42 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
Under most unfavorable conditions ears will mature in 70- 
90 days. The stalks are slender and short, with many suck- 
ers, bearing numerous ears. Through hundreds of years 
of selection by the Mandan Indians for perfection of ear and 
earliness of maturity this wonderful type has been developed 
for sections of the northwest and eastern slopes of the Rock- 
ies, where semi-arid conditions are prohibitive of successful 
agriculture, The purity of the various strains was preserved 
by the Indians, who held the corn sacred. 
Teosinte, an annual forage plant closely related to corn 
and similar in appearance but forming no true ears, is a rank ~ 
grower, reaching a height of 15 feet and producing as many 
as 60 stalks from a single root. Its great yielding property 
(20-30 tons per acre) would place teosinte at the head of all 
forage crops were it not for the fact that it will thrive only 
in moist, rich soil with a hot growing season. Only limited 
areas are devoted to its culture, the larger proportion of the 
crop being used as ensilage. 
The peanut is an annual leguminous plant of creeping 
habit, with two kinds of flowers, the showy male and the 
hidden female. The former soon drop off, while the latter 
grow eet by the extension of the stem, which curves 
toward the ground, and becomes buried, to mature the pods. 
The seed is shelled before planting and is placed in loose soil 
2 inches deep, 8 inches apart in the rows, 2 seeds being 
dropped at each place. Proper cultivation and ridging of 
lants is essential to further the development of the pods. 
“eanuts are used as roasted nuts, salted nuts, and for confec- 
tionery purposes. Peanut butter and peanut oil form ex- 
tremely important by-products, while the vines form excel- 
lent forage. 
Australian salt bush is a good cover crop upon alkaline 
soils and forms a forage of high quality, though the taste for 
1t 1s acquired very gradually. 
nike capa is an annual leguminous plant used as a cover 
crop for orchards, being a vigorous grower and having high 
nitrogen-producing property. If used for hay two crops may 
be cut during the season and the third crop allowed to ma- 
ture seed, thus pie ge eb the crop from year to year. 
Warm, moist soil and hot weather are conducive to its best 
development. 
FARM CROPS 
ae Sauoeg name Botanical name 
alfa Medicago sati 
a salt bush ‘Atetolon aclianieie 
ey Hordeum sativum 
