116 COVER CROPS 



But if the owner will persist in his efforts to grow it, it will 

 often improve year by year until it makes a splendid growth. 

 Another difficulty with it is that it will not grow on poor soil. 

 The orchard must be in "good heart" before it is worth while 

 to try any of the clovers (Fig. 44). 



Mammoth Red and Common Red Clover. — Many good 

 orchardists do not have much use for these plants as cover crops 

 where the land is being cultivated every year, as is usually the 

 case in orchards conducted on the cultivation plan. They seldom 

 make any growth worth while the first autumn and therefore to 

 get enough humus they must be allowed to grow in the spring, 

 which, as already explained, is very objectionable. Occasionally, 

 however, when an orchard gets to growing too much wood and the 

 owner wants to sober it down by seeding down the land and 

 letting it stand for two or three years, the clovers are particu- 

 larly good to mix with the grass seed that is used. This is where 

 these clovers shine, in "semi-permanent seeding." 



The Vetches. — Both summer and winter vetches are splendid 

 crops for covers and if the seed did not cost so much they would 

 be just about perfect. But the seed does cost; and until some 

 method is devised to bring down the cost to about one-quarter 

 what it is at present they are going to be rather too costly for 

 the man who has ten acres of orchard or over. It is unfortunate 

 that this is so, as vetches are certainly about all that could be 

 asked for the purpose in view. On small blocks of orchard, or 

 under special conditions, they may be admissible, but as a general, 

 commercial proposition they do not appeal to the man who pays 

 the bills. It is to be hoped that a plan may be devised whereby 

 the man who owns an orchard can grow his own vetch seed, but 

 at present that method has not been developed. 



Soybeans. — This is a cover crop which orchardists have used 

 with a good deal of satisfaction for a number of years, but it has 

 to be handled quite differently from most cover crops to be 

 entirely successful. Sown broadcast, or even in drill, at the 

 ordinary date, it fails to make growth enough to furnish much 

 humus or to perform any of the offices of a cover crop with con- 

 spicuous success. But if it can be drilled in about the middle 

 of June with the rows far enough apart to admit of cultivation. 



