The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1878-05-18
TOPICS FOR FARMERS

Rye For Green Manure.-Wil-
liam J. Fowler, of Monroe County, n.
Y. writes a few words on this subject
to the Rural Ne,c Yorker, which may do
for the consideration of the intelligent
farmer: The experiment which ! tried
last fall in sowing rye to be plowed I'M
der this spring is decided success.
The rye already covers the ground in a
dense mat and by the middle of May
will giver several tons of green manure
to be turned under. Much of this will
be water; but for the crop l intend to
plant (pOtatoes), a good supply of
moisture is quite as important as fer
tility. / more than half believe that
one reason why potatoes are a bet er
crop on rich soil than on poor is because
the rich soil retains moisture better in
summer droughts. A heavy growth of
rye turned under in May will decompose
rapidly, furnishing both heat and moist
ure to the growing crop. Even as early
as this, | can see that the rye is helping
the land. Its network of roots draws
moisture from the soil, which is thrown
off by the leaves, and also gives con-
siderable drainage. / can walk over a
mass of rye in early spring, while bare
ground plowed in the fall is too spongy
and wet to bear my weight. | have no
doubt it will pay to SOW rye on corn or
potato stubble in the fall when it is in
tended to pillow early and SOW oats or
barley. For this purpose it should be
sown very early so as to get as good
growth as possible in the fall AT the
ha To al
der in April; but the increased dryness
of the soil, enabling earlier blowing, is
very important. The green manure
under the furrow will also have slight
effect in keeping the soil from becoming
too compact. In other words, it will
make the soil warmer and dryer in early
spring and moister in the hot, dry
weather of July and August
Rye is an excellent crop to SOW in
orchards to be plowed under as green
manure. Young orchards should be
kept exclusively in hoed crops; but the
serious difficulty is in finding manure to
keep the soil in condition. Six or ten
acres kept in hoed crops every year will
require all the manure usually made on
a hundred-acre farm. Either the or
chard must be neglected or profitable
cultivation of the rest of the farm be
abandoned. Glover will not help us out
here, for good as clover is everywhere
else, it is death to young trees. The
clover plant makes its growth during
the summer and its roots strike down,
robbing the trees If necessary moisture.
What is needed for orchards is a crop
whose roots do not penetrate deeply and
which makes its growth in fall or early
spring while the trees are at rest. Rye
answers these requirements exactly.
Besides, with rye as green manure the
ground is plowed at seasons when in
juries to the roots by blowing are most
easily repaired. When clover is plowed
under in midsummer, tearing the roots
of the trees often gives them shock
which does more injury than the decay
ing clover can do good.
On other ground than orchard, clover
will and should be the main crop for
blowing under. But ON every farm
there Will always be some corn or potato
stubble which would remain bare during
the winter, and on such fields rye should
always be sown. 1t is always injurious
to land to be left naked at any season,
and during the winter a growth of rye
is about the only practical mode of pro-
tecting it.