44 POPULAR FRUIT GROWING. 



late summer or early autumn. This may be a crop that will kill 

 out in winter or that will live over and be allowed to grow on the 

 land until late in spring, when it is turned under. Occasionally 

 it may be a good plan to seed an orchard down to clover for a 

 year or two in order to increase the humus in the soil; as, for 

 instance, in the case of soils on steep hillsides where the humus 

 is nearly exhausted. For this purpose the land should preferably 

 be plowed in late autumn and the clover seed sown in early 

 spring without any nurse crop. 



Examples of practical use of cover crops. Cover crops are 

 of various kinds, among which may be mentioned the following: 



(a) Peach growers of Michigan and apple growers and 

 nurserymen in Minnesota use oats in their orchards, sown from 

 the first to the middle of August, to protect the roots from severe 

 freezing. Such a cover holds the leaves in autumn and the 

 snows in winter, thus preventing frequent freezing and thawing 

 as well as deep freezing of the ground. 



(b) Crimson clover is an excellent cover crop for parts of 

 New York State and south to Alabama. It should be sown in late 

 summer or early autumn in New York but later in Alabama 

 where it grows all winter. 



(c) Buckwheat is a good cover crop for steep slopes or 

 other places where it may be desirable to use a cover crop in 

 summer. It shades the ground and aids it in holding moisture, 

 thus preventing the soil from drying out. 



(d) Vetches and cowpeas may sometimes be used to ad- 

 vantage for a cover crop and should be sown in early spring. 

 The cowpea is the great cover crop of the Southern states. 



(e) The soy bean is a good cover crop. It Is sown in mid- 

 summer in rows. 



(f) The velvet bean and beggar weed are great cover crops 

 for the extreme Southern states. 



(g) Mammoth clover and alfalfa may be used as cover crops 

 if plowed under the second or third year. They should be sown 

 in orchards without a nurse crop in the early spring. Sometimes 

 they are sown in the orchard, leaving a space of four feet for 

 cultivation by the side of the rows of trees. 



Amount of seed of cover crops to sow per acre. The follow- 

 ing table shows the number of pounds of seed required per acre 



