422 MANAGING ORCHARD SOILS AND FERTILIZING TREES 



satisfactory crops under such conditions. If late fall plowing 

 is not practiced, then very early spring plowing should be 

 done in order to prevent the cover crop from making too much 

 spring growth and thus competing with the trees for moisture 

 and nitrates. 



Much of the organic matter produced by those cover crops 

 w^hich are killed by early frosts may be lost by having the 

 leaves blown away. This is often true with cow peas and soy 

 beans, for instance, where the orchard is located on an ex- 



Fig. 166. A weed cover crop may often be spotted and thus not produce 

 sufficient organic matter. In such cases a standard cover crop should be 



seeded. 



posure swept by strong winds. Often only the stalks remain 

 on the ground in the spring. In orchards where fall or winter 

 plowing is practiced, this condition is avoided to some extent. 



Often a weed cover crop, such as foxtail, chickweed, rag- 

 weed, quack grass, or partridge pea, will grow quickly and 

 cover the ground as soon as cultivation is stopped in the late 

 summer. Such crops will add considerable organic matter and 

 fulfill many of the functions of a standard cover crop. A 

 good stand of volunteer grass or weeds is preferable to a poor 

 stand of certain cover crops and saves money. The use of 

 weeds is questionable, however, since they often come up 



