1012. 
THE K.UR A-L> NEW-YORKER 
826 
COVER CROPS FOR VINEYARDS. 
General Practice. —About the first 
of August it has been the custom of 
grape growers to discontinue cultivation. 
At this time some few have practiced 
cover-cropping, using clover, vetch, rye, 
barley, oats, etc. Under favorable condi¬ 
tions any of these will make a fairly 
satisfactory growth by the end of the 
growing season and some of them will 
live over Winter and resume growing 
in the Spring. Observation by the 
writer reveals the fact that the majority 
of grape growers use no cover crops. 
A few realize the value of some cover 
crop and claim to get the desired results 
from the natural weed growth. There 
can be no doubt that weeds do in some 
measure take the place of a sown cover 
crop, but owing to the fact that we 
cannot practice clean cultivation and get 
a uniform stand just when we want it 
renders the practice rather uncertain. 
Chickweed in many cases makes a very 
satisfactory weed cover crop for the 
vineyard, but it cannot be compared with 
some of the seeded ones. 
Why Cover? —Why should a cover 
crop be sown in the vineyard? is the 
logical question that the grower will 
ask, and it is for him that this article 
is written. Summarized briefly are some 
of the ways that cover crops are useful: 
1. When plowed under they improve 
the physical condition of the land by sup¬ 
plying organic matter that soon becomes 
deficient as a result of the intensive cul¬ 
tivation usually given the vineyard. Or¬ 
ganic matter is essential for the nitro¬ 
gen supply unless it be supplied in com¬ 
mercial fertilizers. Organic matter in 
decaying as a result of bacterial action 
sets free organic acids that act as sol¬ 
vents upon the mineral plants foods al¬ 
ready present in the soil, but unavailable 
for lack of these solvents. Hence in 
turning under a cover crop we not only 
add the plant food in that crop, but we 
liberate plant food in the soil but pre¬ 
viously unavailable, and in case legumes 
are used we actually add nitrogen that 
was gathered by the plants from the air. 
2. Cover crops conserve some of the 
surface moisture, and tend to prevent 
crusts from forming. This condition is 
quite common in many vineyards, espe¬ 
cially on the heavier soils. A heavy 
rain, instead of soaking into the soil, 
runs off rapidly, so that the average 
rainfall is insufficient to meet the water 
requirements of the vines. Cover crops 
with their extensive root systems pene¬ 
trating the soil offer numerous water 
channels for excessive rainfall, hence 
the supply is conserved. 
3. _ Cover crops prevent soils from ce¬ 
menting and puddling. 
4. They prevent the rapid leaching 
from open, porous soils. Humus result¬ 
ing from an advanced stage in the de¬ 
composition of organic matter has a ca¬ 
pacity several times its dry weight, for 
holding water, hence a soil well supplied 
with it is more drought resisting than 
one deficient in it. 
5. They catch and hold leaching ni¬ 
trates. After cultivation is stopped 
there is an accumulation of nitrates, es¬ 
pecially on the warmer soils, that will 
not be used by the grape until the fol¬ 
lowing year. I f not used they are very 
liable to leach away and be lost. A 
growing crop at this time will appropri¬ 
ate these and when turned under will 
restore them for the uses of the vine. 
6 . They add nitrogen to the soil if 
legumes are used, nitrogen that is a clear 
gain, as only by legumes and an expen¬ 
sive process of manufacture is atmos¬ 
pheric nitrogen collected. 
What Seed? —The following table in¬ 
dicates the cover crops that we have 
tried in the vineyard in the order of 
their importance, the amount of seed 
per acre and the dates for seeding: 
Seed per acre Date 
Mammoth clover. 20 bus. Aug. 1 
Alsike . 10 bus. Aug. 1 
Wheat . 1 bu. Aug. 1 
Cow-horn turnips . 1 lb. Aug. 1 
Mammoth clover . 15 lbs. Aug. 1 
Cow-horn turnips . 1 lb. Aug. 1 
Buckwheat . 1 bu. Aug. 1 
Uye . 1 bu. Sept. 1 
The amounts given above may be 
varied somewhat and the dates for seed¬ 
ing are flexible. We usually seed about 
the first of August but try to do so just 
before or after a rain; in some instances 
we have delayed until August 7 antici¬ 
pating a rain. The clovers should be 
given the earlier preference. The vine¬ 
yard should be thoroughly harrowed just 
before seeding, leaving a good mellow 
seed bed. The seed can be broadcast or 
drilled; if broadcast it should be covered 
with the spring-tooth. Only the best 
seeds should be purchased for cover- 
crop purposes. Owing to the fact that 
the majority of growers do not produce 
sufficient manure on their farms to sup¬ 
ply the vineyards the fertility will be 
maintained in the future largely through 
cover crops and commercial fertilizers. 
Some of our best vineyards to-day are' 
being maintained in this way. 
F. E. GLADWIN. 
Pumping Air into Pneumatic Tank. 
tr. H. T)., Bengtes, Md .—How is air 
pumped with the water into a pneumatic 
tank with the use of a rotary pump using 
a two-horse power gasoline engine? My 
well. 14 feet deep, is 60 feet from the 
pump. My tank has no opening to pump in 
air (if I could do so), excepting where 
water exists, and I found an air pump 
would not work while water was pressing 
down upon it. I used a good brass cylin¬ 
der pump and the water was at low pres¬ 
sure in the tank. If air and water cannot 
no put in the tank at the same time, hour, 
can I put the air in by the use of my air 
pump? I have a good pump and connected 
it with the tank at the lower stopcock of 
the water gauge, but it seemed to get 
clogged with water and I could do nothing. 
I put the rubber hose on the lower nipple 
of the stopcock. Is there any other part 
to attach between rubber hose and the tank 
to complete the connection? 
A ns. —There should be a check valve 
between the air cylinder of your pump 
Ga so/me Engine 
PUMP AND PNEUMATIC TANK. Fig. 350. 
and the tank, that is, a valve which 
checks the water from entering the 
pump cylinder but which opens when 
the air is forced into the tank. If both 
the air cylinder and the water cylinder 
are joined to a single pipe leading to 
the tank, the check valve must be be¬ 
tween the air cylinder and the place 
where the two pipes join into one. The 
check valve will only open one way and 
when the pump sucks in the air it will 
not draw in water too. Then you can 
pump air and water at the same time, 
or you can pump the right amount of 
water into the tank, disconnect the 
water supply pipe and then pump air 
into the tank up to the right pressure. 
The latter method is usually followed. 
_ R. p. c. 
Wild Onions and Broom Sedge; Poor Meadow. 
A*. D. /{.. ll’cst Virginia. —1. I have a 
field which is infested with wild onions. 
How can I get rid of them? 2. I have also 
a field overrun with what we call in this 
Country broom sedge. Ifow can it be erad¬ 
icated? 3. I desire to sow some Giant 
clover on a meadow which is not doing 
at all well, and would like to know if I 
would be apt to meet with any success if I 
should run a harrow over the ground pretty 
well, after broadcasting lime at the rate of 
1.000 pounds per acre and then sowing the 
clover seed and harrowing it in? 
■Ans. —1. One of my old students, now 
weed expert in the Department of Agri¬ 
culture in Washington, Mr. J. S. Cates, 
has worked out a plan for the destruc¬ 
tion of wild onions, and has published 
a Farmers' Bulletin on the subject which 
you can get from the Secretary of Agri- ! 
culture. The method is based on the 
habit of growth of the onion. You will 
find in the Fall that each plant has 
made one white and thin-skinned bulb 
and a bunch of smaller bulblets of a 
dark color and hard skin. The large 
bulb starts to grow in the Fall. Let 
them grow till the bulb is hollow and 
then turn all over completely. The 
little hard bulblets do not grow till 
Spring. Then let them grow till hollow, 
and turn all under completely, not 
allowing any tops to show above 
ground, and the work is done. The 
bulletin has illustrations showing ex¬ 
actly how it is done. 
2. Broom sedge is Nature’s method of 
restoring man’s waste. A field is worked 
till no longer productive and is turned 
out, and at once nature goes to work 
to restore the humus-making material 
and covers the land with broom sedge. 
Among the sedge the wind brings the 
pine seed and a pine thicket grows up. 
and after a time some one cuts the 
pines and finds a fresh and productive 
soil. It takes nature long years to do 
this, but it shows us how to do the same 
thing in a shorter time through the use 
of the legume crops. Broom sedge 
grows on land too acid for better crops, 
and the way to restore the land is to 
plow the broom sedge under deeply and 
then harrow in a dressing of slaked 
lime at rate of 25 bushels an acre and 
plant to corn. Sow an early cow pea 
like the New Fra among the corn ahead 
of the last working and cultivate them 
in. Then cut the corn at maturity and 
as the peas drop their leaves sow the 
Crimson clover all among them in 
August or early September and the 
clover will generally germinate well, 
particularly if you have given the corn 
a liberal application of acid phosphate 
and potash. 3. This clover will gener¬ 
ally germinate and grow very well sown 
among thin grass. I would run a disk 
harrow lightly over the grass, sow the 
clover seed ac rate of 15 pounds an acre 
and roll the sod down tight again. 
Maryland. w. f. massey. 
Charcoal Dust as Fertilizer. 
A. B., Wallin, Mich .—Last year I put 
in about two acres of Alfalfa. The soil 
was heavily manured, aud I have a bank of 
several hundred yards of fine charcoal and 
ashes, being the refuse pile from a set of 
charcoal kilns. Knowing that ashes contain 
lime, I put about five wagon loads to the 
acre on the ground, at the same time I in¬ 
oculated the ground with soil from where 
sweet clover had been growing along the 
creek here. I have a nice stand of Alfalfa. 
This year I have put in about an acre and 
a half already and inoculated with soil 
from Alfalfa field ; the seed is coming well. 
I have five acres more already fitted and 
intend to put in in a short time. Would 
you advise to put on more of this waste 
charcoal and ashes on the ground? Do 
you think the fine coal is of any value, not 
being burned to ashes? 
Ans. —We understand this is the 
refuse of wood burned for charcoal. If 
so it is worth hauling—aside from the 
value of the ashes it contains. The char¬ 
coal dust does not contain much plant 
food, but will help the soil in various 
ways. It will help sweeten an acid soil. 
It gives a darker color, and thus helps 
the soil to absorb and retain heat. The 
charcoal has great power to absorb and 
hold moisture and gases. We should 
certainly use this dust. 
^^I^pay^o^ale^ou^hay 
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Ask your dealer or write us for 
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Farmers Thresh Your Own Grain 
ELLIS CHAMPION 
THRESHERS 
Save enough to own the thresher. Be independent. 
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We also mako tread and sweep horse-power, drag or circular saws 
Oor catalog toll’s the whole story. ELLIS KEYSTONE AGRICULTURAL WORKS, Pettstown, Pa. 
