62 Effective Farming 



Legumes are the most satisfactory plants for green-manure ; 

 they make a good growth of foliage, add nitrogen to the soil, 

 and their roots, in most varieties, reach down deep and bring 

 up food that would not be obtained by shallow-rooted crops. 

 The cheapest way to secure nitrogen is to plant legumes and 

 turn the crop under. Nitrogen, if purchased in commercial 

 fertilizers, costs from fifteen to thirty cents or more a pound ; 

 in legumes it often costs the farmer less than three cents a 

 pound. Each section of the country has legumes that can 

 be grown profitably as green-manure. In Fig. 22 is shown 

 the result of the growth of corn on different plots of ground 

 at the Rhode Island Experiment Station. The plots were 

 different only in the green-manure crop, the kind and quantity 

 of fertilizer used on each of the plots being the same. Notice 

 that the smallest growth was where no green-manure crop 

 was used, that the next largest was where rye, a grain, was 

 planted, and that the best results were obtained where a 

 legume was grown. 



28. Crops used for green-manure. The crops listed in 

 the next few paragraphs are the ones chiefly used for green- 

 manure. In addition to these, however, there are many crops 

 of local importance that give very good satisfaction. One 

 should always use a crop that does well in the region where it 

 is to be grown. 



Red clover. Although red clover is more often used for 

 hay than for green-manure, it is, nevertheless, very satisfac- 

 tory for the latter purpose. It is a northern-grown crop. 

 The seed is often sown in July or August, eight to ten pounds 

 of seed to the acre giving a good- stand. The clover may be 

 plowed under the following spring or a crop may be mowed 

 about the first of June, the second crop allowed to grow, and 

 the plants plowed under in the fall or spring. 



Crimson clover. This clover is a desirable crop for the east- 

 ern part of the country from Delaware southward. It does 

 not do well in the North. In the South the seeds are sown 



