OTHER LEGUMES AND CATCH CROPS 



excellent cleansing crop for weed-infested fields. 

 It makes a less heavy growth than rye, but can 

 be used at a time of the year that rye would fail. 

 There is time in a single season to grow two crops 

 of buckwheat for green-manuring, turning the first 

 crop down when the blossoms appear. 



Oats. When a fall growth is wanted for the 

 soil, and it is preferred that the plants be dead in 

 the spring, oats make a good catch crop. 



Thin land which is wanted for seeding to wheat 

 and grass in the fall, or for timothy and clover 

 seeding in August, may use oats as a spring cover 

 crop. A large amount of humus-making material 

 may be gained by this means. The only danger 

 lies in the effect upon soil moisture. The oat 

 crop uses up the water freely in its growth, and when 

 permitted to form heads before being plowed 

 down, the mass of material in the bottom of the 

 furrow does not rot quickly enough to induce the 

 rise of water from the subsoil. The land should 

 be plowed early enough to permit a solid seed-bed 

 to be made. 



[119] 



