HOW TO SUPPLY PLANT FOODS 



"For purposes of cover and protection, the non-leguminous 

 crops may be just as good as the nitrogen gatherers, and when 

 the fruit trees or plants are growing very vigorously they may 

 be decidedly better than the others, because, by not adding 

 nitrogen, they do not over-stimulate the growth. A rotation 

 of cover crops will nearly always be found to be important. 

 It is perfectly possible to put so much nitrogen into the land 

 that the trees or plants grow too vigorously or too late in the 

 season." 



Some of the most useful of these cover crops will not thrive 

 on hard and intractable land, and in such cases a rougher and 

 coarser crop must be used. Bailey says further that "the 

 golden scale of cover crops for orchards begins with rye and 

 ends with crimson clover." In saying this he, no doubt, had 

 in mind the condition of most lands which are hard, intract- 

 able, lacking in humus and poverty-stricken in many ways 

 at first, then becoming more mellow, richer and better drained, 

 as orcharding processes are worked out, until finally the soil 

 is in good condition. 



Rye, it will be seen, is preeminently the cover crop for 

 rough, unsubdued land, while crimson clover is at its best 

 in fine, mellow, fertile soil. Buckwheat and Indian corn can 

 be used instead of rye, but they are harder to plow down. 

 The corn should be sown broadcast. Turnips and rape also 

 will make a complete cover on hard land. All of these crops 

 should be sown in July or August, or about six weeks before 

 a killing frost, and all of them will cover the ground com- 

 pletely before they are frozen down. 



But these crops are makeshifts. When we use them, it is 

 because the finer, true cover-crop plants will not do well, for 

 some reason connected with the land which we wish to pro- 

 tect and improve. The idea is to build up the soil by the use 

 of these coarser plants to the point where the better ones will 

 do their best work. None of these coarse crops should be used 

 continuously, year after year. 



The legumes, comprising all the clovers, vetch, cowpeas, 

 Canada peas, and common field beans, are the cover plants 

 which gather nitrogen, and at the same time give the protec- 

 tion and the organic matter supplied by the others. Common 

 field beans, Canada peas and cowpeas can be sown on coarser 

 lands than the clovers because their seeds are larger and a 

 catch is surer. Peas and clover mixed form a good combi- 

 nation. Clover with rye and the other non-legumes also is good. 

 Where clover and peas are used together, the peas will be killed 

 by frost, leaving the clover in possession. 



If legumes are sown x to eight weeks before killing frost, 

 the plants will grow thickly and cover the ground in fine shape. 

 Plenty of seed should be used, especially of cowpeas, of which 

 the Black and Whip-poor-will varieties are the best for the 

 North. All varieties do well in the South. Canada peas will 

 stand much cold, and will grow later into the fall than cow- 

 peas. All peas except Canada are hot-weather plants and will 

 make a rank growth even in dry weather. 



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