Soil Kenovatoes. 11 



tility. This can be done' most economically, from turn 

 ing under one of the leguminous crops : such as peas, beans, 

 butterbeans, peanuts, clover, vetch. It should be borne in 

 mind, hov^ever, that in the South no crcop of vegetables 

 should be plovyed under until well matured — in fact turn- 

 ing should not be commenced in any Southern State until 

 October 1st, unless the crop be mowed down and allowed to 

 lay for ten days. If this be done the turning may be 

 done sooner. Turning under green crops in hot weather 

 has proven to be detrimental to the soil. There is no 

 crop that improves land so much as velvet beans, but they 

 require a long growing season, and can hardly be recom- 

 mended for latitudes north of Middle Georgia. They 

 are valuable also for stock, as they produce large crops of 

 beans, which are fine ^ food for hogs and cattle. They can 

 not be turned under until about three weeks after being 

 killed by frost, when the vines begin to rot and get brit- 

 tle. A good sulky turning plow with large rolling coul- 

 ter is the implement to be used for turning velvet beans, 

 and the work is done more easily about nine o'clock in 

 the morning, after the dew has dried off of the vines, caus- 

 ing them to lose their toughness. This precaution how- 

 ever, may not be necessary in stiff clay soil. Every crop, 

 whether field or garden, should be followed by one of the 

 soil renovators above named. These crops gather nitro- 

 gen from the atmosphere and store it in the soil, besides 

 improving the mechanical condition of the land. It may 

 be said further that, in addition to the plant food obtained 

 through their agency, it has been recently discovered by 

 the department of agriculture of the United States, that 

 cowpeas when following other crops have the power of 



