COARSE FEEDS, OR ROUGHAGE 107 



several varieties of sorghums, some of which are especially 

 valuable for forage, notably Kafir, which has quite a leafy 

 stem, and also yields well of seed. Some sorghums are 

 valued for their sugar content, such as Amber cane, and this 

 is more or less grown for feed in the upper Mississippi Val- 

 ley. For forage, sorghum should be grown fairly close in 

 rows wide enough for horse cultivation. The plant may be 

 fed green or cut when the seed is ripe, and cured in shocks. 



THE LEGUMES FOR FORAGE AND HAY 



Legumes, which include the clovers, alfalfa, beans, peas, 

 etc., grow easily over much of the United States. They 

 are valuable chiefly because of the large percentage of pro- 

 tein they contain, and from the fact that they are highly 

 relished by live stock. The lime in the legumes is also a 

 valuable feature of these plants, for it is needed in building 

 up the animal frame. The legumes have an extensive root 

 development, and have the power of fixing the nitrogen of 

 the air in the soil, through the agency of a kind of bacteria 

 that are found especially in knots or nodules located on the 

 roots. These nodules are rich in nitrogen, and, where legumes 

 are .grown, the land is increased in fertility and improved in 

 texture. 



Red clover is extremely common in the Mississippi Val- 

 ley. One hundred pounds of the dried hay contain about 

 7J/2 pounds of digestible protein and 50 of total digestible 

 nutrients. As a feed for cattle and sheep, it is regarded 

 as excellent. As a pasture it ranks high; and in the corn 

 belt a combination of clover pasture in the late summer and 

 fall, supplemented, with ear corn, is a favorite ration for hogs. 

 Brood sows and sheep do well on clover pasture. A large 

 crop of green feed may be cut from a good stand of clover 

 during the season, and this makes splendid feed for all kinds 

 of farm stock. At the Wisconsin station, as much as 26 tons 

 of green feed were obtained in 3 cuttings from an acre of red 



