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Bulletin 37 July, 1896

NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE

AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

CRIMSON CLOVER

BY F. W.M. RANE

This plant is by no means new, although it is little known
in New Hampshire. It has been tested by many persons on a
small scale with very variable results. The main difficulty
appears to be its inability to withstand our severe winters.
Perhaps two thirds of those who have tried it report a com-
plete or partial failure, while the remainder seem to be very
enthusiastic over their success.

A strip sixteen rods long by one rod wide was sown on the
college farm last August together with some rye for protection.
It germinated nicely and before winter set in was 5^- inches
high. The winter was a comparatively open one ; other
clover and grass lands heaved and froze out badly. Regard-
less of these conditions about 22 per cent, of the plot came
through all right. We were unable to get a photograph of it
until it was just going out of bloom, as is shown in Fig. 1.
Where it did come through the winter, it looked well, stood
on an average 18^ inches in height, and made a fine crop.

Crimson clover is also known as scarlet clover and Italian
or German clover. It is an annual, requiring seed for each
crop. The flower heads are bright crimson in color and

42 CRIMSON CLOVER

from i^- to 2 inches long. The plants attain a height of from
12 to 26 inches.

TIME TO SOW

This question we are unable to answer definitely as regards
New Hampshire. It is requested that all who have already
grown it should inform us as to their results, that some satis-
factory conclusions may be reached. The general impression
is that it has' not proved hardy enough to fully withstand the
winters in this state. In Delaware, where 2,340 acres were
sown in 1S91, it is planted the latter part of July or during
August. This crop may be cut for silage or hay early in
May and a yield of from one to two tons per acre may be
secured from very poor land. The plants from the seed
sown here last August blossomed during the latter part of
May. It is claimed that if it is sown in July it will make a
growth by fall, which may be used for pasture during October
and November, as a good substitute for hay. The remnant
may be plowed under in the fall, or should it withstand the
winter, may be used for soiling or green manuring the next
spring.

We have sown to-day, June 29, about two acres with the
idea of plowing under all but a strip, as a green manure this
fall. The land is a light soil which has been exhausted in
growing grass. It was plowed last December and has been
thoroughly harrowed ; and now if crimson clover will furnish
the soil with organic matter, it will be a cheap way of fertiliz-
ing.

Another use to which crimson clover may be put is as a
fertilizer in fruit plantations. It should then be sowed the
latter part of July or first of August, when cultivation ceases,
and later turned under. It ought to make a valuable crop for
this purpose.

As a further experiment we expect to sow seed every month
from now on in order to ascertain whether it will winter better
at certain stages of growth than others.

SEED PER ACRE

The seed weighs sixty pounds to the bushel and from ten
to sixteen pounds are necessary to seed an acre properly. It

CRIMSON CLOVER 43

is claimed that there are five types of crimson or scarlet clover,
and that but one of these is hardy ; therefore it pays to pur-
chase from reliable seedsmen.

GREEN MANURE

Experiments have shown crimson clover to be a very valu-
able green manure, like all the other plants of the clover group.
Those of the Delaware Experiment station go to show that
from a standpoint of nitrogen alone it is more valuable for
growing corn than nitrate of soda. It also has been used as
a substitute for nitrate of soda with other crops with good
results. In one ton of green material there are approximately
10 pounds of potash, 2^3 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 87^3
pounds of nitrogen.

COST OF SEED

It is subject to market changes. If purchased by the bushel
(sixty pounds), the price this year averages about four dollars
besides the freight rates. This practically makes the expense
of seed come at one dollar an acre. For smaller quantities the
prices range somewhat higher, averaging from ten to fifteen
cents per pound.

CULTURE

The culture is simple as in most cases where it is used it is
sown in connection with some other crops eventually to have
the whole space when the latter is harvested. With corn, for
example, it is sown after cultivation has ceased. It is used
similarly in gardens and orchards, being only sown on the
surface after cultivation. On stubble land the best results are
obtained by harrowing deeply, then sowing the seed and firm-
ing or harrowing it lightly. Mr. E. W. Allen says, "Failure
to secure a stand of crimson clover is frequently due sometimes
to the seed and sometimes to the season." The one we can
regulate while the other we can not.

EXPERIMENTS IN WESTERN NEW YORK

In a recent Bulletin (No. 117) from the Cornell University
Experiment Station Prof. Bailey concludes that portion of the
Bulletin under the head "Crimson Clover in Orchards" with
the following paragraph :

44 CRIMSON CLOVER

"As the result of our experiments hist season with these
clovers, we will not sow any more crimson clover on any large
scale until we have experimented further with it, but will try
medium red, sown in our orchards about June 15 to Jul)' 20. * *
But we are not yet ready to give any final opinion upon the
question.

•• Persons err in looking for a too heavy stand of crimson
clover. It must not be expected to give the amount of herbage
which the ordinary clover seeding does. Even a thin covering,
if it passes the winter, is very useful in improving the condi-
tions of the land ; and a good fall stand which wholly kills out
during the winter is also worth the growing upon the greater
part of our fruit lands. We are convinced that crimson clover
has come to stay, but we are equally convinced that it is unwise
to rely upon it year by year for a cover crop. It will find its
place in a judicious alternation of cover crops, the particular
alternation to be determined by every farmer for himself."

GENERAL REMARKS

This crop is one worthy of our consideration and should be
tried very generally, on a small scale at least. If it is of value
to New Hampshire the public should know it. We intend
making a thorough test of it at the Experiment Station, but as
soils differ it is well to compare notes and in this way get a
much more satisfactory knowledge of it. In cutting and
using crimson clover for hay it should be done before it is out
of blossom, as otherwise the dry, prickly heads are liable to
lodge in the stomach, producing balls of felty material that in
some instances have caused death to animals.

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