VI. OBSERVATIONS ON COVER CROPS FOR 

 ORCHARDS. 



S. A. BEACH AND C. P. CLOSE. 



It is the practice of miany New York fruit-growers to give 

 cherry, })lum and peach orchards clean cultivation during the 

 growing season. Less frequently quince and pear orchards, and 

 rarely ajiple orchards, are cultivated in the same way. Those 

 who follow this i)ractice generally prefer to cea«e cultivating 

 about August 1, so that growth may be checked and the wood 

 and buds may become thoroughly ripened and prepared for the 

 severities of winter. If the ground is left bare of all vegetation 

 except the orchard trees till the following spring, when culti- 

 vation is again resumed, it appears that the year's cycle is com- 

 pleted without j)roviding for the return of any vegetable ma- 

 terial to the soil at any period of the year, except what may be 

 furnished in stable manure or the slight amount which comes 

 from the decay of the root fibers and the weed growtli which 

 may escape destruction b}' the harrow or plow. 



It is well known that the humus, which is made up of the 

 decaying animal and vegetable matter in the soil, is a very 

 valuable and imi>ortant part of the soil. It contains a great 

 deal of plant food, which is constantly becoming available for 

 Ihe use of the plants; it increases the moisture-holding power 

 of the soil; it renders the soil more friable and puts it in a better 

 mechanical condition. 



If with the last cultivation of the orchard in summer, some 

 crop like clover, vetch or rye be sown, the ground will soon be 

 covered with a vegetable growth Avhich may be turned under 

 by plowing late in the fall or in the spring, and thus material 

 for keeping up the supply of humus may be added to the soil 

 in a comparatively inexpensive way. Such a crop as this is 

 called a cover crop. A cover crop is valuable not only because 



