142 AGRICULTURE ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 



Green plants decay much more rapidly than straw 

 or strawy stable manure. They soon wilt down and 

 so make no trouble for a seed bed, a week or two after 

 plowing in. They bring with them, of course, all the 



FIG. 75. Root tubercles of square pod pea. The small figure shows the 

 appearance of the bacteria under the microscope. 



plant food the crop had taken from the land; and if 

 IA grown during a California winter, no crop-growing^ 

 time need be lost. But a greenmanure crop grow- 

 ing in an orchard during summer would be as 



