PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. 359 



tliem to be there all summer, instead of cultivation, and I found those 

 trees did better than any trees I ever had on the land with cultivation. 

 You know, of course, that the cow pea forms nitrogen in the soil from 

 the roots, and the evidence in southern Illinois is that if you grow a crop 

 of cow peas and remove them the land is richer when that crop is removed 

 than it was before. It is one of the most valuable crops that we can grow, 

 especially for supplying humus. It will make more valuable matter to 

 turn under than any other plant we know. On that point I wish to say 

 that I think one thing is lost sight of in the growing of grain crops. It is 

 rather misleading when you bry plowing under green crops. I believe, 

 and I think I am right, that the riper your vegetable matter is the more 

 woody fiber it contains, the more humus will you get from that product 

 after it decays. In the matter of rye, of course that is a different thing. 

 Put it on in the fall and it simply holds the nitrogen that is there, that 

 would go to waste, and keeps it for the next spring; but if you want to 

 add more humus, let the crops become as ripe as they possibly can. 



Mr. Williams: There are two objects we should keep clearly in view 

 with this question of manuring. I am principally interested as a peach- 

 grower. A great many of us are interested in that way; our peaches are 

 on sandy land, and we want a green crop, first to act as a cover crop, to 

 protect the sandy land from blowing through the later summer months 

 and from freezing when exposed without snow. Again, we wish to pro- 

 duce this nitrogen to add to the soil. Rye, I conclude from the discussion 

 here today and j^esterda}^, does not give us much of the nitrogen, but it 

 seems to be the best crop for the cover because it lives through the win- 

 ter. What I would like to ask is, the season required to mature cow peas; 

 that is, in time to accomplish both purposes. Could I sow those peas at a 

 proper time so that they would be killed by frost and yet those killed 

 vines, lying there, would cover the ground and act as a cover crop, and 

 get the advantages from cow peas as nitrogen producers? If that can 

 be done, then how early must I sow them? If I sowed them, how early 

 would they mature or seed, and thus perhaps bring a drain on the land 

 that I would not care to have? What time must I sow in order that the 

 crop will not mature and yet the vines will be there as a cover crop and 

 as a nitrogen producer? 



Mr. Hale: I thought perhaps I made it clear. It is really a crop that 

 needs mid-summer weather to grow it in its greatest perfection, but 

 ordinarily you do not care to give up the broad cultivation of your orchard 

 soon enough to sow any cow peas. If you are willing, however, to sub- 

 stitute a one-horse cultivator or something to go between the rows in 

 place of the broader harrows, then you may sow cow peas, never later 

 than the 1st of July, to get sufficient growth, and then in the months 

 of July, August, and Sejjtember you get their full growth, I do some- 

 times sow them as late as the 10th or 12th of July, but I do not get 

 sufficient growth; but you get a good winter cover for your orchard 

 ground. I do not know, but the scientists tell us the amount of nitrogen 

 you would lose, but you would lose a. good deal of nitrogen through your 

 dry matter in the winter. 



The President: That was above the surface only. 



Mr. Hale: Yes, sir. To avoid that, my plan, where I had cow peas in 

 orchards, and T have done it in young orchards, is after they have been 



