28 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



lectors" on the one hand, and the "nitrogen consumers," on the other. 

 The nitrogen collectors are marked by the power of the plants of this 

 class to appropriate free nitrogen of the air and store it up in their 

 tissues in such a way that it is more or less readily available to the 

 succeeding crops. It is unnecessary to say to this audience that prom- 

 inent among the plants of these nitrogen collectors are, the clovers, 

 peas, beans and vetches. Of the second class — the nitrogen consumers — 

 we might cite rape and turnips, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, and pos- 

 sibly corn, although as a rule, this crop cannot be used satisfactorily 

 on account of its great affinity for water, I would urge, therefore, the 

 employment of such nitrogenous crops as alfalfa, vetch, mammoth clover 

 and cow peas, whenever it is possible to use them on orchard lands, 

 and whenever the character of the growth of the trees suggests that 

 more wood or vigor is desirable. Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) has been 

 one of the most valuable plants for this purpose that we have used. The 

 seed is expensive. This is the main draw-back. It germinates readily, 

 however, and succeeds as well during dry seasons as wet ones. As a 

 nitrogen collector it stands high, giving so far as analysis shows, more 

 nitrogen to the acre than any other cover crop we have tried. 



It frequently occurs, however, that soil may be in such a condition that 

 a catch of mammoth clover, which I would like to recommend very 

 warmly, is difficult to secure. In this case, I would recommend the use 

 of rye or rape for a year or two, until the plowing under of these crops 

 have so ameliorated the soil that a catch of clover is possible. 



We have tried with very good satisfaction, a number of cover crop 

 mixtures. Prominent among these is a mixture of mammoth clover and 

 alfalfa — eight pounds of each — with two or three ounces of cowhorn tur- 

 nip per acre. I have observed that Professors Taft and Hedrick of 

 the Agricultural College, recommend for Michigan, a mixture of crimson 

 clover and oats, to be sown about the middle of August. 



Vetch and rye have been used satisfactorily in the proportion of one 

 bushel of the former to one-half bushel of the latter. By all means 

 use cover crops in the orchard. They will keep down your expense 

 bill for commercial fertilizers. They will tend to keep up the vigor 

 of your trees, and they will greatly improve the physical condition 

 of your soil. 



The spraying question. — I need not emphasize unduly the importance of 

 this question at this meeting, because I realize that the efforts of your 

 energetic Director of Institutes, Professor Taft, who has been a strong 

 advocate of spraying for many years and who has been one of the lead- 

 ing investigators in the work, have brought forth abundant fruit in this 

 State. I might draw attention, however, to some facts which were 

 impressed upon us in connection with spraying by the peculiarities of 

 last season. In New York it was exceptionally wet. We found in some 

 cases that Bordeaux mixture, made according to the ordinary form- 

 ula, four pounds each of copper sulphate and lime to forty gallons 

 of water, caused injury to apple foliage. We found also that the injury 

 was decreased in proportion to the increase of lime above the amount 

 called for by the litmus paper or prussiate of potash test. Some growers 

 used two or three times as much lime as was called for by the test, 

 and as a consequence had little or no injury. This observation was 

 tested carefully, and duly corroborated. I am, therefore, of the opinion 

 that it is wise in the long run to use as much lime as can be convenientlv 



