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.
Fig. 4.—a crimson-clover failure on ground too poor in humus.