FORAGE CROPS. 5 



to grow, hence the use of the land for the season is 

 not lost. Third, by growing these crops the farmer 

 is enabled proportionately to increase the live stock 

 of his farm, and, in consequence, proportionately to 

 increase its producing power. Fourth, such a system 

 exercises a salutary influence on weed eradication, 

 because of the frequency with which the ground is 

 plowed and otherwise disturbed, and because the 

 weeds which grow in the forage are usually eaten 

 down before they mature their seeds. Fifth, it 

 enables the farmer to provide succulent pasture for 

 animals at certain seasons of the year, when ordi- 

 narily it could not be obtained in any other way. And, 

 sixth, it provides vegetation that may be plowed 

 under with great benefit to the land, when, because 

 of its abundance, it has been only partially consumed 

 while being grazed. 



Who Should Grow Forage Crops. — All farmers 

 on small or moderately sized holdings who keep live 

 stock should also grow forage crops in addition to 

 their grass pastures, since they so much reduce the 

 area required for the latter. But those stock grow- 

 ers who live on large holdings, and more especially 

 those of them whose tillable lands are in climates 

 where the rainfall is oftentimes less than could be 

 desired, should also grow them. In these areas the 

 yields from grass pastures are frequently small, very 

 much less than can be obtained from crops sown 

 expressly to provide pasture for a single season or but 

 a part of a season. As a rule, therefore, the neces- 

 sity for growing these crops will increase with the 

 less favorable conditions for growing grass pastures, 

 and vice versa. Those crops can, however, be more 

 profitably grown to furnish grazing for sheep and 



