272 THE FAT OF THE LAND 
this will be done in the near future by electric 
forces, and with such economy as to make the 
product available for agricultural purposes, is 
reasonably sure. In the meantime we must use 
the vetches, peas, beans, and clovers which are 
such willing workers. 
The legumes fulfil the three requisites of the 
cover crop: protection, humus, and the storing 
of nitrogen. That was why, when the corn in 
the orchard was last cultivated in July, I planted 
cow peas between the rows. The peas made a 
fair growth in spite of the dry season, and after 
the corn was cut they furnished fine pasture for 
the brood sows, that ate the peas and trampled 
down the vines. In the spring ploughing this 
black mat was turned under, and with it went a 
store of fertility to fatten the land. Cow peas 
were sowed in all the corn land in 1897, and the 
rule of the farm is to sow corn-fields with peas, 
crimson clover, or some other leguminous plant. 
As my land is divided almost equally each year 
between corn and oats, which follow each other, 
it gets a cover crop turned under every two 
years over the whole of it. Great quantities of 
manure are hauled upon the oat stubble in the 
early spring, and these fields are planted to corn, 
while the corn stubble is fertilized by the cover 
crop, and oats are sown. The land is taxed 
heavily every year, but it increases in fertility 
and crop-making capacity. For the past two 
years my oats have averaged forty-seven bushels 
