58 



FIELD CROPS 



be disked into the surface of fall-plowed land so thoroughly 

 as to give little or no trouble in the planting and cultivation 

 of a corn crop. 



67. Use of Green Manure Crops. In the South and East, 

 where less stable nianuic is available than in the corn belt, 



Figure 17. — Hills of corn six weeks from planting. Note how the surface 18 

 inches of soil is filled with roots. The soil rau.st be well prepared for this 

 rapid growth of roots. 



while the need of adding fertility and vegetable matter to 

 the soil is greater, the use of green manure crops before plant- 

 ing corn is generally beneficial. Where corn is planted on 

 sod land, plenty of vegetable matter is available, but such 

 land is not common in the South. In that section, the vege- 

 table matter can best be supplied by the use of cowpeas, 

 soy beans, velvet beans, crimson clover, bur clover, or some 

 crop of similar nature. The green manure crop should be 

 plowed under some time previous to planting corn, so that 

 the land has time to settle and the vegetable matter to decay 

 to some extent, but it is usually better to plow in the early 



