The Bulletin. 25 



used to advantage to utilize vacant land, and at the same time the fer- 

 tilizer and cultivation given will be useful to the growing trees. The 

 best crops in the young orchard are those that mature early and thus 

 do not compete with the trees during the summer season for their 

 moisture and plant food. Early potatoes is one of the best crops; 

 also snap beans and garden peas. Such crops leave the land in good 

 tilth and do not draw heavily on the trees. Crops like corn, tomatoes 

 and melons, that usually have to be cultivated later in the season, are 

 not so suitable, because the later cultivation stimulates the trees to 

 make growth too late in the season. With such crops they should not 

 be allowed to come too close to the tree rows, and in no case is it 

 advisable to plant in the tree row itself. For the first season a space 

 of 4 feet on each side of the row should be given the little trees. 

 In the following years this strip should be widened every year till the 

 supplementary crops are crowded out and the trees are occupying the 

 whole ground. In no case should grass crops or small grains be 

 grown in the young orchard. 



COVER CROPS FOR ORCHARDS. 



As soon as cultivation ceases in an orchard the finely worked soil 

 should be utilized as a seed bed for a cover crop. Leguminous plants 

 are best for orchard cover crops, because they not only hold the soil 

 and take up the plant food made available by cultivation, but, being 

 nitrogen gatherers, they add to the soil this most expensive and elusive 

 fertilizing constituent. Leguminous cover crops are the cheapest as 

 well as the easiest means of adding nitrogen to the soil. During their 

 growing period especially, orchard trees require a copious supply of 

 nitrogen. With bearing orchards it is possible on rich land to use 

 leguminous cover crops too frequently. If there is too much nitrogen 

 supplied to the soil the trees will make wood and leaf growth at the 

 expense of fruit. If the trees are found to be making too much new 

 wood and the fruit does not color well it is advisable to leave out the 

 cover crop for a year or two, till the balance is restored. Such a con- 

 dition happens only under the most intensive tillage. What we 

 usually see is orchards suffering grievously and starving for the want 

 of cover crops. One of the best cover crops, especially for summer, 

 is the cowpea. Unfortunately this plant does not grow well in moun- 

 tain regions and it stops growing entirely at the first frost. Hairy 

 vetch is a winter grower that makes a useful cover crop, but my 

 experience has shown that crimson clover is the best cover-crop plant 

 for mountain orchards. It should be sown early, when moisture is 

 abundant. If the land is very poor it is difficult to get a stand of it, 

 but with a reasonable chance it makes one of the best, if not the very 

 best, cover crop. It will grow during the fall and most of the winter, 

 and will add much to the fertility of the soil. It should be plowed 



