CHAPTER VIII 



COVER CROPS 



Crops of annual plants, such as cereals and 

 legumes, are often grown in the orchard or vine- 

 yard, and are usually designated as cover crops. 

 Cover crops are generally grown for shelter or for 

 green manure, or for both. If situated on sandy 

 land the soil of a newly planted or young orchard is 

 liable to be blown about by the wind, especially 

 after it has been freshly ploughed or cultivated, as 

 the young plants have insufficient foliage to protect 

 the ground from the full force of the wind. During 

 a gale the sand is often blown with considerable 

 force against the stems and foliage of the trees to 

 their great injury. 



Along the Murray Valley the weather is usually 

 fairly calm during the summer and autumn months, 

 but during September and October the equinoxial 

 gales often blow with great force and persistence. 

 During these storms, on newly-ploughed and 

 freshly-planted orchards situated on sandy land, the 

 damage done is sometimes severe the drifting 

 sand barking the trees, destroying their foliage, and 

 even covering the irrigation channels with sand. To 

 avoid losses from sand-drift in newly-planted or- 

 chards it is necessary that the soil should be held 

 together by a mass of plant growth. TJiis can be 

 accomplished by sowing strips of cereals or 

 legumes in the rows the way it is intended to water. 

 If the trees are planted 20 feet apart a 9 feet strip 

 will be sufficient for the first season, and a 6 feet 



