Soils, Fertilizers and Irrigation 177 



Cowpeas for Cover Crop. 



/ planted cowpeas bctivecn peach trees zchich I have kept irrigated; 

 when should they be plowed under? 



Cowpeas will be killed by frost in most places and should, there- 

 fore, be plowed in this fall whenever you have a large growth of 

 green stuff and the ground gets moist enough so that the trees will 

 not be endangered by drying out of the soil, which is likely to occur 

 after plowing in coarse material, unless the soil is kept moist by 

 rain or otherwise. 



Garden Peas for Green Manure. 



Would it be possible to plant the Yorkshire Hero pea in an orange 

 grove as late as December 25 and get a crop from the peas? Would this 

 pea add much to the fertility of the soil? 



You can sow any garden peas as late as December 25, if the 

 ground is in good condition and the temperature not too low. They 

 are grown as a winter crop except when the ground freezes. You 

 would not get as much good for the grove by growing these peas 

 for the market as you would by plowing the whole growth under 

 green, but you certainly will get advantage from the decomposition 

 of the pea straw and of the root growth of the plant. 



Grass for Green Manuring. 



/ wish to sow this fall some green grass to be plowed in next spring 

 to improve the soil of part of my land. I read for that purpose a bulletin 

 I had from the government, but the conditions are so different here in 

 California that I am very much puzzled zvhich kind to select. 



There is no grass which grows quickly enough to be worth seed- 

 ing in the fall for spring plowing. It is a good deal better to use 

 a grain, either barley or rye, for the seed is cheap, the growth quick 

 and you can get a good deal of green stuff to plow under. Legumes 

 are, of course, better because of their ability to absorb atmospheric 

 nitrogen, but any plant which makes a large green growth is good, 

 and it is better to have a heavy weight of wild vegetation than to 

 have a light growth of an introduced legume. 



Manure with a Clover Crop. 



/ have an old apple orchard in which I intend to soiv burr clover. 

 In order to get the clover to grow I knoiv that I shall have to use fer- 

 tilizer of some kind and this is what I want your advice about. 



If you can get it, use stable manure at the time of sowing the clover 

 seed. Stable manure alone wall restore the ^wmus and overcome the 

 rebellious behavior of the soil. Possibly yoti cannot secure sufficient 

 quantities of it. In that case a little with the burr clover seed will 

 give the plant a good start, or use a complete fertilizer to secure the 

 growth of a legume in the freest and quickest way. 



