Kinds of Cover-Crops 119 



cases. Turnips sown late in July in the North make a 

 complete cover of the land, and furnish so much bulk and 

 moisture as greatly to improve the character of the land 

 when they are plowed under the following spring. Turnips 

 are especially good to begin the process of improvement 

 in certain hard lands that are much inclined to be dry. 

 They contain much potash. The large cowhorn turnips 

 are usually preferred for cover-crop work, although the 

 smaller turnips may be sown with them. Dwarf Essex 

 rape furnishes much herbage at little cost. 



Oats, wheat, barley, millet, and various other quick- 

 growing crops may be utilized as covers, but they are less 

 adapted to the purpose than those that have been men- 

 tioned. In order to impress the different qualities on the 

 mind, it may be well to say that rye and corn, and the like, 

 are to cover-crops what pigs and mules are to domestic 

 animals. 



Leguminous crops comprise the various kinds of peas, 

 beans, vetches, and the clovers and their kin. If it is 

 desired to grow a leguminous crop on hard and dry land, 

 it will be necessary to choose those with large and quick- 

 germinating seeds, as the beans and the field peas. Com- 

 mon field beans may be sown broadcast late in the season, 

 and if they can have six weeks of uninterrupted growth, 

 will make a good cover before killed by frost. Canada peas 

 are not injured by the early frosts of fall, and therefore 

 may be sown later. In New York, peas sown as late as the 

 20th of September reached a height of about 6 inches, and 

 were large enough to afford a fairly good cover, if they 

 were sown very thick. But, in general, in the northern 

 states, it is advisable to sow not later than the last of 

 August or the first of September. 



The cowpea (Vigna sinensis) may often be used to 



