. W. Kephart,
Scientific Assistant, Office of Forage-Crop Investigations.
[1] This bulletin is a revision of Farmers' Bulletin 550, entitled "Crimson Clover: Growing the Crop," by J. M. Westgate, formerly Agronomist in Charge of Clover Investigations, Office of Forage-Crop Investigations. The illustrations and some of the subject matter of the old bulletin are retained in the present issue.