THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



313 



SOW A COVER CROP 



(Continued from page 306.) 



clover should be cut and left on the ground, while 

 the second crop should be plowed under when in 

 blossom. The fruit growers should bear in mind 

 that the orchard is not a hay field and that very 

 little good will result from the use of cover crops 

 if the crop is cut for hay. Besides, there is danger 

 from poisoning- if the orchard is sprayed with 

 arsenical poisons. Alfalfa is not adapted to or- 

 chards, as it is difficult to eradicate and no orchard 

 should be left permanently in sod. 



The question is sometimes asked : Why can- 

 not weeds be used as cover crops? The objection 

 to weeds is mostly from the fact that they do not 

 mature at the same time and in order to get the 

 best results they have to be cut too early and even 

 then some species of plants will have already ma- 

 tured their seeds which afterward may be difficult 

 to eradicate. Field peas is another excellent crop 

 for the orchard. Winter rye sown in August and 

 plowed under the following May is a crop that 

 should be used in many orchards. The point that 

 the writer wishes to emphasize is that the use of 

 a cover crop is not primarily to increase the fertility 

 of the land, but to add vegetable matter. 



SILOS ON IRRIGATED FARMS 



(Continued from page 298.) 



varying conditions. We find that among our most 

 successful corn growers some plant one way and 

 some the other. Under the drill plan an earlier 



maturity will follow when the plarits are not too 

 thick in the drill. Thinning to 10 to 12 inches is 

 recommended with rows not closer than 30 inches 

 apart. Under the other plan the hills may be 36 

 inches apart and be thinned to three good stalks. 



"It has been demonstrated that the cutting of 

 clover or some legume into the silo with the corn 

 improves the feeding value of the ensilage, by giv- 

 ing the feed nutrients a better balance, also clover 

 containing considerable timothy or some other grass 

 gives a better quality .of silage than will straight 

 clover, owing to the fact that clover is deficient in 

 sugar. By mixture of clover with such crops as corn, 

 rye, wheat, timothy and the like, all of which are 

 high in sugar, the entire mixture will be well pre- 

 served and palatable. The legumes being low in 

 sugar do not have enough to prevent the fermen- 

 tation of their high protein content, which results 

 in the objectionable smell of legume silage. . 



"It is entirely practical in Western Washington 

 to have a crop of rye, wheat or barley just entering 

 the dough stage at the time when clover is first 

 ready to cut and to cut the same into the silo with 

 the clover, in the proportion of one ton of rye, 

 wheat, etc., to two tons of clover or alfalfa. Some 

 legume crops may also be seeded for the purpose of 

 being cut into the silo with the corn crop and thus 

 increase the feeding value of the corn silage. 



"The following crop mixtures for silage may 

 be recommended : Fall seeded rye and vetch, corn 

 and the third crop of clover or fourth crop of alfalfa, 

 corn and oats and vetch, barley and oats and vetch, 

 clover and mesquite or timothy or rye grass or 



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WRITE FOR CATALOG AND FURTHER INFORMATION TODAY. 



We are also builders of the Famous "New Century" Separator, "Matchless" Clover and Alfalfa Huller, Steam Traction and Portable Engines* 



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THE AULTMAN & TAYLOR MACHINERY COMPANY 



BRANCHES: 



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