114 



COVER CROPS 



Tablb rV. — Amount and Cost of Cover Crop Seed. 



Crop 



Buckwheat 



Cow peas 



Cow-horn and purple top tur- 

 nips 



Dwarf Essex rape 



Barley 



Rye 



Crimson clover 



Mammoth red clover and com- 

 mon red clover 



Summer vetch 



Winter vetch 



Soybeans — broadcast 



Soybeans — in drills 



Canada field peas 



Rate per Acre 



1 bu. 

 VAhn. 



2 1b. 

 2 1b. 

 13^ bu. 

 1 M bu. 

 15 lbs. 



12 lbs. 

 13^ bu. 

 1 bu. 

 I3^bu. 

 Mbu. 

 13^ bu. 



$1.50 bu. 

 3.00 bu. 



.35 lb. 



.08 lb. 

 1.25 bu. 

 1.65 bu. 



.10 lb. 



.25 lb. 

 3.00 bu. 

 6.00 bu. 

 3.50 bu. 

 3.50 bu. 

 3.00 bu. 



Cost per Acre 



$1.50 

 4.50 



.70 



.16 



1.88 



2.47 



1.50 



3.00 

 4.50 

 6.00 

 5.25 

 1.75 

 4.50 



very briefly some of their good and bad ciiaracteristics, taking 

 them in the order mentioned in the table. 



Buckwheat. — This is desirable because it will grow on almost 

 any soil, leaves the land in better physical condition than perhaps 

 any other crop, furnishes a large amount of humus, is reasonably 

 cheap, and starts so quickly after sowing that it will smother 

 out many annual weeds. This last point is particularly im- 

 portant where one has witch grass to contend with. On the other 

 hand buckwheat furnishes no nitrogen, makes rather a poor 

 cover, and is killed by the first frost. All things considered the 

 orchardist should class buckwheat as among the best three or four 

 cover crops and one which it is difficult to do without (Fig. 45). 



Cow Peas. — These are rather a southern crop and -are not as 

 good as several other crops when one gets north of Connecticut. 

 In their own section, however, they are famous as soil improvers. 

 They are sown in July and are killed by fall frost. 



Cow-horn and Purple-top Turnips. — The great advantage of 

 these plants is cheapness, which certainly appeals to a man when 

 he has fifty acres or more of orchard to cover. They also fur- 

 nish an immense amount of humus, make a fairly good cover, 

 and with the purple tops at least one may pull out and sell 

 enough of the best turnips to far more than pay all the expense 

 of the crop and still leave plenty on the ground for a cover. 

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