198 Appendix. 



One plot was sown with turnips and crimson clover but the turnips were 

 so thick they choked out much of the clover so that in the spring it was only 

 fairly good. 



Rye. — This made a good growth, but not so good as that sown with crimson 

 clover. With such a heavy fall growth there is an excessive development of 

 rust on the leaves ; this was true with all of the tests with rye. The spring- 

 growth was not so robust as that at Newark ; it was 2 feet high and heading 

 out April 2.5. 



Rye and crimson clover. — These made the best and most satisfactory cover 

 crop in the test at Woodside The rye stood thicker on this plot than on any 

 other and with the clover made a dense mat of vegetable matter. The clover 

 did better with the rye than when used alone. It seemed to start growth earlier 

 in the spring than when alone or with other crops, and was from G to 8 inches 

 high on April 4. 



Soil with rye and crimson clover for a cover may be plowed very early 

 in the spring, for this immense mass of vegetation will pump the surplus 

 moisture out of the ground in a short time. 



II. EXPERIMENTS IN 1902-3. 



With the exception of the small plots used at the Experiment Station in 

 1901-2, the plots in 1902-3 were very much larger than had been used before. 

 Aside from the Station orchard there were 4(5 half-acre plots in the experiment. 

 It was desired to make the test as comprehensive and practical as possible. In 

 addition to the orchards of F. M. Soper, at Magnolia, and S. H. Derby, at Wood- 

 side, another was used, the five-year old peach orchard of Levi Cooch, on Iron 

 Hill, near Newark. The soil here is a rather heavy red clay loam, which is 

 very susceptible to washing during heavy rains The orchard had not previously 

 had a cover crop, but the year preceding, a late growth of weeds and grass after 

 the last cultivation made a fairly good protection, but did not stop washing. 



The experiments were co-operative again with the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 of the United States Depatment of Agriculture. As before, the seetl was fur- 

 nished by the Bureau of Plant Industry and the Experiment Station did all 

 work incident to growing the crops. Advantage was taken of the results of the 

 previous year and it was hoped to improve upon them, but unfavorable weather 

 conditions made a portion of the work a failure. 



EXPEKIMEXT WITH LEVI COOCH IX 1902-3. 



This test was an utter disappointment, probably due to the drought of the 

 summer. The ground did not contain much moisture, but was pretty well fitted, 

 and the seed was sown August 12 and 13 after a good rain. The ground 

 soon became dry again ; no rain followed for several weeks, and most of the 

 seed failed to germinate. The plants which did grow were too scattering and 

 poor to report on here, although notes were taken on them during the entire 

 season. There were seventeen half-acre plots seeded with crops that were ex- 

 pected to give good results on that soil. 



EXPERIMENTS AT THE EXPEKIMEXT ST.^TIOX IX 1902-3. 



The orchard used last year was used again this year ; it contains one aud 

 one-quarter acres and was divided into eighteen plots. Eleven of the plots were 

 sown with a single crop each ; the remainder with a combination of two kinds 

 together. The ground was fitted up in splendid condition and the seed wa.s 

 sown August 11, except on one plot seeded on the 12th. A very heavy rain 

 storm came just after the seeding was finished and packed the surface soil hard. 

 This part dried out and baked so that much of the seed could not germinate and 

 get a foothold in the soil. It was hoped that a rain would soon follow to soak 

 up the surface, but none of any consequence came for four weeks. Long before 



