THE USE OF GREEN MANURES 61 



to the soil is greater, the use of green manure crops before 

 planting corn is generally beneficial. Where corn is planted 

 on sod land, plenty of vegetable matter is available, but such 

 land is not common in the South. In that section, the vege- 

 table matter can best be supplied by the use of cowpeas, 

 soy beans, velvet beans, crimson clover, bur clover, or some 

 crop of similar nature. The green manure crop should be 



Fig. 16. Hills of corn six weeks from planting. Note how the surface 

 18 inches of soil are filled with roots. The soil must be well prepared for 

 this rapid growth of roots. 



plowed under some time previous to planting corn, so that 

 the land has time to settle and the vegetable matter to decay 

 to some extent, but it is usually better to plow in the early 

 spring than in the fall. Leaching and washing, which are 

 very likely to take place on fall-plowed land, are prevented 

 by the use of a cover crop which is not plowed under till 

 spring. 



