276 THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



maize. While the latter crop is no more productive than 

 mangolds and sugar-beets when these are at their best, 

 the corn crop costs much less in labor. 



Crops of such large productive capacity are espe- 

 cially adapted to dairymen located on limited areas of 

 high-priced land. They occupy a place in intensive cul- 

 ture which will become more and more important as 

 grazing and long rotations are replaced by soiling and 

 stable feeding during the entire year. 



370. Home supply of protein. The protein supply 

 of the farm may be augmented by the growth of legu- 

 minous crops, such as peas, beans, alfalfa, and the clovers. 

 In so far as climate and soil permit the economical pro- 

 duction of this class of fodders, there will be a corres- 

 pondingly less necessity for the purchase of nitrogenous 

 feeding-stuffs. 



371. Legumes and fertility. The leguminous crops 

 are regarded as sustaining an important relation to 

 fertility in acting as nitrogen-gatherers, and for this 

 reason they are believed to be a valuable adjunct of any 

 system of farming. Just what proportion of the nitro- 

 gen in a crop of clover, for instance, comes from outside 

 the soil is not known, however, either for particular con- 

 ditions or as to the average. 



SOILING-CROPS 



372. Soiling-crops a necessity. The production of 

 green crops as an amendment to the pasture, or as a 

 substitute for it, is a practice essential to the highest suc- 

 cess in dairying on many farms, and is to some extent 

 desirable in other branches of stock husbandry. 



There are few pastures, perhaps none, that afford 



