CLASSIFICATION AND CHOICE OF I< lELD CROPS ") 



There are about 250 species in the genus Trifoliiini and about 

 fifty species in the genus Medicago: the two genera to which 

 most of the plants used for hay and pasture belong. The cen- 

 sus for 1900 reports the total yield of alfalfa hay in the United 

 States as slightly larger than that of clover hay from about 

 one-half the area. The clover species commonly used for hay 

 are common red clover, mammoth red clover, alsike clover and 

 crimson clover, of which the first occupies much the largest 

 area. The vetch is grown somewhat, principally in the Pacific 

 Coast States. The cowpea has become an important forage 

 crop in the Southern States. 



All the legumes above mentioned are grown more or less for 

 pasturage. In addition, white or Dutch clover in the North 

 and Japan clover in the South are distinctively pasture crops. 



10. Legumes for Seeds. — The principal legumes raised for 

 their seeds are field beans, field peas, cowpeas and peanuts. 

 The soy bean is also attracting some attention as a seed crop 

 as well as a forage crop. New York and Michigan are the 

 leading states for the production of field beans ; Michigan and 

 Wisconsin for field peas ; Georgia and South Carolina for cow- 

 peas, and Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama for 

 peanuts. 



11. Forage Crops. — In its best signification the word "for- 

 age" means any kind of food for animals, whether hay, straw, 

 grain, roots, etc. Often, however, it is used to apply to the 

 whole plant or portions of plants other than the seeds, and thus 

 to those foods containing a large proportion of cellulose or 

 crude fiber. 



In a more limited and technical sense a forage crop is an 

 annual crop in which the whole plant is used for food. Thus 

 maize is a cereal crop when the ears are husked and fed sepa- 

 rately, while it is a forage crop when the whole plant is fed 

 together either dried or ensilaged. Most of the plants used for 

 forage are either grasses or legumes. Among the grasses the 



