FODDER CROPS. 187 



the subsoil would be fatal to the crop, and must be care 

 fully avoided. Twelve to fifteen tons of fodder have been 

 grown per acre, with four or five cuttings during the 

 growing season, and a watering after each cutting. 



Clover is a plant that delights in a cool climate, and 

 where lucern can be produced successfully, it would not 

 be advisable to grow clover under irrigation in competition 

 with it. Under partial irrigation, and where lucern is 

 not a successful crop, it may be watered moderately at 

 intervals of 10 to 14= days, according to the nature of the 

 soil. 



Fodder Crops. Mixed crops of oats and peas ; barley 

 and tares, millet, or Hungarian grass, may be grown in 

 succession during the whole year, where frosts do not 

 occur, or during the summer elsewhere. By sowing in 

 drills or forming water channels with the roller, as before 

 described, water may be given with facility during the 

 earlier stages of these crops. When the ground is hid 

 den by the herbage, no further watering is given. 



Sorghum. As a fodder crop this plant cannot compete 

 with corn ; but when grown for the manufacture of syrup, 

 it yields largely when irrigated up to a certain point. 

 Its growth is slow and weak at first, and at this stage it 

 will need copious irrigation, so long as the soil is not 

 saturated. Afterwards, when it has commenced its active 

 growth, water should be given sparingly, otherwise the 

 sap will be impaired in quality, No water is given to this 

 crop for a month before cutting, unless from some unex 

 pected cause it is seen to suffer for want of it, and then 

 only the most moderate watering is to be given. 



Sugar Beets. When grown for sugar, this plant needs 

 only moderate irrigation, and at lengthened intervals. 

 The root fibers are very sensitive to excess of moisture, 

 and a watering during one night only, will be all that the 

 plant will safely bear. Excessive growth is not compat 

 ible with a yield of rich saccharine juice, and a small solid 



