No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 565 



MR. HALE: Ob, just leave them in the ground. Sometimes we use 

 Russian Vetch with them. 



PROF. WATTS : What is the idea of using Cowhorn turnips with 

 the Crimson clover? 



MR. HALE: Along the early part of August we often have a 

 damp spell, followed by a very dry spell, and the little clover plants 

 begin to suffer. Then the turnip makes a shade for the little clover, 

 and in the winter they make a sort of mat for it. 



A Member: How long do you leave it go in the spring before you 

 turn it down? 



MR. HALE: That depends on the locality, and on the amount of 

 work on hand. About four or five inches I like it best. Some peo- 

 ple allow it to come to full bloom, and then plow it, but I do not 

 like too many heads. 



A Member: How do you get in to the low trees to plow? 



MR. HALE : Well we plow to one side of the tree, and use a chain 

 a little longer than the whiffletree, and then we try the other side, 

 and plow it just any way we can. 



A Member: Do aou plow close to the tree? 



MR. HALE : Oh, yes, but I don't know that it is absolutely neces- 

 sary; I have known very successful orchardists who merely plowed 

 in the middle of the rows, and then fed the trees well. 



PROF. SURFACE: How do you plow the soil — in the direction of 

 the tree? 



MR. HALE: Sometimes towards the tree, sometimes away from 

 it — anyway we can. 



A Member: Don't you think the cover crop causes some rot? 



MR. HALE: We know that a succession of cow peas causes too 

 much nitrogen, and that causes rot, but in a peach orchard we can 

 grow something else. 



A Member: Don't you have to plow cow peas a number of times? 



MR. HALE: Oh, yes; and they bob up serenely every time. 



A Member: Do you sow them after corn? 



MR. HALE: No; it would be too late to grow them, but if you 

 grow clover, and let it grow until May or June, and then turn it over 

 and plant cow peas, and when next fall comes turn them in, that 

 will be all right. 



A Member: Would that be sufficient to give enough nitrogen? 



MR. HALE: I don't know; you will have to ask the tree about 

 that. You can't tell down here what is going to happen in Glaston- 

 bury. 



(]\IR, GOOD: What is the idea of the cover crop? It does not 

 prevent the evaporation of the fertilizer. 



MR. HALE: It is to protect the roots. 



MR. GOOD: And cover the land? 



MR. HALE : I don't want any free land. 



A Member: How do you prevent the land washing on the hillside? 



MR. HALE: Well, we have a little trouble in that respect. On 

 one sharp hillside, we set in alternate rows, so as to catch any soil 

 that may wash. 



A Member: Is that a peach or an apple orchard? 



MR. HALE: An apple orchard. 



