246 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



A little personal experience in the use of green crops in the re- 

 storation of soil fertility for gardening purposes may be of some 

 interest to you. Some years ago I performed an experiment which 

 was the beginning of systematic green manuring on my farms. I 

 selected an impoverished plat of land that contained two and one- 

 third acres. The ground was plowed in August, harrowed, a fine 

 seed bed prepared and rye sown in September, using seed and fer- 

 tilizer rather freely. The rye which made a fair growth was plowed 

 under the following spring when about two feet high and oats and 

 Canada field peas sown. When the oats were shooting into head 

 in August this crop and the field peas were plowed down and rye 

 sown again in September. The next spring the rye was plowed 

 under and the ground planted in Danish Ballhead cabbage. This 

 course of green manuring consisted of three crops plowed under 

 consecutively without an intervening cash crop. The physical 

 character of the soil was completely changed. A dead soil had 

 been brought back to life by the addition of vegetable matter. The 

 soil was made inhabitable again both to plants and to bacteria. It 

 is true that this course of green manuring cost some money. Soils 

 cannot be built up by the use of manure or green crops without 

 considerable outlay of capital. The soil will not produce its owner 

 a profitable crop unless in a fertile condition and too many truckers 

 are trying to make big profits on poor soils. This cannot be done. 

 The course of green manuring which has been described cost about 

 |75 for the two and one-third acres, including interest on the land 

 and all outlay for labor, seed, fertilizer, etc. Did the experiment 

 pay? This plat of ground which was previously too poor for pro- 

 fitable gardening produced one of the best crops of cabbage I have 

 ever grown that sold for $655. 



Many farmers hesitate to plow under heavy green crops because 

 of the danger of souring the land. To prevent this trouble it is 

 desirable to use some lime, harrowing it into the soil thoroughly 

 after plowing. If the furrows are thrown on edge rather than flat 

 the capillary movement of the soil water will be interfered with 

 to less extent and there will not bp "^ much danger of the soil 

 souring. The land should also be rolled or compacted soon after 

 plowing. A heavy plank drag will do this work almost if not quite 

 a« well as a roller and will pulverize the soil to a much greater 

 extent. 



One of the finest examples that can be cited showing the splendid 

 results from the use of green manures is on the farm of Horace 

 Roberts, President of the New Jersey Horticultural Society. Mr. 

 Roberts grows about five hundred acres of vegetables annually but 

 no stable mnnure is used except that produced on the farms. His 

 soils improves from year to year and this improvement can be at- 

 tributed only to the use of green manures. Dwarf garden peas are 

 grown to a very large extent on the Roberts farms between fruit 

 trees and vegetables as sweet corn, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, 

 w^atermelons and musk melons. The peas are harvested and the 

 vines plowed into the soil. Cover crops are invariably started in 

 the fall which not only help to increase the supply of humus in the 

 soil, but also serve to reduce the loss of soluble nitrates by leaching. 



