RURAL NEW-YORKER 
873 
The Cover Crop 
Part II. , 
-‘What can yon seed with buckwheat?” 
Almost anything. I have seeded buck¬ 
wheat and cow peas. They grew up to¬ 
gether and made a great tangle until 
finally killed by frost. Crimson clover 
goes well with buckwheat. I have tried 
the following combination in an orchard: 
114 bushels of buckwheat, half a bushel of 
rye, two pounds of Alsike clover and one 
pound of turnips. The turnips did not 
have much of a chance, but all the rest 
came on. The buckwheat jumped in ahead 
and we saw little of the rye until late 
September, when a frost killed the buck¬ 
wheat. Then the rye came on through 
and, with the clover, lived on through the 
Winter. 
“Can you r.ecommend seeding rye and 
buckwheat together as a sure thing?” 
No. In a very dry season and on poor 
ground it would fail. In a damp Sum¬ 
mer and on good soil both grains will do 
fairly well, but you cannot expect a full 
crop of either one, 
“What is the difference between turnips 
and rape as a cover crop?” 
The rape nuiy be called a turnip run 
to top and with, but a small root. The 
rape gives more organic matter in its large 
top, while the turnip digs into the soil to 
better effect. W*e use turnips because 
there is a demand for them in our mar¬ 
ket, and we can pull and sell many. 
“IIow do you seed these cover crops?” 
The method of course will vary with 
the crops they follow. Of course, with 
vine crops, like potatoes, melons or to¬ 
matoes, you could not seed as you would 
in corn. Most of our combination cover 
crops are used in corn, and the plan is 
about as follows: The last cultivation 
usually comes about the middle of Au¬ 
gust. Just before cultivating we go 
through and scatter the seed as evenly as 
possible all over the field. This requires 
two seedings—the rye alone going in at 
one time and the clover and turnip seed 
mixed at another. 
“How do you put the seed in?” 
Usually by hand—^Avalking through the 
corn. Skill and judgment are required to 
make an even seeding with this small 
(piantity of seed. Formerly we put a boy 
on a horse and let him ride through the 
corn, working a hand seeder which broad¬ 
cast the seed. The trouble with that is 
too much of the fine seed catches on the 
leaves and at the joint of the corn. With 
some little practice a man with a good 
eye can get the seed evenly over the field. 
' “What then ?” 
Cultivate about as you naturally would 
for the last time, only going a little 
lighter than usual. 
“What tool is best for this? 
The usual cultivator will do if fixed to 
make a shallow cut, or a light, narrow 
harrow will do. W'’e have sometimes 
used an old cultivator frame with sharp 
spikes driven into it. You do not w’ant 
to cover the seed too deep. 
“Do vou go both ways in hilled corn? 
It would be better to do so, but time is 
often pressing, and once through one way 
is all you can do. It will sometimes pay 
to have a boy follow the cultivator with 
an iron rake and drag it along between 
the hills. This covers a lot of seed which 
would otherwise be left on top. 
“Does not this leave the soil too rough 
for such fine seed?” 
Sometimes, and it usually pays to put 
a smoother behind the cultivator. 
“IIow do you do that?” 
We take a piece of plank or scantling 
a little wider than the cultivator track, 
and wire it to the back of the frame 
so that it scrapes or dangles along behind 
the cultivator right in front of the driver’s 
feet. This scrapes the soil down and 
packs it level over the seed, and gives it 
a better chance to grow. 
“Is that all?” 
All. You then get out of the field and 
let the corn mature.^ After it is cut the 
cover crop comes in and occupies the 
ground, 
“Suppose you have pumpkins or squash 
in the corn?” 
The last cultivation would naturally 
come earlier, but you can get it in the 
same. 
“Suppose the corn is hilled up high?” 
You cannot get quite as good a stand 
for the cover crop, and of course the field 
is left in rougher shape. 
“W’’hat about potatoes?” 
The cover crop goes in after the po¬ 
tatoes are dug. The digging usually 
works the soil enough. Our own plan is 
to rake up the vines and pile them around 
the apple trees. Then the rye and clover 
may be seeded broadcast and worked in 
with a spring-tooth harrow. With us this 
would mean late September. I would 
seed the rye and clover a month later if 
need be in our latitude. North of us it 
might not pay. In crops like cabbage or 
beans the clover and rye, or clover alone, 
can be seeded at the last cultivation. 
“Do you advise this plan under all cir¬ 
cumstances ?” 
No. There are some cases where expert 
farmers think the cover croi) would do 
more harm than good. 
“Why?” 
Last week I visited Daniel Dean, an 
expert potato grower, in Tioga County, 
New York. He does not use a cover crop 
after potatoes, becauuse he says in his 
peculiar locality the great need of the 
soil is moisture. A rank-growing cover 
crop in a Siu-ing which chanced to be 
unusually dry would suck so much mois¬ 
ture out of the soil that the following 
crops would suffer. 
“Is that objection well founded?” 
• I think so—surely for that locality. 
Rye and vetch, clover and other broad¬ 
leaved plants are great drinkers, and they 
suck vast quantities of water from the 
soil. I can easily see how they might 
dry out the soil too much in sections 
where the rainfall is limited. Still Mr. 
Dean makes use of Timothy in a way 
new to most farmers. 
“How is that?” 
He showed me a field of Alsike clover 
and grass with a thin seeding of rye. 
This was intended for potatoes next year. 
His plan was to plow it at once and then 
seed to Tmothy as a sort of Summer 
cover crop, as I understand him. This 
Timothy will hold and protect the 
ground during the rest of the year, and be 
plowed under next Spring, Mr. Dean 
gave several good reasons for this prac¬ 
tice, which, with him, is a good one. 
“But is not Timothy as a cover crop 
unusual when clover, rye or other bigger 
ones can be used?” 
No. I have heard a number of fruit 
growers say that Timothy seeded in their 
orchards gave them great results. They 
claim it gives a great mass of organic 
matter, and that, owing to its peculiar 
root system, it is one of the easiest things 
to kill out and keep from becoming a 
W'ced. I have heard of men who sweep 
up the barn floor and haymow bottoms 
and use this trash for seeding a cover 
crop in orchards! It gi’ows up into a 
great mass of weeds and grass which 
surely does return a volume of organic 
matter to the soil. I prefer the combina¬ 
tion of grain, legume and root. There 
arc, of course, rituations and circum¬ 
stances where the Fall-sown cover crop 
would not pay. but as a rule, from Cen¬ 
tral New York south, I think the soil 
should be covered during the Winter. 
“Why not the same in the Far North?” 
In many situations. Fall plowing in 
that section will pay better. The sea¬ 
sons are short and Spring is late, so that 
Fall plowing is a great help in getting 
ahead. The action of the hard freezing 
on the plowed land is good; while the 
loss of nitrates is not as large as in the 
more open Winters to the south. So that 
this cover crop business requires judg¬ 
ment like everything else. 
“Does the cover crop ever injure the 
corn ?” 
I have knoAvn it to in a dry season. 
This occurred in droughts and when there 
was not enough soil moisture for the corn 
alone. Rye is good at stealing moisture, 
and so is the turnip. When they are put 
in the soil with the corn, the latter will 
suffer if drought comes. In such cases I 
would not seed the cover crop in the 
corn, but wait till the corn was cut and 
then ,after a good rain, work in the rye 
and clover, for in eight cases out of 10 
from Central New York south the cover 
crop will pay. h. w. c. 
Central New Jersey Conditions 
Old hay seems to be pretty well cleaned 
out, but that w-hich is still on hand is 
being moved now at the price of .$2,5 
per ton for best quality Timothy. No 
clover or mixed hay on hand. Some rye 
going to the millers at about $1.75 per 
bu. Rye has been quoted as high as ,$2.80 
to the farmer during the Winter. The 
price of wheat remains around .$2.20, as 
fixed by the Government. Old potatoes 
are selling at $1 per bu., although there 
are very few on hand now, On account 
of the submarine activit.v along the At¬ 
lantic coast, there seems to be a shortage 
of new potatoes, consequently the demand 
for old potatoes exists. There is an 
abundant supply of milk, but the price 
in our locality has not been lowered to 
the farmer, the price remaining 7VjO per 
qt., the same as it was all last Winter. 
Pasture has been unusually abundant, this 
accounting for a full supply of milk, but 
the production Avill decrease now, as the 
pastiires are becoming shoi-ter, and I am 
anticipating a considerable shortage in the 
milk supply, beginning to take effect next 
Fall. IWieat and rye crops show prom¬ 
ise of a very good yield and there is more 
acreage given to wheat and rye in our 
locality than formerly by at least 10 per 
cent. The oat crop is very pi-omising 
and will no doubt be up to normal unless 
dry weather sets in between now and 
the time of harvest. There is about the 
Usual acreage devoted to corn, which looks 
very promising at this time. 
Owing to the number of men who have 
been drafted from farms, the labor situ¬ 
ation is becoming quite acute and farm¬ 
ers who have abundant harvests are at a 
loss to know how they will be able to 
gather the crops. Yet this is not as acute 
a situation as will be the .sowing of crops 
in the Fall and next Spring, as farmers 
are contemplating greatly reducing acre¬ 
age to be planted, anticipating the short¬ 
age of labor to do the work. So it looks 
as if the aboundant harvests of this year 
may be larger than the harvests for many 
years to come. t. u. M. 
Somerset Oo., N. J. 
Customer : “I like this piece of checked 
goods, but are you sure the colors won’t 
run?” Clerk: Madam, this is a certified 
check.”—Boston Transcript. 
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