The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1910-02-11
RAISE COVER CROPS
Fruit. Growers Advocate Their
Use. But Few Try Them.
Wherever Experiment Has Been Al.
tempted It Has Proven Advantag-
eous and Beneficial to the Orch
ard in Quantity and Quality.
tBY j. NJ. MINER.

one oil the greatest problems CnaI
the orchard men in the west are con-
fronted with Is Just what is proper
cultivation. In the years past orch
ardists have not found 1t necessary to
use cover crops very extensively, be-
cause it has not been absolutely nee
essary, and they have not given very
great thought to the matter. This is
more important question in the ir-
rigating districts of the west than
many of our orchardists realize. Many
fruitgrowers are divided on the ques-
ton rs to whether 1t Is better to give
clean cultivation In the orchard or
whether to plant 1t with Il good cover
crop of some sort. Arguments on
both sides Of the question are very
good. though We believe them to be
more SO on account of local soil con-
ditions than rs general plan.
We find that while the majority of
the fruit-growers believe that cover
crops are the proper thing, very few
are actually trying them. They are,
putting in all their time keeping the
orchard very clean. About the only
fellows growing cover crops are those
growing crops of weeds. They have
two reasons for the propagation Of
this latter crop-either too busy or
too lazy to clean and cultivate. Wher-
ever it has been tried it has been
proven advantageous and beneficial
to the orchard, both in quantity and
quality of yield, to grow some legume.
Just what this should be is left to the
discretion of the orchardist. Some say,
clover; some, COW peas; some think
alfalfa 1t depends upon the hurry
one is In to receive the benefit from
the cover crop. Some have suggested
that better plan would be to use
judgment and divide between clean
cultivation and cover crop. During
early years of an orchard a great
many people like to grow crops of
some kind between rows in the orch
ard. AS to the extent of this we must
leave it to the judgment of the orch
whether or not the class of soil in
which his orchard is planted will
stand this strain without undue dete-
rioration. Soils especially adapted to
orcharding are very frequently soils
that are not sufficiently deep or of
the proper quality to produce other
crops without impairing their fertility.
These crops so taken from the ground
in the earlier years of the orchard are
not in the nature of cover crops; they
add nothing to the ground As a
usual thing until the orchard is about
six years old it is not necessary to
use cover crops. At this stage in the
life of the orchard it is certainly a
good plan to use cover crop for enc
season at least. Then after two or
three years, depending upon the char
acter of the soil, it is good plan to
repeat this process. Even in the rich
est of soils this plan will show an
improvement over continual clean Gull
tivation.
In growing cover crops great care
must be exercised that too much wa
ter is not given the trees. Careless
ness in this results at times in great
damage, almost as great as the failure
to put on sufficient amount of water.
If the orchardist is supplied from a
poor water right and apt to be little
shy of water it is better not to try
to raise cover crop, as in doing SO
he>is always sure to have his orchard
too dry, in trying to keep up the sup
ply of the cover crop. Then, too, in
asmuch as he cannot sufficiently cul.
tivate, he will be able to retain only
small part of the moisture which he
put on the ground. If orchardists
must work with the problem of cover
crops or clean cultivation he must
act according to his judgment of local
conditions, water supply and soil con-
ditions and should make clear study
of these with that end in view.