"Fred B. McGalliard" wrote:
(snipped)

Boy it has been a long time since I learned this. I hope I recall it
correctly. Clover, and I think the other similar legumes, have a symbiotic
bacteria, in clover it is found in little nodules on the roots, that fix
nitrogen. So if you can keep the roots from competing too much with your
other crop, you can grow the two crops together and the nitrogen is
available as long as the bacteria lives.


Someone suggested that the nitrogen in clover, or alfalfa or legumes or
locust trees is not released to other plants until the legume dies. I do not
believe that. But nonetheless we need a thorough science investigation as to
the correct answer on nitrogen release to nearby plants from legumes.

If it is found out that legumes will release nitrogen to nearby plants we are
living in the best of all possible worlds because then we can combine
two cash crops where one crop fertilizes the other and never need to buy
fertilizer.

We can also do it for trees and especially use locust trees in between orchard
trees.

I have had the joyful experience of witnessing the best growing pear tree
smack up against a locust tree. I assume the pear was drawing nitrogen from
the locust. I have since cut down the locust and am monitoring the pear to see
if it is even more vigorous in growth. This is where other people's
observations
comes in handy. If there are enough people out there reading this and have
had a locust tree nearby an apple or pear or cherry etc and found that fruit
tree the best of all fruit trees then we can assemble some sort of plausible
credence in the belief that a locust aids nearby trees in nitrogen fertilizer.

One of the bad features of botany is the time span to reach conclusions since
many trees take decades to find out answers.

I have another observation under testing to see if a checkerboard fruit orchard

mixed with pine and spruce conditions the soil pH so that the apples and cherry

grow the best than if they were purely fruit trees. I have witnessed my best
apple
tree is one that is next to a huge bluespruce and feel that the apple is
thriving because of the acid conditioning given by the bluespruce. Here again,
if alot of
readers have found a similar situation of where their soil is alkaline and
their
best apples are amoung pine and spruce would lend credence to the statement
that a evergreen mixed fruit orchard is better than a pure fruit orchard.

We need science research answers about legumes planted between rows of crop
as to whether we can get a double cash crop and never have to fertilize or use
any herbicide in such a field.

I have a yellow blooming legume in my vegetable field where I am experimenting.
It is not alfalfa but resembles it very much. It is great because
when I mow it helps this legume to take over more and more of the field.
Fred, you happen to know the name of this yellow blooming legume?

Archimedes Plutonium,
whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots
of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies