owing under than the medium red;
hence, it is, on the whole, a better improver of the soil.

CHAPTER VII

CRIMSON CLOVER

Crimson Clover (_Trifolium incarnatum_) is also known by the names
French, German, German Mammoth, Italian, Egyptian and Carnation clover.
In America it is common in certain areas to speak of it as winter
clover, from the greater powers of growth which it possesses at that
season as compared with other clovers.

The plants have an erect habit of growth, and yet they are soft and
hairy, and they have much power to stool. More than 100 stems have been
produced by one plant, but under conditions the most favorable. The
leaves are numerous. The heads are oblong, cylindrical, and considerably
cone-shaped, and are from 1 to 2 inches long, and much larger than those
of medium red clover. The bloom is scarlet or crimson and of the richest
dye; hence, a more beautiful sight is seldom seen than that of a
vigorous crop of crimson clover in full bloom. The average height of the
plants may be put at about 18 inches, but they have been grown to the
height of 3 and even 4 feet. The root growth is fully twice that of the
stems. The roots are strong, go down straight into the soil, and are to
some extent branched.

Crimson clover is an annual, although usually the growth covers a part
of two years. Sown in the summer or early autumn, growth is completed
by the advent of the following summer. It is, therefore, pre-eminently a
catch crop, and because of this, when conditions admit of it, serves a
purpose in American agriculture, which can be served by none of the
other varieties of clover that are now grown. It has much power to grow
in cool weather, when the clovers are practically dormant. It does not
cease to grow until the ground has become frozen, and as soon as the
frost leaves the soil growth begins at once; hence, the greater relative
value this plant has for areas in which the winters are mild.

[Illustration: Fig. 6. Crimson Clover (_Trifolium incarnatum_)
Tennessee Experiment Station]

Crimson clover is much relished by farm animals, whether used as
pasture, soiling food, silage or hay. Under some conditions it may be
pastured autumn and spring, and even through much of the winter. As a
soiling plant, its value is high, not only because it is a legume, but
because it comes in season at a time when it may be fed with winter rye
used as soiling. But the period is short during which it furnish