Part 2

=Rate and Time of Seeding=

Under ordinary conditions 12 to 15 pounds of hulled seed to the acre will give good stands unless there is lack of soil moisture. Depending upon the quantity of chaff and pieces of stems, 45 to 60 pounds of unhulled seed is comparable with 15 pounds of hulled seed. Crimson clover may be sown from the middle of July until November, depending upon the location, with the expectation of obtaining a good stand. The later it is seeded the less growth can be expected and the more readily winterkilling occurs. Early establishment becomes more important as plantings are extended northward. Seeding crimson clover either immediately before or following heavy rains, if possible, increases its chances of making a stand. Spring planting in or south of the Corn Belt usually results in a short, stunted growth followed by little blossoming and low yield.

=Inoculation=

In many areas where crimson clover has been grown successfully for several years it is not necessary to inoculate the seed with bacterial cultures for the production of nodules. But either the seed or the soil must be inoculated if crimson clover has not been grown. If the plants are not inoculated they will develop slowly, become yellow, and die. Inoculated plants are able to obtain about two-thirds of then nitrogen from the air through then root nodules. The plants may be artificially inoculated by applying cultures of the bacteria to the seed or by scattering soil from a field where inoculated crimson clover has been grown. Two hundred to three hundred pounds per acre of such soil evenly distributed at seeding time is usually sufficient.

When crimson clover is grown for the first time an additional inoculation treatment is recommended if weather conditions are dry and hot after seeding. This supplemental inoculation consists in mixing commercial cultures with sand, soil, or cottonseed meal and broadcasting the mixture over the soil surface during cloudy, rainy weather as the young seedlings are emerging. A bushel-size culture mixed with 60 pounds of the above-mentioned material is sufficient for an acre if distributed evenly. Soil from a field where inoculated crimson clover has been grown may also be used for the supplemental treatment.

=Unhulled Seed=

Using unhulled common seed increases the chance of obtaining thick stands. When the soil is dry, light rainfall does not cause the unhulled seed to sprout, but hulled seed germinates readily and the seedlings may die from lack of moisture before they can become established.

Its bulky nature makes unhulled seed more difficult to distribute uniformly than hulled seed. It must be broadcast and may be harrowed in. It is also difficult to market and is not generally handled by the seed trade. But farmers can harvest seed for their own use and save the expense of having it hulled.

=Companion Crops=

Rye, vetch, ryegrass, and fall-sown grain crops are often seeded with crimson clover. Such crops are seeded at half to a third the normal rate, and the crimson clover is seeded at half to two-thirds the normal rate. Seeding is done at the same time, but, as a greater depth is required for most of the seed of the companion crops, two seeding operations are necessary.

Farmers often use a mixture of 5 pounds of red clover and 10 pounds of crimson clover per acre with excellent results. The first growth of the mixture may be grazed or harvested for hay or for crimson clover seed, while the second crop is wholly red clover. Dixie crimson clover has given good results when planted with Johnson and Bermuda grasses.

=Diseases and Insects=

The most serious disease that affects crimson clover is crown rot. The effect of this disease is seen early in spring and is characterized by the plants dying in patches. The stems rot at the surface of the soil or where they join the crown. Continued damp, cool weather during winter and early spring favors the development of the disease. This disease can be controlled by not growing clover or other legumes in rotation for 2 to 5 years.

Sandy soils in the southern part of the crimson clover belt are often infested with nematodes. Nematode injury stunts and yellows the plants. While the clover-seed chalcid, the pea aphid, and other insects sometimes become numerous in crimson clover, insects do not ordinarily cause appreciable damage.

=Utilization=

Crimson clover grows rapidly in fall and spring and furnishes an abundance of grazing (fig. 3). If planted early and good fall growth is made, the clover may also be grazed during the fall and winter months. Such a practice has been successfully followed in many States where crimson clover is providing winter pasture. Crimson clover combined with small grains or ryegrass has been most widely used for winter grazing. Crimson clover makes little growth during cold periods in winter. Under such conditions, to prevent close grazing, it is necessary to remove the animals or shift them to other fields that have not been grazed.

Animals grazing on crimson clover seldom bloat; however, it is advisable not to turn them into clover fields for the first time when they are hungry. Bloat is less likely to occur on a mixture of clover and grass or grain then when the clover alone is grazed. As crimson clover reaches maturity the hairs of the heads and stems become hard and tough. When it is grazed continuously or when it is fed as hay at this stage large masses of the hairs are liable to form into hair balls in stomachs of horses and mules, occasionally with fatal results. If small quantities of other feeds, particularly roughages, are fed along with the clover, the formation of these balls will be reduced. Cattle, sheep, and swine do not seem to be affected.

Crimson clover makes excellent hay when cut at the early-bloom stage, although the yield may be slightly reduced. For best yields it should be harvested in full bloom. The hay is easily cured either in the swath or in the windrow. Fewer leaves are lost and less bleaching occurs in windrowed hay. Although yields as high as 2½ tons per acre are not uncommon on fertile soil, 1½ to 2 tons is the usual harvest.

Crimson clover is an ideal green-manure crop. For best results it should be plowed under 2 to 3 weeks before the succeeding crop is planted. This gives enough time for decomposition, which is rapid unless the crop is ripe when turned under. Occasionally strips are plowed in which row crops are to be planted, allowing the clover between the plowed strips to mature. Seed may be harvested by hand from the clover between the row crops, and the remaining clover straw allowed to mat and serve as a mulch, or the entire plant may be permitted to form a mulch.

Crimson clover may be made into silage by the same methods as are used for other legumes and grasses. In orchards it is often allowed to mature, after which it is disked into the soil. A volunteer stand from shattered seed may be obtained in fall by using the Dixie variety.

=Seed Production=

Crimson clover is a heavy seed-producing plant, and yields of 5 to 10 bushels per acre are common, depending upon the thickness of the stand, the extent of growth produced, and the care used in harvesting the seed. The florets are self-fertile, but bees increase the number of seed per head by tripping and transferring the pollen. Placing colonies of honeybees next to blooming fields will increase pollination. More seed is usually produced on soils of medium fertility than on rich soils, since fertile soils seem to stimulate the growth of stems and leaves rather than develop flower heads.

Large yields and ease of harvesting seed are two important reasons why crimson clover is such an ideal legume crop. Farmers can save seed with very little expense other than their own labor. When the seed heads are mature they readily shatter and are easily harvested either by hand stripping or by using horse-drawn home-made strippers. One bushel of unhulled seed contains about 2 pounds of hulled seed, and although bulky, it can be easily stored on the farm until fall.

When the seed is mature the crop is cut with a mower (fig. 4), which may be equipped with a bunching or windrowing attachment, or it can be harvested with a combine. During wet seasons it is sometimes difficult to combine the seed from standing plants. Under such conditions the plants can be cut and windrowed and than threshed by the combine from the windrow. As crimson clover shatters easily when ripe, cutting with the mower when the heads are damp with dew or rain is recommended. If it is allowed to stand too long after ripening a beating rain will shatter much of the seed. After a few days of curing, the seed is hulled with an ordinary clover huller, with a grain separator equipped with hulling attachments, or by a combine equipped with pick-up attachments or used as a stationary machine. The less the clover is handled the less seed will be lost by shattering. Many troublesome weeds are difficult to separate from crimson clover seed, including field peppergrass (Lepidium campestre), wintercress (Barbarea praecox), and the bulblets of wild onion (Allium spp.), which are probably the worst. Seed of the mustards, rapes, and turnips (Brassica spp.), dock (Rumex crispus), wild geranium (Geranium dissectum), sorrel (Rumex acetosella), and catchweed (Galium aparine) are also found in the seed. Little barley (Hordeum pusillum) is a pest in unhulled seed, and the use of such seed will naturally increase the prevalence of this weed.

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1947

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. -- Price 5 cents

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=Transcriber Note=