lor August, 1920 



niiJiuniiiiliiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiuuHiiiimiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiii jimiiiimmniiimiiiii iiiin iiimiiiimniiiiiiiiininiiiiiinmiiii 



279 



iiiniimiiiiiniiiiiiiitiiiiiiiuinniiiwtuiwiiiiiiiiiiMmniiiiinniiiiiiiiianiiuiiiiuiiiiuiiiHUiiiiuiiuiiJIIIinmiuiiniiniuinniiiiHiiiuumK 



The Month's Work in Garden and Greenhouse 



HENRY GIBSON 



„ ,1,1,11111111111 , I ,1,1,1111,111 ,[„i,iiniiiiii, „„i„ii iiiiniii iiiiiiiiiiii ,i,i,iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiuiiiiiimiuiuuinnniimui>iiiiiiiiiiiniiiiii uiiinim i i in n iiiiiimiiii i jiiiiiiiiiniiiM' 



WHILE the garden has been feeding us bountifully 

 during the past weeks it has come to the season 

 of the year when we should begin to think of 

 feeding it if we would have it feed us well another 

 season. It is only a square deal and a common sense 

 proposition to thus assist Nature in establishing a new 

 supply of plant food to replace that which the crops have 

 used up. Of course it is claimed by some authorities that 

 this is not Nature's feeding time. A liberal application 

 of plant food, plowed under in Spring, is supposed to 

 keep things going, supplemented with an occasional dose 

 or two of concentrated fertilizer through the growing 

 season. But the home gardener who must practice in- 

 tensive cidture on account of the restricted area he has 

 to cultivate, and reap several crops in quick succession 

 from the same ground must necessarily hand Nature a 

 more liberal diet. A g'enerous supply of plant food with 

 each crop and plenty of smaller applications of fertilizer 

 as supplements is needed to secure best results. 



Plant food whether artificial or natural is scarcer than 

 ever before, with but little brighter prospect for the 

 future. How to keep up the fertility of the soil for next 

 year's crops is a mightT,' serious problem for everyone to 

 consider. 



We can save and make plant food in compost heaps ; 

 we can also begin and make Nature produce part of her 

 own food in the form of cover crops. In doing these 

 things one needn't expect to see one cent's worth of im- 

 mediate benefit, ^^'hy plan to feed the crops nine months 

 later? Why worry about next year's crops? Well, if 

 you feel that way, >'our enthusiasm is on the wane. 



It is well, however, to know that there are limits to the 

 value of green manuring as applied to the home garden. 

 The green manures do a lot, but they will not do every- 

 thing. Some gardens are better off without them alto- 

 gether. There are three reasons for growing cover crops 

 in the garden, of which the first is indicated in the name 

 — a covering of the ground so that the soil will not be 

 washed away and its plant food constituents leached out 

 by rains. Obviously, this applies chiefly to slopes subject 

 to erosion and to sandy soils subject to leaching, but not 

 to fairly level ground of medium texture. The second 

 reason is to supply humus, or decaying vegetable matter 

 to a soil deficient in this respect, whether sandy or 

 clayey. 



If one has an unlimited supply of farmyard manure 

 available it is not necessary to supply humus otherwise. 

 The third reason for a cover crop is to add to the soil 

 actual enrichment in the form of nitrogen. 



Anv kind of plant that grows thick and fast enough 

 will serve to protect the ground from erosion and leach- 

 ing. Likewise several kinds of plants are suitable to 

 sujjply humus. But there is only one group of plants that 

 supply nitrogen, and there is no plant that produces ])hos- 

 phoric acid, or potash beyond what is actually present in 

 the soil. In actual plant food contributed by cover crops 

 to the soil without charge we have only nitrogen. No 

 other essential fertilizing element is added. The other 

 elements are merely taken up from the soil by the cover 

 crops and returned to the soil sometimes improved, and 

 the hunnis combination. Nitrogen is a costly element and 

 well worth getting for nothing. If your crops have been 

 pale and yellowish in color and lacking in size it shows 



a need of nitrogen. On the other hand, too luxuriant 

 growth, with a scantiness of fruit, shows an oversupply 

 of nitrogen and a lack of fertilizing elements. 



It is the legume family that adds nitrogen to the soil. 

 The bacteria that live on the roots of these plants take 

 the nitrogen from the air. The legumes include peas, 

 beans, veitch, clovers and alfalfa. To give the ground 

 the maximum benefit such plants should be plowed or 

 spaded under in a state of semi-maturity, but your gar- 

 den is enriched to a certain extent when one merely grows 

 such crops, harvesting seeds or tops, leaving roots and 

 stalks to decay. 



Plants that add no plant food to the soil but serve as 

 a protection against erosion, supply humus and inciden- 

 tally hold down weeds, include rye, oats, barley, buck- 

 wheat and rape. A mixture of these with legtmies has the 

 advantage of killing two birds with one stone, supplying 

 a liberal amount of nitrogen, as well as a supply of hu- 

 mus, or organic matter. Moreover, a combination of 

 plants often succeed better than a single sort. Of course, 

 sections of the country will differ in the adaptability of 

 both the combined and separate crops and if one would 

 be sure of success one woidd do well to get in touch with 

 the nearest experiment station. 



Of the various cover crops some die on the approach 

 of cold weather and others endure the Winter. In the 

 former class, which may well be called the Summer 

 planted crops are cow-peas, btickwheat, soy beans and 

 field peas. In the latter class are rye, crimson clover, 

 hairy veitch and cowhorn turnips. Rye is the most gen- 

 erally useful cover crop we have. Planted in late Sum- 

 mer or early Fall, it will make a fairly good growth, even 

 on poor soils in every section of the country. It is one 

 of the best crops with which to begin the work of soil 

 improvement. If one or two rye crops have been turned 

 under it is a nuich easier matter to get a good stand of 

 clover or veitch. 



Most home gardeners will make no mistake in plant- 

 ing rye this Fall after harvesting the crops. If the rye 

 is mixed with hairy veitch seeds, so much the better. A 

 bushel of rye and 20 pounds of hairy veitch seeds is about 

 right for an acre. A peck of rye and five pounds of 

 veitch will be enough for a garden 100 x 100 feet. 



L'sually it does not pay to unduly modify one's crop- 

 ping program for the sake of green manuring. Put in 

 the cover crop as early as possible, and turn it under as 

 soon as you are ready to use the ground. In the case 

 of the legumes most of the nitrogen is gathered in the 

 early stages of growth, hence it is not necessary to wait 

 for mature growth before turning under. In fact there 

 are disadvantages, especially among the cereal plants 

 used as cover crops in letting them make too heavy 

 growth. The stalks and fibres become tough and take 

 longer to decay than do the succulent young plants ; and 

 in a dry season the undecayed mass of turned under 

 vegetation forms an impervious layer which is not at all 

 congenial to the roots of the regular crops that may 

 be planted. For the time at least the soil is more harmed 

 than benefited. Imperfect turning under of a heavy 

 crop also does more harm than good. A chain attached 

 to the plow when turning under will do much to elimi- 

 nate this trouble. 



(Continued on page 281) 



