196 FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRICULTURE. 



source, though, in all probability, it is a native of 

 Southern Asia. It was first cultivated as an orna- 

 mental plant, but is now extensively grown as a soil 

 improver and for forage. The usual method of har- 

 vesting the crop is to turn cattle into the field in late 

 fall to pasture it. 



Canada Pea. The Canada pea, which is botanically 

 the same species as the garden pea or English pea, is 

 in some portions of the country an important forage 

 crop. It is grown extensively for this purpose in 

 many of the Northern and Western States. Very 

 commonly it is sown with oats, the crop being har- 

 vested for hay. In Colorado, in recent years, it has 

 been extensively grown and pastured to sheep. 



Crab Grass is an annual grass native to India, and 

 was introduced at an early day in the United States. 

 It is commonly looked upon as a weed, as it springs up 

 in great abundance in cornfields, on oat stubble, and 

 often in cotton fields after cultivation has ceased. 

 Large quantities of it are, however, cut for hay, the 

 quality of which is fair. It is never necessary to sow 

 the seed, as it volunteers on cultivated land as soon as 

 the crop has been removed. 



Rescue Grass is a native of Argentina, but now 

 growing wild throughout the South. It is a valuable 

 grass for winter pasturage on rich lands. 



Cheat is a common weed in grain fields, but is some- 

 times grown for hay in Georgia and Alabama. 

 Wheat and oats furnish a similar and better hay. 



Millets Of the millets there are many varieties, 

 the most common that are grown for hay being Ger- 

 man millet and Hungarian millet or Hungarian grass. 

 The millets are particularly valuable in that they can 

 be sown at almost any time during the summer, and 

 produce a crop of hay within a short period. 



Italian Rye Grass is a native of Europe and com- 

 monly used as a part of a mixture for lawn grasses, 

 as it grows quickly and vigorously, especially during 

 cool weather. It has been extensively used on the Pa- 



