3t8 State Horticultural Society. 



factorily in more than a very few sections of Missouri. The best cover 

 crop here is the cow pea. They should be sown about the last of June, 

 and they will not seriously interfere with the cultivation of the or- 

 chard, for it may be cultivated up until the time they are sown, and 

 may be harrowed once after they come up, without doing any harm. 

 If the orchard is fenced in so hogs can be turned in for a short time 

 each day, some returns may be had from the crop besides its pro- 

 tection of the soil and the nitrogen it furnishes. 



A ton of cow peas contains thirty-nine pounds of nitrogen. Tak- 

 ing the low yield of a ton to the acre, we may be certain that besides 

 this thirty-nine pounds, there will be in the stubble and the roots at 

 least twenty-five pounds, making in all sixty-four pounds. At six- 

 teen cents a pound this would amount to $10.24. Now, it must be 

 remembered that much of this nitrogen came, not from the soil, but 

 from the free nitrogen of the air, which other plants besides legumes 

 cannot use. Just how much of it came from the air we do not know, 

 but we do know that one such crop in three or four years will keep 

 the soil rich in nitrogen, even when some gross feeding crop, like 

 corn, is grown on the soil during the other years. 



If part or all of the crop is left in the soil, another benefit of such 

 a crop is the humus, or decayed vegetable matter it adds. Humus 

 seems to benefit the soil in three ways : It holds very large quantities 

 of water, it holds nitrogen in the soil that otherwise would escape 

 into the air, and what should be especially noted, it forms organic 

 acids that dissolve rock particles in the soil, thus rendering avail- 

 able other plant food, such as phosphorus and potash. 



I would say, then, that the cheapest and best way to fertilize an 

 orchard is to grow a crop of cow peas in it at least once in four years, 

 to use what stable manure and wood ashes can be obtained, and if 

 it is seen to be necessary, to apply potassium in the form of muriate of 

 potash and perhaps a little phosphorus in the form of dissolved rock. 

 There may be orchards, however, where it is not desirable to grow 

 cow peas, and where a complete commercial fertilizer is desirable. 

 For such the following may be suggestive : 



Food elements, nitrogen per acre, 8 lbs. ; use per acre : 50 lbs. nitrate 

 of soda; 60 lbs. dried blood; 100 lbs. tankage. 



Food elements, phosphoric acid per acre, 30 lbs. ; use per acre : 300 

 lbs. bone meal ; 200 lbs. dissolved bone ; 250 pounds, dissolved rock. 



Food elements, potash per acre, 50 lbs.; use per acre: 100 lbs. 

 muriate; 100 lbs sulphate; 400 lbs. kainit ; 900 to 2,500 lbs. wood ashes. 



Nitrogen is obtained cheapest in tankage, phosphorus in dis- 

 solved rock and potash in muriate of potash or in wood ashes. 



