EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



439 



WINTER VETCH FOR A COVER CROP IN MICHIGAN ORCHARDS. 



Circular No. 13. 



Must of tlie .succe^Hful orchards in Micliigau aie plowed hi the spring 

 and cultivated until midsummer. This season is the natural one for 

 trees to make a growth of new wood and the plowing and cultivating 



Winter Vetch, sown Aug. 1, 1910. Photographed 

 Oct. 12, 1910. Thirty pounds of seed was sown 

 broadcast. 



Same Orchard as shown in picture at left. 

 Photographed May 25, 1911. 



make the plant food in the soil available and stimulate the growth. 

 After the cultivation ceases, the new growth will rii>en, become hard 

 and in a condition to pass through the average winter without injury, 

 which it could not do if growth continued late in the fall. 



At the last cultivation, it is desirable to sow something that Avill 

 make a ''cover crox>" on the land during the fall, Avinter and early part 

 of the spring. If nothing is sown, weeds will make a "cover," but they 

 will not make a uniform growth nor will they result in any benefit to 

 the land and they may become a serious annoyance. 



Many desirable features will result from having a cover crop in an 

 oicliard or vineyard, some of the more important ones are; 



