THE CANADIAN Tr () m' T TM.TURIST 



Jpnuary, 191 i 



show that when a 

 dense covering is 

 formed it so pro- 

 tects the soil tliai 

 little evaporati o n 

 takes place in the 

 late fall and the 

 ground by fall will 

 actually contain 

 more moisture than 

 the areas not so 

 covered. Winter 

 killing of the root 

 is more liable to 

 occur in a dry soil. 

 This is not of spe- 

 cial consideration 

 in northern sec- 

 tions only, for win- 

 ter killing is often 

 caused by alternate 

 freezing and thaw- 

 ing, which has 

 greater range in a 

 somewhat dry soil 

 than in a moist 

 soil, for the more 

 water a soil con- 

 tains the less liable 

 is it to frequent al- 

 ternate free zing /^ 

 and thawing. 



Cover crops were first used for the ^lur- 

 pose of keeping frost from penetrating 

 the ground and at the same time prevent 

 alternate freezing and thawing. It will 

 prevent the latter as we all know from ex- 

 perience, and experiments go to show that 

 a moderate mulch on the surface will keep 

 the frost from penetrating less than half 

 the depth that it will on unprotected areas. 

 The frost penetrating the soil may not 

 prove injurious, but alternate freezing 

 and thawing must be guarded against. 



PLOWING UNDEB NOT ADVOCATED 



It is usually not advisable to plow un- 

 der a cover crop in the fall. There is 

 much less liability to washing off the sur- 

 face soil, and the mulching effect is bet- 

 ter if it is on the surface. It also serves 

 to hold the snow, which is one of the best 

 protective covers we can have. 



Personally, I think it does not matter 

 whether the cover crop stands the whiier 

 or not. In fact the only advantage that 

 I can see in having one that will stand 

 the winter is to dry out the ground early 

 the following spring. The danger, how- 

 ever, is that we may allow them to grow 

 too long before plowing under and rob 

 the ground of much moisture that might 

 have been conserved, and as well deprive 

 the tree of its full early spring breakfast. 



The following experiments which I 

 personally conducted show the effect of 

 winter rye and Red clover in reducing the 

 moisture contents of the soil as compared 

 with the early cultivated crimson clover 

 plot. A plot of oats sown on an adjoin- 

 ing plot on June 20th was also compaied 



View of a P.irtiia of the Oiiplay of Applet at the Keceit Exkibilion at St. Joho, N. B. 



as to the percentage of moistures at dif- We find that the clover can be worked 



ferent dates. These plots showed how under with greater ease and for that rea- 



quickly the moisture contents of the soil son we use it principally. The two mixed 



can be reduced by crops in the orchard m together are good. 



the spring and early summer months. Red clover does not make sufficiently 



SaSplea Date ^cSv°e? cwr rapid growth in my opinion and we do not 



ee were Winter sown plowed under not use it except m our comparative tests. We 



Jtifu. . . .Zl •'20°'"' '^20^ "" get a much better protective covering 



May 26 . . . .17.21 18.02 21.21 18 97 with th Crimson clover, and a very much 



June 9 12.52 17.84 20.31 14.04 * u n r . • . . a 



June 2J . . . .10.46 17.40 20 46 1165 greater bulk ot material to turn under. A 



Juilli : : : -.Ife llll Hit \l'^ mistake is often made in using too little 



Aug. 4 . . . . 8.23 9.49 18.11 10.36 seed. Never use less than twenty-five 



Seift. 6 . '. ■. :i7 79 1699 2404 2022 POunds of Crimson clover and seventy- 



Ocfjf .• .■ : iJ:B llPi K llfi R^e pounds of vetch seed per acre. 



The clover plot was given clean culture seeding clover 

 and no cover crop was used on any of I" .seeding to clover we run over the 

 these plots. The fall was a moderacely ground with a tilting spike tooth harrow, 

 wet one and these plots each contained sow the seed and harrow with this tool 

 approximately twenty per cent, of mois- again having the teeth upright, and again 

 ture, which amount our experiments indi- harrow with the teeth tilted to leave a 

 cate is about right for the most successful perfectly smooth surface. The seed can 

 wintering of the tree. One of the bad ef- be safely worked in to a greater depth 

 fects of drying out the soil early in the ^^^'^ is the case with the smaller Red 

 spring is that the sub.soil water is lost, clover seed. In seeding vetch I prefer to 

 whereas it should be retained for the crop use the springtooth harrow which leaves 

 later on, as it is this water on which rhe 'he soil more in ridges and after seeding 

 crop depends later in the season. i'he t'^'s is again used, followed by the level- 

 tabulated data shows only the condition ''"JT harrow. 



of the soil to one foot in depth, but soil I have never yet had any difficulty in 



to a greater depth would show as great a getting a good catch from seeding on a 



variation. properly cultivated area. If this ground 



It is advisable, except in cases wnere is thoroughly dried out on the surface, 



the ground has an excess of nitrogen, to there may be trouble, but in such cases I 



use leguminous cover crops. The Crim- would advise working in the seed more 



son clover and common vetch we prefer, deeply. 



Both of these make an ideal cover. The 



math is not objectionable at picking time One of the best of the Japanese plums 



and it forms a good protective covering, for long distance shipping is Ogon. 



