248 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



see no possible objection to this, provided 

 an equivalent in the form of barnyard 

 manure or some other kind of fertilizer 

 is placed on the land. In the growing 

 of cover crops the trees get the benefit 

 of the root system of the cover crop, no 

 matter whether the top is fed to stock 

 or allowed to rot on the ground. It may 

 just as well be fed to stock as allowed 

 to decay for the purpose of adding humus 

 to the soil, provided barnyard manure is 

 used to add the same amount of humus 

 that the top system would have added, 

 and there is this advantage, that an acre 

 of alfalfa or clover in an orchard should 

 yield something like three or four tons 

 per annum worth from $5 to $10 per ton. 

 while its equivalent in manure can be 

 placed on the soil for about $1 per ton. 



Therefore, a considerable difference in 

 profit would grow out of the use of the 

 alfalfa or clover, while during the winter 

 season when not much else could be done 

 in the orchard the barnyard manure could 

 be hauled and put on the land. 



Wliat Xot to Grow 



Among the crops which should not be 

 grown in orchards are timothy, corn. 



wheat and oats. I have watched with 

 considerable interest the effects of certain 

 crops upon the growing trees. In one 

 orchard I noted that for four successive 

 years wheat had been grown between the 

 rows, and at the age of four years these 

 trees were not as large as trees three 

 years old across the road and growing 

 under similar conditions, but without 

 wheat. I have noted similar results with 

 corn. Corn and wheat do not take from 

 the soil more of the substances needed 

 by the trees than do vegetable crops, but 

 the latter require more cultivation and 

 are usually rotated. 



The following table shows the amount 

 of niti'ogen, phosphoric acid and potash 

 said to be removed from the soil by the 

 various crops in one year. It must be re- 

 membered that these are three of the ele- 

 ments which the apple tree very much 

 needs, and that the reason why alfalfa, 

 clover, vetch, beans, peas and other legu- 

 minous plants are said to be good for the 

 soil is largely because they gather nitro- 

 gen from the air in excess of what they 

 use from the soil. 



Gk.vnville Lowtiier 



Table Showing Amount of Nitrosreii, Phosphoric Acid and Potash Removed from the 



Soil by Certain Crops 



Phosphoric 

 Name of Crop Nitrogen Acid Potash 



Barley . 78 



Buckwheat 63 



Cabbage (white) 213 



Cauliflower , 202 



Cattle turnips 187 



Carrots 166 



Clover, green (trifolium pratense) 171 



Clover (trifolium pratense) 37 



Clover, scarlet (trifolium incarnatum) 95 



Clover (trifolium repens) 89 



Cow pea 254 



Corn 146 



Corn fodder (green) 122 



Cotton iiO 



Cucumbers 142 



Esparsette 239 



Hops 200 



Hem|) 



Lettuce -- 41 



Lucern (alfalfa) 289 



Lui)ine, green (for fodder) 219 



Lupine, yellow (lupinus luteus) 80 



Meadow hay 166 



Oats 89 



Onions 96 



