METHODS OF HANDLING GREEN-MANURE CROPS. 13 
is the case with the plow, for which reason it is thought by many to 
be more desirable. In working a green-manure crop into the soil 
‘with a disk harrow, four diskings are usually required, each disking, 
where the planting of the orchard will permit, being made at an angle 
with the previous one. On the heavier soils the disk harrow does not 
work so well and the plow is used almost entirely. 
After turning under a green manure the land is kept well cultivated 
the remainder of the year. 
For obtaining the best results a green-manure crop should be 
turned under early enough in the season to allow perfect decomposi- 
Fic. 1.—View in a California orange grove, showing the method employed in plowing under a green- 
manure crop. 
tion. In orchards this can be quite definitely designated, as the 
turning under should take place before the trees start growth in the 
spring. This means, for citrus orchards in southern California, not 
later than February. In northern California the season is of neces- 
sity a little later on account of the generally wet condition of the soil 
at that time. Where the factors relating to other crops and a season 
favorable to decomposition do not have to be taken into considera- 
tion, it perhaps is safe to say that to obtain the best results most 
legumes should be turned under about the time the first pods form, 
or a little earlier. 
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