PLOWING UNDER COVER CROPS HI 



is by far the most expensive fertilizer to buy and as the cover 

 crop offers a convenient method of getting it almost without 

 cost, it is certainly a short-sighted policy of soil management 

 which does not include leguminous plants often enough to fur- 

 nish at least a large part of the nitrogen needed. 



A cover crop may hold the snow and leaves in the orchard 

 during the winter. To do this to the best advantage it must be 

 rather a stiff, upright crop, which is not the type of crop that 

 gives the best results on soil washing and some other things. 

 One has to choose therefore between this character and the others. 

 In climates where the winters are severe, and where snow is likely 

 to blow off from the orchard, this point of holding it as a pro- 

 tection -may be the all-important one and the orchardists may 

 have to select an upright crop like soybeans or buckwheat or 

 even use a mixture with corn or some other heavy plant in it, 

 regardless of all other considerations. 



Protects Fallen Fruit. The cover crop serves to protect the 

 fruit which drops. This is not usually considered very important 

 and can often be disregarded altogether, but with fruit such as 

 Yellow Transparent and Red Astrachan apples, which ripen 

 irregularly and which have to be disposed of quickly in any 

 case, the drops are sometimes worth about as much as the hand 

 picked fruit. 



Prevents Winter Injury of Roots. It prevents the freezing 

 and thawing of the soil and consequent injury to the roots during 

 some winters. Any one who is not familiar with this effect will 

 be surprised at the difference between a block of the orchard 

 with a good cover crop on it such as clover or vetch, and one with 

 no crop or with a poor one. The well covered block will stay 

 frozen through a long rain or spell of mild weather while the 

 bare land freezes and thaws with every change in the temperature. 



In a few cases there may be other purposes served by the 

 cover crop, but the above constitute the most important ones. 



Plowing Under Cover Crops. A point which is frequently 

 misunderstood and which should be considered, is the importance 

 of the crop living over winter. There is often a prejudice, for 

 example, against crimson clover and in favor of common red 



