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CHAPTER X. 



Classification of Crops Principles of Cultivation for Root Crops For Corn 

 Crops For Grass Crops For "Fodder" Crops and "Catch" Crops 

 Syllabus of Crop Cultivation. 



WHEN I have the opportunity of entering at length upon 

 the subject of crop cultivation, I naturally take the several 

 crops seriatim, and discourse upon all the minute variations 

 of treatment which the exigencies of each crop require. 

 But where space is limited it seems wiser to attempt to 

 give, in one fairly comprehensive view, the principal points 

 affecting the chief groups into which we agriculturists 

 divide our crops. We usually speak of (1) root crops, by 

 which we mean crops cultivated on account of their roots, 

 such as turnips, swedes, and mangold wurzels. (2) Grain 

 crops, which include not only cereals, but also beans and 

 peas, which are grain crops, although they may also be termed 

 pulse crops or black crops, in contradistinction to white or 

 cereal crops. Then we have (3) the cultivation of grass 

 crops, which includes clovers, and all those plants which take 

 a place in mixtures intended for grazing purposes, although 

 they may not strictly be included in the botanical division of 

 grasses. (4) We have lastly fodder crops, which are grown with 

 a view to the leaf and stem being used for feeding purposes, 

 and which usually occupy the ground for only_a very short time. 

 In reviewing the necessary cultivation of these four classes 

 of crops, we take the root crops first, chiefly because the root 

 crops are a substitute for the period of fallow, or the period 



