114 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



and indeed forms an important percentage of the food of 

 farm animals. It is safe to estimate the value of the herbage 

 of the corn plant at about 50 per cent of the grain, assuming 

 that all the corn is allowed to mature. As a matter of 

 fact, a considerable and increasing amount is preserved as 

 silage. A small part of the corn crop is reported under 

 the item " Coarse Forage." 



Of kafir corn and other grain sorghums, probably 75 per 

 cent is harvested entire and thus used as forage. 



On the Pacific Coast much wheat and barley is harvested 

 as hay, and throughout the country more or less rye is 

 similarly used, but all this is included under forage as 

 " Grains Cut Green." The straw of small grains, espe- 

 cially that of oats, has considerable value as forage. 



In the same way the straw of cowpeas, Canada and 

 garden peas, soybeans and other leguminous seed crops 

 has also a considerable value as forage. 



The bearing of these facts is that the relative importance 

 of grain production to forage production is necessarily 

 somewhat inaccurate on account of the classification, the 

 statistics exaggerating the importance of the first, and 

 diminishing that of the latter. 



In the Census of Canada, forage crops are included 

 under 8 items ; namely, Hay and clover ; Alfalfa ; Corn 

 and forage ; Other forage crops ; Mangolds ; Sugar Beets ; 

 Turnips; Other field roots. The item of " Other forage 

 crops " includes mainly the small grains, either alone or in 

 mixture, cut for hay or for green feed. 



102. Forage crops in general, United States, 1909. 

 In the accompanying table appear the statistics of the 

 Thirteenth United States Census showing the relative 

 importance of forage crops in the different sections of the 

 United States, and in the eleven states which lead in 



