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When Writing Advertisers Be Sure to Mention American Agriculturist . 
American 7 -Agriculturist, September 22,1923 
With the Passing of Dobbin 
Sandy Land Farmers Turn to Green Manures 
Y EARS ago, before the gasoline age, 
vegetable growers and truck farm¬ 
ers of Long Island and northern Jersey 
depended, in a large measure, upon 
manure from city stables to supply 
their plant food and to furnish the 
humus supply for their sandy soil. 
This product of the city stables was 
loaded on low-sided, open freight cars 
and great trainloads were hauled out 
into the country, much to the discom¬ 
fort of city and town folks who chanced 
to live near the railroad. This was 
especially so if the train was stalled 
any length of time. 
This practice of using city stable 
manure is not altogether a thing of the 
past, for old Dobbin has not been en¬ 
tirely removed from our cities. How¬ 
ever, his numbers are diminishing, and 
with him his valuable by-product. Con¬ 
sequently the farmers who once de¬ 
However, the use of rye or legumes 
for green manuring is b£ no means a 
practice that should be restricted to' 
Long Island or sandy regions. By 
adding humus to the soil the physical 
characteristics are improved and conse¬ 
quently crops have a better medium in 
which to develop. Rye does not add 
plant food. However, the legumes such 
as the clovers and vetches do increase 
the nitrogen content of the soil. 
I know a farmer’ in western New 
York who demonstrated the value of 
turning under a clover crop to the as¬ 
tonishment of his neighbors. He is a 
good farmer for he leaves his land bet¬ 
ter than he finds it. He is not a col¬ 
lege-trained farmer, but he knows the 
value of clover. One year in particular 
he had an unusually fine crop of red 
clover. Instead of cutting it he plowed 
it under. His neighbors were horri* 
Drilling in rye as soon as the corn is in the shock gives it an opportunity 
to make good growth, and form a good cover before heavy weather sets in 
pended upon city-produced manure are 
now turning to green manures. 
Green manures and cover crops are 
terms that are almost synonymous. A 
“cover crop” may be considered a crop 
which protects the soil from the action 
of the weather. It becomes a green 
manure crop when it is plowed under 
to increase the humic or organic con¬ 
tent of the soil. In the case of an 
orchard cover crop, the application of 
terms is somewhat different. But we 
*are considering here, cover crops in the 
regular farm practice, and particularly 
in the sandy, vegetablergrowing sec¬ 
tions around New York. 
Rye, perhaps, is most commonly used 
for cover cropping and green manur¬ 
ing. The seed is fairly cheap and it is 
a quick-growing crop. It improves the 
physical character of the soil, but adds 
no plant food. On Long Island, farmers 
who are finding the lack of city stable 
manure a handicap and an expense, for 
it takes considerable labor to handle 
it from car to field, are turning to rye 
and commercial fertilizers. They seed 
their rye as soon as their late potatoes 
are dug or as soon as the corn is in 
the shock. This gives the rye an op¬ 
portunity to get a good start and form 
a good mat before heavy weather sets 
in. Long Island soil is very sandy and 
washes readily. Rye checks this wash¬ 
ing completely. The rapid-growing 
qualities of rye are again in evidence 
the following spring for it develops ap¬ 
preciably before plowing time. 
Another crop being used more every 
year is crimson clover. This is seeded 
in between the rows of corn at the 
time of the last cultivation. The corn 
is followed with late cabbage the next 
year. This gives the clover an oppor¬ 
tunity to develop fairly well. A demon¬ 
stration was made of this several years 
ago by the Nassau County Farm Bu¬ 
reau. The cooperator was a farmer 
who lived near Jericho on the northern 
edge of the famous Hempstead Plains. 
The crop of cabbage which followed 
the clover was indeed a “bumper.” 
Undoubtedly the nitrogen-fixing power 
of the bacteria on the nodules on the 
clover roots had much to do with the 
rapid growth of the crop. 
fied—some called him a fool. But he 
knew what he was about. The next 
year, and for years after, that field 
excelled the neighborhood in crops it 
bore. The corn crop that followed was 
the talk of the section. Clover did it. 
It pays, once in a while, to give a field 
a rest and plow under a crop like that. 
—F. W. 0., New York. 
FROM A CLOVER ENTHUSIAST 
W. H. HARRISON 
There are numerous crops which 
may be used to good advantage for 
winter and spring pasturage and also 
for the winter cover crop. Yet, from 
my experience I consider crimson clov- 
or the best for both purposes in the 
southern, eastern and central states. 
While we are growing such a crop, is 
it not to our interest to grow one 
which will in its growth furnish some 
winter and good early spring grazing, 
and at the same time add fertility to 
the soil? In nearly 50 years experience 
I am fully convinced that crimson 
clover more fully meets all of these re¬ 
quirements than any other crop. 
I have found that it is the greatest 
and quickest soil builder. It furnishes 
better and more winter and early 
spring grazing. It can be cut for early 
hay if desired. It can be plowed 
under the latter part of April or early 
May for a “green manure” crop. 
The latter part of May the land can 
be put in order by using only disk 
harrow and drag, and planted to 
corn, producing an excellent crop 
when properly cultivated. There is 
nothing better for corn than a green 
clover fallow. 
Again, if desired, when the corn is 
laid by, either cowpeas or crimson 
clover in our latitude may be seeded. 
If cowpeas are sown, they can be 
picked for seed and the vines fallowed 
under. Then the land can be sown in 
some kind of a grain crop. This will 
act for a winter covering, and at the 
same time produce a fine crop of grain 
if seasonable, as cowpeas also make 
a fine “green manure” fallow, nearly 
equal to crimson clover. 
