

FORAGE CROPS 95 



be cut frequently like lucerne, and can be left down 

 for several years. One feature of it is that it thrives 

 on dry chalky soils which are too poor for lucerne. 



Vetches or Tares. This is a most useful crop for 

 forage purposes, and may be seeded down in " breaks " 

 so as to supply a succession of green food during the 

 summer and autumn. As mentioned above, cereal 

 crops are often sown with this crop to support the 

 vetches. Sow 2 to 3 bushels per acre. 



Trifolium, or Crimson Clover. This plant grows 

 very rapidly, and the seeds are best sown in early August, 

 at the rate of 26 to 28 Ibs. per acre. The crop can 

 then be cut the following year. After it has been cut 

 once, the plant dies. 



Trefoil may be sown and utilised in very much the 

 same way as trifolium. Twenty pounds of seed per 

 acre is sufficient. 



Rape. If sown in July at the rate of 5 to 6 Ibs. 

 per acre, the leafage can be grazed off in the autumn. 



White Mustard. This would be sown in July or 

 August at the rate of 20 Ibs. per acre, and grazed 

 in autumn. 



XV. DIGESTIBILITY OP POODS. 



It is important to remember that the solid excrement 

 represents the undigested part of the food after its 

 passage through the alimentary canal. The other 

 part therefore represents the amount which has either 

 been digested, or, through fermentation in the ali- 

 mentary canal, has escaped in the form of gas. Neglect- 

 ing for the moment the possibility of a small amount 

 being decomposed into gases and escaping in the breath 

 or otherwise, the difference between the amount of the 

 nutrients supplied in the food and that found in the 

 solid excrement represents the amount which has been 



