538 Grasses and Leguminous Crops in ZSTew York 



bearing a seed vessol with two valves — a pod, to which belong 

 the clovers, beans, peas, and all plants of like character. The 

 grasses are distinguished by their jointed stems; sheathing leaves, 

 with narrow and spear-shaped blades ; and flowers borne in spike- 

 lets — any grain before the ear is formed. The legumes have the 

 marvelous power of obtaining nitrogen from the soil air by means 

 of the nodules on their roots, which, decaying, enrich the soil. 

 Because of their high protein content^ the legumes are of special 

 'value for feed for all kinds of live stock. A fact often lost sight 

 of in this day of indiscriminate purchase* of concentrated feed is 

 that the profit from stock feeding has come primarily from forage 

 grown on the farm. 



A bulletin with the above title might properly contain the 

 cereals, headed by that king of all grasses — corn. Purposely, they 

 are omitted - — first, because the object of this bulletin is to con- 

 centrate thought on those plants which are chiefly used as hay, 

 and their twin sister, pasture grass; secondly, the cereals are ex- 

 haustively treated in Bulletin 62, "Beport of Farmers' Insti- 

 tutes," June 15, 1915, which may be had on application. 



Not all the varieties of either legumes or grasses treated in 

 these pages are necessarily recommended to the farmers of New 

 York State. Several of them, such as crimson clover and cow 

 peas ■ — primarily southern plants — as well as several grasses 

 whose virtues are often extolled by vendors or enthusiasts but 

 whose values have not been generally manifest in this state, have 

 been given a place in order that their characteristics may be 

 understood. 



In no bulletin issued by this bureau have there been so many 

 contributors from so wide a range of territory. It is a compli- 

 ment to the Bureau of Farmers' Institutes and to New York 

 farmers to have contributions from four wa*iters from the 

 United States Federal Department of Agriculture and two from 

 the experiment stations of the states, with that Nestor of those 

 who have made agriculture profitable and respected — ex-Secre- 

 tary of Kansas, Coburn — at their head. These are all busy 

 men upon whom New York State had no claim, but they have 

 cheerfully given their assistance to supplement the efforts of E. 

 G. Montgomery, professor of farm crops at the State College of 



