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Intercropping
When To Plant
Rectangular
Hexagonal Or Triangular
Preparation Of Soil
Production Of Apples In Barrels In The United States From 1896 To 1910
Heavy Plantings
The Outlook For The Growing Of Apples
Future Of Apple Growing
Varieties
Least Viewed
Elements Of Fertility
Stable Manure
Factors In The Cost Of Production
Storage
Co-operation
Patching Old Trees
Non-leguminous Crops
Time Of Spraying
In Bearing
Fruit Thinning
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Manuring And Fertilizing
Cover crops may be said to be supplementary to tillage. In the
previous chapter this function has been discussed. It now remains to
point out another important function--that of a green manure crop
adding humus and plant food to the soil. Not only do some cover crops
add plant food and all humus to the soil, but they tend to conserve
these by preventing leaching, especially of nitrates, and they help to
render plant food more available by reworking it and leaving it in a
form more available for the tree. They sometimes act as a protection
against winter injury by holding snow and by their own bulk. They also
help to dry out the soil in spring, thus making the land tillable
earlier.
There are two great classes of cover or green manure crops, leguminous
and non-leguminous. A non-leguminous crop merely adds humus and
improves the physical condition of the soil. In itself it adds no
plant food, although it may take up, utilize, and leave behind plant
food in a more available form for the tree's use. But in addition to
these benefits, leguminous crops actually add to the soil plant food
in the form of nitrogen which they have the ability to assimilate from
the air by means of bacterial organisms on their roots.
Next: Non-leguminous Crops
Previous: Sod Mulch
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Informational
