Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1889-11-22
FARM AND GARDEN.
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF
FARMERS AND DAlRYMEN.
Views In Favor of Green NIanuripg-Ihe
Crops Moss Profitable for this Pur-
pose-How to Keep MILK for Trans.
portation Sweet,

The practice of enriching the soil by
feeding it with green crops has enlisted
the attention of many Of our best farm
ors, The necessity for restoring some
of the fertility to our soils, which are
cropped each year, rs apparent. There
must be returning to as well as a TAX
ing from it, of the elements of fertility.
Green crop feeding is considered by many
Is the mcst nstural, feasible and eco
nonnical method by which to return the
plant food that is taken from our fields
by continual cropping. Barnyard ma
nurs will always, of course, remain with
farmers the chief reliance, but that green
maanriaI CROPS VIII be found to be q re-
sabie and Inexpensive adjunct to this is
Tire beiiee of & New Hampshire CORE
spordent in american Cultivator, who
e,xprc, "'aself as follows regarding
the cr,.. he employed;
Tbs green crops most profitable to be
employed for this purpose are those de-
nominated ''air feeders" those possessed
of power to absorb the elements of or
ganic life from the air, such as clover,
buckwheat, rye, peas, beans, etc. Glover
undoubtedly stands at the head of the
list. 1t contains large proportion of
T an3%b rboni i5 phospborio and sui
phuric acid. Its great value as manu-
rial plant lies in the fact that its leaves
and stems absorb the larger part of its
fernlizing gases from the air, and take
only a comparatively small portion from
she soil. 1t is a voracious "air feeder. y
Moreover, its long, thick roots draw the
fertilizing saline and mineral elements
of the sub-soil up into the surface soil,
and render them available as plant food.
Buckwheat is also valuable manurial
green crop. 1t is a rapid and hardy
grower, and can be successfully grown
on the same plot year after year without
materially exhausting the soil. Two
crops of it can be grown and plowed I'M
der on the same ground in one season,
and the ground seeded down with grass
or a grain cropin September 1t should
be grown far more extensively than it is,
its grain making a complete poultry
food, while its cultivation is strongly
recommended as an eradicator of Canada
thistles, witchgrass and other foul and
obnoxious weeds.
The pea is of great value as a manurial
crop, even after the fruit has been
gathered and the vines are fully ripened
They contain a very large proportion OF
potash, lime, magnesia, soda, carboniC
acid and chloride of sodium, beside;
sulphuric and phosphoric acid, and wher
plowed under, it puts the soil in the bes
possible condition for other crops, es
pecially wheat and grass
Rye is also a most valuable manuria
crop, but on the score Of economy is no
50 proftably used for this purpose, it.
grain being too valuable to be economi
call sacrificed as a manure.
lie proper time to pillow down greer
crops, to renovate the soil, is in the warn
weather Of summer, when they are jus
coming into flower. They then take OF
q quick decay from their immatured con
dition when the sun has its creates
power to aid in the process Of fermenta
ton and decay. Let our farmers try thu
practice of green manming, and the re
suits achieved will be sure to induce then
to continue it as a settled policy in thei
farm operations.