70 BULLETIN .355, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 



These windstorms usually do not have much chance to develop dur- 

 ing the summer when the ground is more fully covered by growing 

 crops. To prevent this danger of wind-blown sand the ground should 

 be kept covered with growing crops as much as possible. Land 

 on which potatoes have been grown may be seeded to rye at once 

 after the digging of the potatoes, and, if desired, clover may be sown 

 on the rye early in the following spring. In this way the ground is 

 never exposed for any length of time to the wind. Fields on sandy 

 farms should also be laid out in long narrow strips, so that the ground 

 on which the tilled crop, such as com or potatoes, is planted will alter- 

 nate with strips bearing grain or grass which protects the ground. 



Fertility (Ref. No. 7, p. 415).— Sandy soils are low in the total 

 amount of plant food they contain, and often what they do have is 

 rather unavailable because of the coarseness of the grains of which it 

 consists. It is particularly desirable that the organic matter of such 

 soils be increased, partly because by so doing the nitrogen can be best 

 increased, and partly because the organic matter acts on the mineral 

 matter in the soil so as to make it available for growing crops. For 

 adding organic matter legumes should be used as far as possible, since 

 they have the power of gathering nitrogen from the air. In the 

 growing of these legumes, such as clover, soy beans, etc., the use of a 

 fertilizer containing potassium and phosphorus is important. Lime is 

 also often needed to secure satisfactory crops of alfalfa or clover. 

 These plants can secure much of their nitrogen from the atmosphere, 

 but they require the mineral elements from the soil just as aU plants 

 do. However, it is important to notice that in the decomposition of 

 organic matter produced by the growing and plowing under of legume 

 crops the phosphorus and potassium which was used in their growth 

 become available to succeeding crops, and this further increases the 

 value of legumes as fertilizers. 



Crops for sandy soils. — The readiness with which sandy soils may 

 be worked, even immediately following rams, especially adapts such 

 soils to the growth of crops requiring considerable manual labor, such 

 as vegetables, and small fruits. The advantage which sandy soils 

 have in this respect is so great that it offsets their low fertihty and 

 makes it preferable to use them for such purposes, even though fer- 

 tilizers must be purchased in larger quantities than would be necessary 

 on heavier soils. The low water-holding power of such soil also per- 

 mits it to become warm much more quickly in the spring than heavier 

 soils which contain much water, the evaporation of which keeps them 

 cold. This higher temperature of sandy soils adapts them to certain 

 crops requiring a high temperature, such as melons, tomatoes, and 

 potatoes. The fact that sandy soils are subject to drought during 

 periods of small rainfall in the summer makes them poorly suited to 

 grass crops, which should grow all the season, especially when used 



