370 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



incut of iilaiit food that sliimilalcs a 1ro(^ iiilo wood gruwtli. J ii siicli 

 an orchard some non-leguiiie plan! as InicU wheat, oats or rye would be 

 better. It may be advisable in some orchards to rotate the use of the 

 cover crop, using a nitrogen gatlKM"<n' one or two years and the thii'd 

 year use a non-nitrogen gatherer. 



The locality of the orchard is inj|)ortant. Some i)lants that are very 

 desirable for a cover crop will not grow enough to be successful in the 

 northern part of the fruit growing section of Michigan. 



The requirements for a cover croj) plant are several and the conditions 

 under which they are expected to grow are quite variable. A plant that 

 comes the nearest to fulfilling the particular conditions, should be se- 

 lected. The best i)lant is one that starts to grow quickly and is not 

 difficult to secure a uniform stand, even in partial shade. Jt must with- 

 stand a possible drought. It must withstand the tramping of picking 



V 



^ 



Winter vetch cover crop in Mason Co. sown Aug. 4, 1910. Photograph made May 18, 1911. Soil 



washing prevented on side hill. 



time. It must make at least a fair amount of growth in the late sum- 

 mer and fall. The seed cannot be too expensive oi* difficult to secure in 

 large quantiti&s. If the plant is the "live over winter' kind, it must 

 be hardy enough to stand a low temperature, possibly without much 

 snow for a protection. 



For the past few years the Horticultural department has been making 

 tests of various plants for cover crop jmi-poses. These tests have been 

 in orchards of various ages and on dill'erent soil types, and located in 

 various parts of the state. 



WINTER VETCH. NITROGEN GATHERER. 



This plant is sometimes called hairy or sand vetch. It is a European 

 plant and practically all the seed is now imjwrted from Germany. It 

 has been used for many years in the South as a forage plant and during 

 the ])ast few years has been gaining favor in the Korlh for cover croj> 

 purposes. 



It should be sown in late July or early August; it is very easy to se- 

 cure a utiiform stand: the seed does not need to be inoculated. It with- 

 stands the i)ossible late summer dry spell and the tramping by pickers 



