398 State Hortictdtitral Society. 



lll'Ml'S ,\\ 1 MI'iUMAiXI' FA( KlK. 



'J'hus does liumiis i)];iy a very ini])(>rlant ])art: 



( I ) In keeping" the soil from washing. 



(2) In keeping it from becoming too dry in midsummer. 



(3) In keeping it cool in the heat of the summer. 



(4) In draining it in a manner. 



(5) In assisting in unlocking mineral plant food. 



(6) In holding in an available form and in preventing loss by 



leaching of the mineral constituents. 



(7) In adding nitrogen. 



(8) In making the soil warmer in spring. 



(9) In making the soil more friable and loamy, and therefore 



cheaper and easier to handle. 



As to the best methods of getting this humus in orchard soil, cir- 

 circumstances must govern in all cases. 



On land of fair fertility and not so rolling as to prohibit cultivation 

 on account of washing, it has been found most profitable to employ both 

 cultivation and humus for aerating the soil and unlocking this plant 

 food. That is to say, cultivation is carried on from the very earliest 

 spring until the buds for next year are fully formed and until after the 

 differentiation between fruit and growth buds occurs, say the latter part 

 of June or early Jnly, when this treatment in the ordinary season and 

 under average conditions ceases, and the land is seeded to some crop 

 tliat will cover the surface during the middle of the summer, autumn, 

 and if possible during the winter, to prevent washing, and to prevent as 

 far as jiossible the alternate freezing and thawing that favors the 

 eroding of the surface. This growth should not be so rank as to be 

 difficult to incorporate with the soil the following spring. At the same 

 time, it should be of rank enough growth to produce a goodly supply 

 of vegetable matter. For this reason, the orchardists of the east, par- 

 ticularly of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, employ the crimson 

 clover. This crop may, in my judgment, be successfully employed on 

 the southern slopes of the O'zarks in seasons when there is sufficient rain- 

 fall in early September to insure germination and a good start, but is 

 not reliable north of that point. 



A second crop, and a much more important one for this purpose, is 

 the cowpea. There is less risk of crop failure from its use, and it stands 

 the drouth better than any other legume known to us and has greate 

 ability to get along on a variety of soils and produce a large grow 

 and to accumulate a large quantity of nitrogen. Unfortunately 



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