76 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE 



successive plantings. This is also a valuable fodder for cat- 

 tle and sheep,, and the ripe peas are a profitable crop. Like 

 a luxuriant growth of clover, it requires the roller to pre- 

 pare it properly for the plow, when turned under previous 

 to the decay of the vines. The cow pea is an economical fer- 

 tilizer, in consequence of its broad, succulent, bean-like 

 leaves, drawing nitrogen and carbonic acid largely from the air ; 

 but its slight fusiform roots, do not effect that mechanical divi- 

 sion so beneficial to many adhesive soils, which is produced 

 by the long tap roots of the clover. 



Spurry is extensively used as a fertilizer in the north of 

 Europe, (Flanders, Germany and Denmark), and as forage for 

 cattle, both in its green and dry state. It is admirably adapt- 

 ed to the lightest sands, where it is said to grow with more 

 luxuriance and profit, than any other of the cultivated plants. 

 It may be sown in the fall, after grain or early roots, and plow- 

 ed under the following spring. Three crops may be grown 

 on the same land in one season. Van Voght says, by alter- 

 nating these crops with rye, it will reclaim the worst sands, 

 and yield nearly the "same benefits, if pastured off by cattle ; 

 while it adds materially to the advantages of other manures 

 applied at the same time. It grows spontaneously in many 

 of our fields, as a weed ; and its cultivation on our lightest 

 sands, which are too poor for clover, might be attended with 

 the best effects. Like the cow pea, however, it is deficient 

 in the deep, tap roots, which give much of their efficiency to 

 the clover and white lupine. 



WHITE LUPINE (Lupinus albus.) 



This plant has not, to my knowledge, been introduced as 

 a field crop in this country ; but from the great success 

 which has attended its cultivation in Europe, it is a proper 

 subject of consideration, whether it might not be advanta- 

 geously introduced among us as a fertilizer. It grows freely 

 in all except calcareous soils, and is best suited to such as have 

 a subsoil charged with iron. It is hardy, not liable to in- 

 jury from insects, grows rapidly and with an abundance of 

 stems, leaves and roots. The latter protect the plants from 

 drought, by penetrating through the subsoil for a depth of 

 more than two feet, which they break up and prepare, in the 

 most efficient manner, for succeeding crops. 



THE ADVANTAGES OF GREEN MANURES 



Consist principally in the addition of vegetable matter, 



