FARM CROPS. 



79 



cotton, properly tended, are known as " cleaning 

 crops." If the land is kept continually in hay or 

 grain, which is not cultivated, it becomes foul with 

 weeds. 



5. By the use of legumes, nitrogen from the air may 

 be stored up in the soil for the use of other crops. It 

 is estimated that a crop of red clover one year old will 



COWPEAS GROWN WITH FERTILIZER. 



have twenty to thirty pounds of nitrogen stored in the 

 roots alone. This is worth from four to six dollars. 

 A crop of crimson clover seeded in corn at the last 

 working, at a cost for seed of about one dollar per 

 acre, will catch about fifteen dollars' worth of nitrogen 

 on that area. 



6. It keeps the ground covered with crops most of 

 the year and prevents leaching. Bare fields should be 

 avoided as much as possible. 



