168 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



good, friable condition if they are only cultivated; so I believe it 

 is desirable to have a cover crop, and one of the good things for 

 that purpose is clover. I have used buckwheat sometimes. I have 

 cultivated until the latter part of June and seeded it down to buck- 

 wheat, or have waited until the middle of July and sowed to oats. 

 Of course, it takes moisture out of the soil, but you have got to add 

 something in the way of humus. In the eastern states some use 

 clover, because they get nitrogen in the soil as well as humus. Buck- 

 wheat is a good crop, because it keeps the soil moist under it. 

 Clover is good for the same reason. I had rather not do it in the 

 spring, because it is necessary in order to get moisture in the soil 

 to get the most out of our rainfall. 



Mr. Pond: Will not straw supply humus? 



Prof. Green: Yes, sir; that does very well. 



Mr. J. M. Underwood: How will good rotten manure do? 



Prof. Green : That is good. 



Mr. Underwood : Is it not true that anything that will produce 

 a cover crop for the soil will take up the moisture and defeat the 

 object you have in view, supplying the orchard with moisture. 



Prof. Green: It is an objection, no question about it. It is a 

 crop that takes the moisture, and I think that is a serious objection. 



Mr. Underwood: I have sown buckwheat and watched the 

 results of buckwheat on the soil, but it will not do. There will be 

 enough moisture to develop the buckwheat, but it takes all the 

 moisture out of the ground ; the ground is as dry as bone, and you 

 cannot find any moisture anywhere. If you had not put the buck- 

 wheat on and had cultivated every little while you could find mois- 

 ture within an inch of the surface, but with the buckwheat you 

 could go right through the field and not find moisture within eigh- 

 teen inches of the surface. Why defeat the purpose for which 

 we are working by putting into the soil that which may add humus 

 but will take all the moisture? 



Prof. Green : It would be better to add humus in the shape of 

 straw or manure than by any cover crop. However, not everybody 

 has the manure. 



The President : Put on your manure about the time the trees 

 ripen their wood. 



Spraying Cucumbers. — The L. I. pickle growers begin spraying 

 with Bordeaux mixture about July 15 and keep it up at intervals of 

 8 to 10 davs till frost. 



