FORAGE CROPS 



CHAPTER I 



GENERAL VIEW OF FORAGE CROPS 



The subject of forage crops has grown rapidly 

 in interest in recent years. This is due primarily 

 tq two causes, — to the general increase in knowl- 

 edge of what constitutes a food, and the best 

 method of using it ; and to the increase in demand 

 for dairy products, especially of whole milk in 

 large towns and cities, which makes it desirable 

 that a larger supply of succulent food shall be 

 raised by the farmers engaged in its production 

 near the point of consumption. 



In a narrow sense, the term "forage crops" is 

 frequently applied only to those crops that are 

 suitable for use as green food, and thus the term 

 conveys the idea of soiling, or carrying the foods 

 in their green state from the field to the animal. 

 In a broader sense, "forage crops," or perhaps 

 better, "roughage crops," includes not only those 

 suitable and adapted to soiling systems, but 

 those used as pasture, for hay and for silage; or, 

 in other words, it includes the entire number of 



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