136 



AGRICULTURE 



It is a valuable hay crop in sections where redtop, timothy, and 

 clover cannot be grown. 



Rape. Rape is a valuable crop for pasturing and soiling. It 

 is easily grown and furnishes a large amount of forage, that is 

 especially relished by sheep and hogs. In the South it supplies 

 late fa^l and winter grazing, and at the North cheap summer 

 forage. 



Legumes. The most profitable fodder crops are legumes. 

 They do double work, fertilizing the soil, as you have learned, 



35 Ik 



N. 



38lbs 



P. 



lOOIbs. 



P. A. 



33 1 J 



TIMOTHY 



RED CLOVER 



COWPEAS 



ALFALFA 



/This diagram shows the amount of potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen, as indicated 

 by initial letters, removed from an acre of soil by different hay crops. It is estimated that 

 timothy will yield two tons of cured hay to the acre; red clover, two tons; cowpeas, two 

 tons ; alfalfa, three tons. The shaded figures indicate that the legumes, under proper con- 

 ditions, get their supply of nitrogen from the air. 



and also furnishing a large yield of excellent feed. Besides luxu- 

 riant foliage, many of them produce seeds having a high food 

 value. They are strong-feeding plants, and their long roots pump 

 up food that is out of reach of shallow-rooted plants. 



In the large legume family are members -adapted to widely 

 different conditions. Red clover is the one most widely grown in 

 the North, cowpeas and crimson clover in the South, and alfalfa 

 in the West. No one of them, however, is limited to one section. 



Red Clover. Red clover is a perennial which is usually culti- 

 vated as a biennial. It makes a light yield the first season, and a 

 heavy yield the second one. It is often sowed with grasses. The 



