6 The Coeorado Experiment Station 
FLOODING GIVES QUICKEST RESULTS 
There are two conclusions which we can draw from this work. 
First, that the quickest way of reclaiming nitre land is by flood¬ 
ing. Second, that the corrugating method, while beneficial, is too 
slow, and, in the long run, more expensive than the flooding 
method. Lands that are in the first stages of nitre poisoning may 
be restored by using the corrugating system of irrigation, but on 
land made unproductive by excessive nitre, and especially if the 
character of the soil and the lay of the land are such as to permit 
of rapid drainage, and where rapid, complete reclamation is de¬ 
sired, the flooding method is recommended. 
COVER CROPS HELP CHECK NITRE IN BEARING 
ORCHARDS 
At the same time that the work of reclaiming this particular 
piece of land was undertaken, experiments were carried on to 
correct the nitre condition of soils in bearing orchards, by the 
use of cover crops. This method of soil treatment is particularly 
applicable to orchards, and since most of the orchard land is defi¬ 
cient in vegetable matter, due principally to clean cultivation, the 
plowing under of cover crops is the cheapest and most eflfective 
means of supplying this deficiency, and at the same time checking 
the tendency to form nitre. 
Two orchards in the first stages of nitre trouble were selected 
and were seeded to hairy vetch. The seeding was done early in 
September, and the plants made a rather poor showing during the 
fall. The poor stand was due to three causes: First, the lack of 
water; second, to the dense shade caused by the apple trees; and, 
third, to the tramping of the land in harvesting the fruit. 
In spite of these drawbacks, the vetch showed up well the 
following spring, particularly in one of the orchards, where it 
completely covered the ground and at.tained a height of over 5 
feet. (See Fig. 4.) 
The vetch was plowed under during the second week in June, 
when it was in full bloom. Both of these orchards were in the 
first stages of nitre trouble, and to all appearances, the trouble 
was checked. 
In plowing under large green crops in the orchard, there is 
some danger of too rapid fermentation and heating which may 
cause injury to the trees. This generally happens if the plowing 
under is delayed until the latter part of June, or until July. Foi 
this reason, the plowing under of large green crops should be done 
as early as possible. 
