Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-05-10
Rye as q Green Manure
From Root. Garden Mammal. !

| Nothing in gardening is of more
Importance than manure, and it is, of
course, never possible to get too
much. In fact, it is rarely possible
| for the gardener to get enough stable
manure, and he must resort to some
others, the cheapest and best of
which, / believe, after several years.
trial of it, to be green manure, or
growing crops plowed under.
4 Every one knows the value Of clio !.
yer as fertilizer, but in many parts
| of the West it cannot be successfully
grown, and even then the land mast
be laid aside two years or more, and
with the gardener this is rarely prac-
ticable After trying many different
green crops, / am quite certain that
for the gardener, and often the farm
err, in the West, nothing is so valuable
as Rye. Its growth is made late in
autumn, and early in spring, at time
when little else will grow, so that the
ground is free for its particular use.
In fact, all the tender vegetables are
off in time to sow it in September, and
the ground is anot needed for them
again till May, by which time the rye
will be as heavy as can be plowed I'M
! der. Upon the farm, too, it comes in
nicely, if the succeeding crop is to be
corn, roots or potatoes, and more par
ticularly sowed corn for fodder, for
which it seems especially adapted
Even after corn | succeed we'll with
it, sowing it broadcast and cultivating
it in, leaving the. corn hills standing,
as they gather snow and help TO pro-
tect the rye in wiuter. | sow the seed
thickly-sbout six pecks to the acre
aud early if possible. SO that the
plants shall stool out before winter,
endure exposure better, and make a
quicker and larger growth 10 the
spring. When the ground is wanted
for planting-usually from May goth
to June lst--we turn it under with
chain. 1t is often three feet high,
and ttiek as only such a crop can be,
but with heavy chain hung from the
end of The whiffietree cross-bar TO the
pillow beam, with slack enough so that
it will drag just ahead of the uprising
furrow, it will pull down every stalk
into the empty furrow as nicely as it
could be laid by hand, aud the whole
mass buried out of sight. A little
practice will soon teach just the
amount of slack needed.
My attention was first called to this
crop, for manure, almost by accident
Some years ago, just at planting time,
| found myself short of suitable land
for still onother variety of seed mel
ons, which I was obliged to grow,
and leased ten acres of land upon
which was growing crop of rye.
This | turned under, and planted to
Nutmeg Melon. The occasional straw
sticking up gave the field ragged
appearance for time, but when the
midsummer drought was upon us, and
other fields succumbed, this one look
ed as fresh and vigorous as could be,
and in fruiting even exceeded the
promise its appearance gave. The
yield of seed was more than one-half
larger than on similar land in good
heart, but not green MANFRED. | have
practiced it ever since, and always
with satisfaction, the results the last
season being, on some fields, more
striking than in any previous year.
It's wonderful efficiency in promoting
yield is due, aprrehnnd, net only 20
the available fertility it furnishes, but
also to it's mechanical effect on the
soil, and thus maintaining moisture
through our worst drouths.
|. Of course / would myself, and
recommend to others, to get every
fork-full of manure to be had, and APP
-ply.it. !. And yet, upon the same land,
i would. in addition, apply green ma
azure whenever practicable. The la
Dor of applying evenly forty loads of
manure per acre, is considerable. All
this is done more evenly by the green
crop. Seed and labor together cost
me but s. so per acre. / can not say
that it adds as much fertility to the
soil as forty loads of manure, but l do
say that in our droughty seasons it
produces ss great an increase Of crop
as do forty good two-horse loads of
manure. 1t certainly pays to prac
tice it, and to practice it largely, even
on land we'll supplied with stable ma
nure. "a that increases the vigor ard
growth of the green crop, which is
Immediately, without additions, re.
tnrned to the soil