CHAPTER IX 



COVER CROPS 



While most people have a fairly clear idea of what a cover 

 crop is, it may be worth while to begin by attempting to define 

 it so that we may have a definite idea of just what is meant by 

 the term. In orchard parlance, then, a "cover crop" is any 

 crop grown in the orchard solely for the benefit of the trees. It 

 is usually an annual crop and is sown in the orchard during the 

 summer and plowed under the following spring. In actual 

 practice we find all gradations, from the orthodox, typical cover 

 crop, such as measures up to the definitions given above, on 

 through such plants as turnips, which are primarily cover crops 

 but where a part of the crop may be harvested, to buckwheat, 

 which may be grown primarily as a companion crop and sold, 

 but which serves some of the purposes of a cover crop. 



The most important purposes served by the cover crop are 

 the following, arranged roughly in the order of their importance, 

 though the order would vary under varying conditions : 



Prevent Washing. — The cover crop serves to prevent washing 

 during fall and spring rains and to make the orchard comfortable 

 to go about in during muddy weather in the spring, that is, it 

 serves as a cover. A crop which will really accomplish all this 

 is difficult to find, but it ought to come as near it as possible. 

 There is no question that the loss of soluble plant food, and of 

 actual soil, by washing is one of the great drawbacks to cultiva- 

 tion on lands which are even slightly rolling, and anything which 

 we can do to lessen this loss ought to be done. Of course the 

 cover crop helps to prevent washing both by its roots and its 

 tops. It is therefore important, on lands which are subject to 

 washing, to select a plant as a cover crop that will develop a 

 large top which will mat down on the surface of the soil and 

 thus prevent the water from moving, and one which also has a 

 large and fibrous root system that will hold the soil particles to- 

 gether. Sometimes these two characteristics go together, but fre- 

 quently they do not and then one has to choose between them. It 

 is difficult to say which is the more important, but a thick mat 

 108 



