EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



369 



legume plants, several of which are used for cover crops have the power 

 of gathering nitrogen from the soil and air and storing it until they 

 decay. As nitrogen is a valuable plant food element, legumes are 

 especially desirable for cover crop plants. 



CHOICE OF A COVER CROP PLANT. 



The selection of a plant for cover crop purposes depends in the first 

 place, on what system of soil management is followed. In orchards that 



A cover crop of buckwheat holding the leaves. Photo, April, 1912. 



are plowed, a plant can be used that lives over winter and makes a large 

 growth early in the spring before plowing time. A cover crop plant that 

 dies in the fall is much easier to work into the soil by the harrow or 

 disc than a heav}- green crop. Where this system, instead of plowing, 

 is practiced, oats and peas, buckwheat, barley or rye should be 

 used. Rye lives over winter and grows in the spring but it can be worked 

 into the soil with the disc without much trouble. 



When orchard trees are growing too rapidly, or are making too much 



wood at the expense of fruit production, it would not be advisable to 



use a legume plant, as the clovers, vetches, peas or beans. This class 



of plants add considerable amounts of nitrogen to the soil. It is this ele- 



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