192 The Principles of Fruit-growing. 



ment upon certain hard lands which are much in- 

 clined to be dry. 



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 

 which have been mentioned. In order to impress 

 the different qualities of cover crops upon 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. 



Amongst the leguminous crops are the various 

 kinds of peas, beans, vetches, and the clovers. If 

 it is desired to grow a leguminous crop upon land 

 which is hard and dry, it will be necessary to 

 choose those with large and quick -germinating seeds, 

 like the beans and the field peas. Common 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. 

 At the Cornell Station, peas sown as late as the 

 20th of September reached a height of about six 

 inches, and were large enough to afford a fairly good 

 cover, if they were sown very thick. But, in gen- 

 eral, in the northern states, it is advisable to sow 

 not later than the last of August or the first of 

 September. 



The cow pea ( Vigna Sinensis) can often be used 

 to the greatest advantage, especially in the middle 

 and southern states, where the long seasons allow 



