272 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



this will be done in the near future by electric 

 forces, and with such economy as to make the 

 product available for agricultural purposes, is 

 reasonably sure. In the meantime we must use 

 the vetches, peas, beans, and clovers which are 

 such willing w r orkers. 



The legumes fulfil the three requisites of the 

 cover crop : protection, humus, and the storing 

 of nitrogen. That was why, when the corn in 

 the orchard was last cultivated in July, I planted 

 cow peas between the rows. The peas made a 

 fair growth in spite of the dry season, and after 

 the corn was cut they furnished fine pasture for 

 the brood sows, that ate the peas and trampled 

 down the vines. In the spring ploughing this 

 black mat was turned under, and with it went a 

 store of fertility to fatten the land. Cow peas 

 were sowed in all the corn land in 1897, and the 

 rule of the farm is to sow corn-fields with peas, 

 crimson clover, or some other leguminous plant. 

 As my land is divided almost equally each year 

 between corn and oats, which follow each other, 

 it gets a cover crop turned under every two 

 years over the whole of it. Great quantities of 

 manure are hauled upon the oat stubble in the 

 early spring, and these fields are planted to corn, 

 while the corn stubble is fertilized by the cover 

 crop, and oats are sown. The land is taxed 

 heavily every year, but it increases in fertility 

 and crop-making capacity. For the past two 

 years my oats have averaged forty-seven bushels 



