86 THE AMERICAN PEACH ORCHARD 



degree of efficiency as a nitrogen gatherer. At all 

 events, such excellent cover crops as cowpeas, soy 

 beans and the various species of clover do collect 

 hundreds of dollars' worth of nitrogen and present 

 it to the fruit grower without money and without 

 price. 



7. The cover crop also makes other plant foods 

 available. In the course of time the cover crop 

 breaks down considerable quantities of mineral 

 matter, and takes up itself such portions of potash 

 and phosphoric acid as are necessary to its growth. 

 When it is plowed into the land these fertilizing 

 elements are offered to the fruit trees in the most 

 available forms. 



8. The cover crop checks the late growth of the 

 trees. In the opinion of the writer this point has 

 been over-emphasized by many people, but at any 

 rate it is desirable that the trees should stop growth 

 not later than the middle of August, devoting the 

 remainder of the summer to ripening up their wood 

 and buds. Peach trees are particularly apt to make 

 late summer growth and to go into the winter with 

 large quantities of unripened wood and half-formed 

 buds. Such immature growth is pretty sure to be 

 frozen during the winter, and the tree may be seri- 

 ously weakened in this way in certain cases. Usu- 

 ally, however, a tree making such vigorous growth 

 will need to be severely pruned, and all the frozen 

 portions will be removed during this pruning, so 

 that the net result is of no serious consequence. 



The cover crop may occasionally present some 

 disadvantages. It is, of course, a matter of addi- 

 tional work and expense. The cost of seed itself 

 is an item which cannot be overlooked, as it may 

 amount to $3 or $4 per acre. Perhaps the greatest 

 damage ever done by a cover crop comes in those 



