No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUJ^TUKE. 49.', 



thus protecting the soil from the direct rays of the sun, and prevent- 

 ing the destruction of organic life, due to hot and dry conditions, 

 and in the second place, there is an accumulation of nitrogenous 

 vegetable matter, which when plowed into the soil is useful for the 

 succeeding ''nitrogen consuming" crop; and third, there is no inter- 

 ference with the growth of the regular crops of the rotation. That 

 is, even though the period of growth is not long enough to cause 

 the complete development or full maturity of the plant, it can be 

 turned under when convenient, with the satisfaction of knowing 

 that even though a small crop has been secured the soil is better, 

 both physically and chemically, for the growth of the following 

 wheat crop than it would have been if the land had been left bare. ' 



Failures Should not Discourage. 



As in the case with a number of other crops, failures sometimes 

 occur, particularly in the catch of crimson clover. This is not al- 

 ways due to the season, though frequently such is the case. It is 

 my judgment that the failures are more frequently due to the lack 

 of proper preparation of the soil and seeding. In many cases the 

 plants are starved in the beginning because the rapid growing of 

 the corn absorbs the food and moisture, hence, if the seeds are placed 

 deeply the danger from this source is not so great. It often hap- 

 pens too, that the preparation of the land for corn and its cultiva 

 tion have not been of the best; the land is hard and cloddy and thus 

 too little food is available for the clover. Sometimes, too, the soil 

 may be slightly acid, which would make it an unfavorable medium 

 for the growth of the soil organisms, whose presence have so im- 

 portant a bearing upon the growth of the crop; strict attention 

 to those points which are important in the growing of any money 

 crop is quite necessary in the successful growing of catch crops. 

 It is recommended that where failures have occurred that the seed 

 be covered more deeply and that in the preparation for corn the 

 land be well tilled and preferably limed, say at the rate of 25 

 bushels per acre, either the year before planting on the sod, or early 

 in the spring after plowing, and well harrowed in, and on land not 

 in a good state of cultivation, this practice should be followed by a 

 broadcast dressing of acid phosphate at the rate of 250 pounds per 

 acre. The lime will neutralize the acidity of the soil, the acid phos- 

 phate will ensure an abundance of available phosphoric acid for the 

 plant, which requires considerable in its early growth and a deeper 

 seeding will cause a better hold of root and enable the plant to 

 withstand a lack of moisture, which is one chief diflficulty encoun- 

 tered in the seeding with corn. In the growing of the cow pea, 

 after oats, it is very desirable if the best results are to be obtained, 



