32 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



will be found the most successful method of meeting the situation. 

 On other locations, however, the clean culture cover crop system is 

 recommended as the writer believes the sod mulch system inferior 

 to the latter. 



The Half Sod Mulch. The half sod mulch is a combination of 

 the sod mulch and the clean culture cover crop system. It is used 

 by those who prefer cultivation to the sod mulch, but whose sites are 

 too steep to permit of cultivating the entire area. A strip of sod four 

 to six feet wide is left along the row, and running as nearly as possi- 

 ble at right angles to the direction of the flow of water. These sod 

 areas are handled the same as in the sod mulch, while the space be- 

 tween is cultivated during the early part of the season and receives a 

 cover crop later on. The advantages of the system are that it pre- 

 vents washing and at the same time gives practically all the ad- 

 vantages of the clean culture cover crop system. (Wis. E. S. B. 

 207.) 



COVER CROPS. 



As used in orcharding, the so-called cover crops are the crops 

 grown in orchards for increasing the fertility of the soil and to con- 

 serve moisture. In general, the best fruit growers are a unit in advo- 

 cating the importance of clean cultivation for orchards, but this 

 sometimes results in reducing the soil to a condition which can only 

 be fully remedied by the addition of humus. This, however, may be 

 supplied by the application of coarse stable litter or decayed organic 

 matter directly to the land. In this case the humus applied is con- 

 fined almost entirely to the few upper inches of the soil. By growing 

 clover or similar deep-rooted crops the decaying roots will leave 

 humus in the subsoil and also render it porous. Other advantages of 

 cover crops are (a) that they protect the soil to some extent from 

 deep and sudden freezing and thawing; (6) they prevent the snow 

 from blowing away in the winter; (c) such cover crops as clover and 

 pease not only improve the physical condition of the soils on which 

 they grow, but also makes them richer in nitrogen. On this account 

 they are especially valuable for orchards. (U. S. E. S. B. 178.) 



The Clean-Culture-Cover-Crop System,. This system has come 

 to be considered by a large majority of fruit growers as the best for 

 orchard soil management. It consists in keeping the orchard under 

 cultivation during the first part of the growing season, then sowing 

 some crop which remains on the ground over winter. 



The orchard is plowed in the spring to turn under the coyer 

 crop of the previous year. If the orchard has been under cultivation 

 from the first, there will be no danger of injury to the roots. If, 

 however, the orchard has been neglected or has been in sod for some 

 time, the first plowing should be shallow, and the later ones slightly 

 deeper each time until the desired depth is reached. The orchard 

 does not need to be plowed as deep as though a field crop was to be 

 grown upon it. As the base of the treas is approached, the plow 

 should be run more shallow. It is usually more convenient to use 

 only one horse in turning the last two or three furrows next to the 

 tree. This permits getting much closer to the tree without so much 



