Horticulture, a text book for high schools and normals, including plant propagation; . , such as spring vetch and Canada field peas,may be sown as early as the ground can be worked. They mayprecede corn, cotton, melons, beans and other summer crops. Perennial legumes, such as red clover, alsike clover, white clover,(Fig. 201) sweet clover, and alfalfa, are good improvers of may be used in longer rotations of crops but are not so valu-able for catch crops or cover crops, as they are too slow in theirearly growth. Addition of Organic Matter and Humus.—When green manure OTHER GREEN MANU
Horticulture, a text book for high schools and normals, including plant propagation; . , such as spring vetch and Canada field peas,may be sown as early as the ground can be worked. They mayprecede corn, cotton, melons, beans and other summer crops. Perennial legumes, such as red clover, alsike clover, white clover,(Fig. 201) sweet clover, and alfalfa, are good improvers of may be used in longer rotations of crops but are not so valu-able for catch crops or cover crops, as they are too slow in theirearly growth. Addition of Organic Matter and Humus.—When green manure OTHER GREEN MANURES 289 and barnyard manure are plowed under, or otherwise mixed witiithe soil, the vegetable matter may be of very great benefit to thesoil. As it rots humus is formed. All soils are improved by theaddition of humus unless they are already well supplied. It causes them to hold moisture in better form and longerbetween rains so that plants can use it. The presence of humusalso makes a better home for beneficial bacteria; it helps to makeplant foods available for the roots to Fif -Cowpeas (left) and soybeans (right) used to improve soils for gardens, orcharda,etc. (Tennessee Station.) Besides the addition of humus the turning under of green manurewill also add all the forms of plant food which they contain. Iflegumes are turned under the chief plant food is nitrogen, butwith all forms of green manure some of all three important fer-tilizers are added, which soon become available for use of thegrowing crop. That is, nitrogen, phosphate, and potash are al-ways present and as the manure rots it liberates these for the useof the crops. Other Green Manures.—It is, therefore, very beneficial to mostsoils to mix green manure of any kind with them. When winterrye, for example, is grown during the fall, winter, and early spring,and then turned under, it takes from the soil the three main plantfoods and saves them for the garden, orchard, or other LEGUMES AND FERTIL
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectgardeni, bookyear1922
