BOOK OF THE HOME GARDEN 



In the South you can use soy beans or cow peas, 

 or velvet beans for your legumes because there is 

 no frost to kill them, but my Northern friends will 

 have to use crimson clover or vetch or alfalfa. 



This winter overcoat will do something more than 

 store nitrogen for us, and something almost as im- 

 portant. It will hold the soil from washing and 

 blowing. Did you know that one inch of soil is 

 blown away in a winter if it is left bare and there is 

 no snow blanket? One inch of humus and soil is a 

 good deal to lose. 



When spring comes and you turn the legume 

 under, you will have a fine mat of leaves and roots 

 which will fill your ground with humus. This is 

 called "green manure" and is one of the best forms 

 of humus any gardener can use. Suppose for some 

 reason you are not able to plant your garden next 

 spring, then the legume will go on growing and 

 your garden will be a beauty spot instead of an eye 

 sore. Crimson clover has an exquisite long crim- 

 son blossom and a patch of it in bloom looks like 

 velvet. Vetch is a vine with beautiful foliage and 

 purple blossoms which looks like tiny wisteria 

 blooms. Alfalfa's blossoms are also purple, very 

 small and delicate, but a patch of alfalfa is a thing 

 of beauty for the green alone. 



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