CHAPTER XIII 

 FORAGE CROPS 



A forage crop is one used for coarse feed for live stock. 

 Sometimes the material used for forage is called ** roughage." 

 Forage crops are used in four ways: 1. As hay. The plants 

 are cut green and dried in the sun. Grasses and clovers 

 mostly are used for hay. 2. As silage. The plants are cut 

 green and run through a machine which cuts them into short 

 pieces and these are stored in an air-tight bin, called a silo. 

 Green corn is commonly used for silage. 3. Soiling is cut- 

 ting the plants green and feeding them at once to animals in 

 their stalls or pastures. Sorghum, peas and oats, and corn 

 are crops often used for soiling. 4. As pasture. The crop is 

 eaten where it grows. 



Hay. — For hay many kinds of plants are used, chiefly 

 grasses, clovers, millets; cow-peas and soy-beans. 



Timothy and orchard grass are the grasses most com- 

 monly used. Timothy does well on heavy soils like clay and 

 loam. It also grows well on muck soils, but is apt to become 

 too coarse stemmed. The seed is usually sown in autumn 

 with wheat or rye. After the grain is cut the timothy occu- 

 pies the field and the next year is cut for hay and may be used 

 several years for cutting. Timothy is sometimes sowed alone 

 in the fall on well-prepared land. It then produces a crop 



the next year. A bushel of seed is used for about six acres of 



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