430 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



over winter and is far' inferior to oats, barley, clover, vetch and buckwheat. The 

 first frost cut the cowpeas, practically to the ground and as a cover crop for the 

 orchard it is of but very little value unless sown early in drills and cultivated. 



COOPERATIVE COVER CROP EXPERIMENT FOR WINTER OF 1903 AND 1904. 



Ten plots of a quarter acre each were again sown this season on August 10th 

 and duplicate plots were sown by Mr. Frank Warner, of Geneva township, in his 

 peach orchard. The different kinds of seed were: Plot 1, barley, one-half bushel; 

 plot 2, barley, one-fourth bushel and field peas, eight quarts; plot 4, oats, one- 

 half bushel; plot 5, oats, one-quarter bushel and crimson clover two quarts; plot 6, 

 cow peas, broadcast, ten quarts; plot 7, cow peas, drilled, five quarts; plot 8, sand 

 vetch, eight quarts; plot 9, mammoth clover, two quarts; plot 10, crimson clover, 

 two quarts On December 15th the following notes were taken as to the relative 

 merits of the different cover crops. Plots 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 have made an excellent 

 growth, but plots 3 and 5 are to be preferred, as they have clover sown with oats 

 and barley, making a good low covering, with a taller growth of the other plants. 

 There will be a good crop of clover to turn under next spring, while in plots 1 

 and 4, when barley and oats were used alone, there will be nothing to turn under 

 but a light covering of straw. Plots 6 and 7, cow peas made a very poor growth 

 and are worthless. While the cow pea is one of the leguminose plants that is 

 capable of drawing nitrogen from the air and storing in the soil, the amount would 

 be too small to be worth considering if planted as late as the first of August and 

 growing only until frost comes. Plot 8, Sand vetch, has made a growth three or 

 four inches in height, covering the ground well. Plot 9, Mammoth clover, has 

 made a much higher, as well as thicker growth than the crimson clover. The 

 latter point may be due to a difference in the quality of the seed sown. Plots 

 where clover were sown alone have made a larger growth than when oats or 

 barley was sown with it, but all things considered, it would seem best to sow 

 oats with the clovers. There has been plenty of rain the last two seasons to ensure 

 a good catch of any kind of seeding and what the effect would be of sowing oats 

 or barley with the clover in an extremely dry time, has yet to be determined. 



South Haven, Mich , January 11, 1904. 



