That this will be done in the near future by electric forces,
and with such economy as to make the product available for agricultural
purposes, is reasonably sure. In the meantime we must use the vetches,
peas, beans, and clovers which are such willing workers.
The legumes fulfil the three requisites of the cover crop: protection,
humus, and the storing of nitrogen. That was why, when the corn in the
orchard was last cultivated in July, I planted cow peas between the
rows. The peas made a fair growth in spite of the dry season, and after
the corn was cut they furnished fine pasture for the brood sows, that
ate the peas and trampled down the vines. In the spring ploughing this
black mat was turned under, and with it went a store of fertility to
fatten the land. Cow peas were sowed in all the corn land in 1897, and
the rule of the farm is to sow corn-fields with peas, crimson clover, or
some other leguminous plant. As my land is divided almost equally each
year between corn and oats, which follow each other, it gets a cover
crop turned under every two years over the whole of it.
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