CHAPTER XX 



THE GRASSES 



THE great grass family includes not only the crops 

 usually known to farmers as grass, but also our 

 cereal crops, for Indian corn, wheat, rye, etc., 

 are all included in the grass family. But here we propose 

 to treat only of those that are commonly used as forage 

 and hay-making crops. 



Grass is Nature's great soil cover, her means for ac- 

 cumulating humus soil where forests are lacking. The 

 great prairies of the West owe their fertility to the grasses 

 that have grown and decayed century after century, while 

 the herbage has protected the soil from the sun and thus 

 promoted the bacterial life that is constantly engaged in 

 the preparation of more food for the crop. 



The farmer has broken the old sod and found a soil of 

 great fertihty, and at once jumped to the conclusion that 

 it was inexhaustible, and has gone on to crop this virgin 

 soil year after year, selling off the great deposit in his bank 

 till in many cases he finds that his balance is getting short. 

 Constant corn growing in the corn belt and constant wheat 

 growing on the fertile plains of the Dakotas has the same 

 result in gradually diminishing crops that it has in the 

 cotton lands of the South. 



The improving farmer finds that he must imitate Nature 

 to some extent and grow more legumes and more grass. 

 We have shown how the legumes may aid in the production 



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