No. 4.] THE TOBACCO TRxVDE. 179 



have never seen any effect of that kind. I have seen to- 

 bacco land ruined for the year by letting the rye stand too 

 late on it in the spring. It pumped all the moisture from 

 the soil, and then, when turned under, it wouldn't rot, and 

 left the land fluffy, in unsuitable condition for setting tobacco. 

 The beauty of the leguminous cover-crops like crimson clover 

 or vetch is, that they don't make such a tremendous growth 

 as rye does, and when turned under they rot very much more 

 quickly, l)ecause they are richer in nitrogenous matter. But 

 I have never known of any proof that they had any marked 

 effect on the quality of the crop, either good or l)ad, except 

 that they provide humus or organic matter for the soil, Avhich, 

 when well rotted, is, I believe, a good thing for the crop. 



Mr. Granger (of Agawam). What do you think of bar- 

 ley or oats for a cover-crop, sown so they will come up four 

 or five inches in the fall ? 



Dr. Jenkins. They have this advantage, they spread out 

 more in the fall than rye ; of course they are winter-killed, 

 but they hold the soil down as well as the rye, and you don't 

 have to take care of them in the spring. You sometimes get 

 caught with your farm work, and cannot take care of the rye, 

 and it gets ahead of you ; but these things won't. I never 

 heard of using barley in- this way. You can let either of 

 them go, and don't have to watch them in the spring; and 

 they grow pretty late in the fall, and cover the ground and 

 hold it down. 



Mr. Gerry. If these cover-crops don't affect the leaf, 

 what is the use of putting them on ? 



Dr. Jenkins. There are two or three uses. They hold 

 them down, — the very light soils. We have tobacco soils 

 in Connecticut which drift like snow in the winter and early 

 spring ; in a high wind you will see a tremendous cloud of 

 dust going off from your tobacco fields. Your cover-crop 

 holds that down. Then, whenever the ground is not frozen, 

 your cover-crop, if it is rye, grows through the winter and is 

 gathering up any plant food in the soil, and in the spring it 

 has this capital, saving it for the toljacco crops. Besides, 

 when you turn it under you are getting a certain amount of 

 organic matter, humus, which is a good thing for the crop. 



