Cover Crops vs. Tillage. 187 
and fitted well each spring, and then sown, having 
received no subsequent tillage. The crops were all 
plowed under the following spring. The following 
are the crops: 
1890. Mixed beans. Sowed June 16. 
1891. Field peas. Sowed June 24. 
1892. Vetch. Sowed June 16. 
1893. Cow peas. Sowed June 19. 
1894. Field peas. Sowed June 14. 
Here, then, is a chance to compare the effects 
of tillage with humus in a season of almost unpre- 
eedented drought. Upon September 1, 1894, the green. 
manured strip was much the driest portion of the 
orchard. The tree growth in this portion was much 
less vigorous, and the leaves were perceptibly lighter 
colored, than on the adjacent plots. Even the unfer- 
tilized but well tilled tract showed a better foliage. 
In this green manure portion, leaves on peach trees 
were then beginning to yellow and fall from the effects 
of drought, whilst the same rows, when they struck 
the other plots, showed perfect foliage. In apricots 
the effects were also marked. Pears and plums also 
showed the differences. In the cultivated portions one 
could easily stir up loose earth with the toe of his 
boot, while in the green manured part one had to 
dig from six to ten inches in a hard soil before he 
could find visible moisture. Careful tests showed the 
same fact. Samples of soil were taken to the depth 
of one foot on September 1, by means of a soil 
sampler, eight samples being lifted from representa- 
tive parts of both the tilled and untilled areas. 
