COVER CROPS 83 



relate both to the physical nature and the chemical 

 qualities of the soil. They may be summarized as 

 follows : 



1. The cover crop prevents the erosion of the soil. 

 Well-cultivated fruit lands are apt to wash away 

 rapidly during spring rains and especially at the 

 time when the snow goes off. Inasmuch as peach 

 orchards are frequently planted on light loose soil 

 and more especially upon high rolling land, they are 

 particularly subject to spring erosion. Very serious 

 damage of this character is to be observed in many 

 American orchards. The erosion trouble is so great, 

 in fact, that it cannot be wholly prevented by the 

 growing of cover crops, but at any rate these crops 

 do serve a very important purpose in preventing the 

 loss of the most valuable upper strata of the cul- 

 tivated soil. Probably the mild forms of surface 

 erosion which can be prevented by cover cropping 

 are in the aggregate much more serious than the 

 formation of deep cuts and gullies, which have to 

 be corrected by more strenuous measures. 



2. The cover crop also prevents the puddling and 

 baking of the soil. These difficulties are not seri- 

 ous on most soils, especially at the period when the 

 land is occupied by the cover crop. Nevertheless 

 many of the light soils used for peach growing do 

 bake, and bake hard, during the latter part of the 

 summer. Such a condition is in a high degree detri- 

 mental to the soil and the growth of the tree. It 

 can be almost wholly prevented by the cover crop. 



3. The cover crop catches the snow and holds 

 it on the land during winter. It thus prevents the 

 roots from freezing as the frost does not penetrate 

 so deeply into the soil when it has a liberal snow 

 cover. In some northern sections this is a very 

 important matter. The snow itself melting slowly 



