thus that apply to the similar curing of the medium red. (See page 102.) Others cure it in the mow by storing good bright straw, preferably oat straw, in alternate layers along with the clover. From onethird to one-half the quantity of the straw as compared with the hay will suffice for such curing, varying with the degree of the wilting in the hay. Clover cut in the morning after the dew has lifted may be thus stored the same day. Where the facilities are present such a method of curing mammoth clover may be eminently wise in showery weather. The natural color of the hay and blossoms is thus preserved and the straw is eaten with avidity, because of what it has imbibed from the clover.

Securing Seed.—It has been already intimated more seed will be obtained when the clover has been pastured or cut back with the mower. (See page 233.) When the mower is used, it should not be set to cut quite low, or the subsequent growth will not be so vigorous as it would otherwise be. The state of growth at which the clover ought to be cut will be influenced by the luxuriance of the growth, but ordinarily clover seed should not be more than 6 to 8 inches high when the mower is used. What is thus cut by the mower is left on the ground as a mulch. Mowing the crop thus will also be helpful in destroying weeds, but some weeds will sprout again and mature seed as quickly as the clover.

When mammoth clover is neither pastured nor mown early in the season, when grown for seed some kinds of weeds may be prevented from going

to seed in it by cutting them off with the scythe. When not too plentiful they may be removed with the spud. Among the more troublesome weeds that infest mammoth clover are the Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), the plantain (Plantago lanceolata), and in some instances the horse nettle (Solanum Carolinense) and spring nightshade (Solanum).

The yields of the clover seed will be much influenced by the character of the weather. Excessive rankness in the crop and excessive rainfall during the blossoming season are adverse to abundant seed production. But the seed crop is more injured by drought than by too much rain. When injured by drought the growth will not be sufficiently strong, or, if it is, the blossoms will be of a pale red tint. Warm winds while the seed is forming are also adverse to seed production, since they cause the crop to mature too quickly. Some experience will enable the capable observer to forecast with no little certainty the probable yield of the seed. If the indications point to a yield of seed less than 2 bushels per acre, it is deemed more profitable, as a rule, to cut the crop for hay. Large heads of a rich dark purple shade accompanied by vigor in the entire plant are indicative of abundant seed production.

The crop is ready for being harvested when a majority of the heads have ripened so far that the bloom on them is all gone and the shade of color in the head has not yet become brown. If left until a majority of the heads are brown many of them will break off while being harvested. The crop is usually cut with a self-rake reaper, but it may

be cut with a mower. When cut by either method the sheaves should be made small, so that they will dry out quickly.

It is important that the crop shall be threshed before it is rained on, as one thorough wetting will so far bedim the attractive brightness as compared with seed that has not been rained on that it will considerably discount the price that would otherwise be obtained for it. It is usually threshed with a huller, but may also be threshed like the medium red variety by a grain separator with a suitable attachment.

The yields of the seed vary much. Instances are on record where as much as II or 12 bushels per acre have been reaped, but ordinarily even on good producing soils the yields are not more than 4 to 5 bushels per acre, and under ordinary conditions for the production of mammoth clover they are even less than the amount named. Notwithstanding the greater strength of the plants, the seeds are apparently no larger than those of the medium red variety, nor can they be distinguished from them unless by an expert.

Renewing. Much that has been said with reference to the renewing of medium red clover will apply equally to the renewing of the mammoth. (See page 109.) Where seed crops are much grown, the soil becomes so impregnated with the seed that more or less of the plants will appear any season. Renewal in the South is more important, relatively, than in the North, as under some conditions the plants survive for a longer period in Southern soils.

Compared with Medium Red Clover.-I. The mammoth is larger and coarser than the medium red and is considerably less erect in its habit of growth. It has larger and longer roots; hence, it goes down more deeply into the subsoil in search of food.

2. It is, on the whole, longer lived than the medium red variety and has greater power to grow in a sandy soil and under conditions in which moisture is not plentiful.

3. It provides more pasture than the medium red variety during the early part of the season, but not so much after harvest, the season of growth being less continuous then than with the former.

4. The hay which it furnishes is usually considerably more bulky and coarse, and because of this it is not so highly prized by stock.

5. It blooms about three weeks later than the medium red variety and remains a little longer in bloom and seeds more freely, but can only be cut once in a season.

6. It furnishes more green food for plowing 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