Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 222, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 September 1914 — COVER CROPS PAY IN THE ORCHARD [ARTICLE]

COVER CROPS PAY IN THE ORCHARD

Purdue -University Agricultural Extension.

Results from cover crop experiments at Purdue university experiment station show that there Is much, to be gained from their use in Indiana, orchards. The time for cover crops is at hand, and if the greatest proflti is to be made from the orchards over the state, some systematic system ofi soil management should be followed., Where it is possible the orchard should* be cultivated. The sod should bebroken up early in the spring and the ground kept in as fine and friable condition as a garden until about the first week in August. At this time a cover crop should be sown on the soil. Too often people think of a cover crop as a mere covering of the ground, for protection during the winter months, it is more than that, for it, Is probably the most essential aid in the fertilization of the orchard. It< is the most important source of humus, and an economical and valuable source of plant food. The object of this system of soil management are. to conserve moisture, to add plant food to the soil by means of legume crops,, to improve the mechanical condition, of the soil, to aerate the ground, and' ■ to destroy pests. The cover crop is> planted to prevent soil washing, tohelp ripen the wood of the trees and! to add organic matter to the soil. i Experiments have been conducted* on warlous cover crops, and the following are most generally used: jd No. Cort. Cost of Lbs. Pw Crop. Per Bu. Acre. Acre.! Canada field peas $2.25 90 $*.44 Winter vetch .......... 6.00 30 XOp Cow peas 2.40 90 3.00 Crimson clover 6.00 20 2.00 Hulled sweet c10ver...17.00 20 5.70Rye 1.10 U !.«•,, German millet .90 SO ,M» Buckwheat » 50 | .90! Results of repeated testa have shown that the clean culture cover crop system of orchard increases the quantity of the fruit from the orchard as well as the quality of the fruit Definite measurements were taken from samples of Duchess apples, and It was found that the fruit from the cultivated area measured 9.1. inches in circumference. The fruit, from the uncultivated area measured* only 7.4 inches in circumference. The trees of the cultivated block are much healthier than those on the sod blocky and at the cloee of the growing showed more and plumper fruit buds than did . the trees on the uncultivated* plot. If the greatest profit is to be secured from Indiana orchards, money: must be invested in them for cultivar don and cover crops.