CHAPTER XL 

 PASTURE CROPS 



420. When crops are harvested by grazing animals 

 they are called pasture crops. If cut green and fed in 

 this condition, soiling crops (1f 346) but if allowed to dry 

 and cure they are called hay crops. When harvested 

 green, cut up and stored in silos it is called silage. (1f 355) . 



421. The Value of Pasture Crops is generally under- 

 estimated because they are not converted directly into 

 money. (1f 258). In the bluegrass region cattle get 

 about half of their living on good pastures by grazing 

 and it takes from 2 to 8 acres to furnish pasture feed for 

 a three-year-old steer. Pastures are useful in ways which 

 cannot be easily measured in a money equivalent. Work 

 Animals remain in much better condition if allowed to 

 run in pastures. And again, dairy and other cattle that 

 live out of doors upon pastures are healthier than when 

 housed or closely penned. The best returns from pas- 

 tures are secured in the dairy sections of England, the 

 Jersey Islands, Holland, and Denmark, where more than 

 half of the culti vat able lands are in permanent pastures. 

 There a cow is kept on two or three acres, one-half of 

 which is pasture. In some of these countries a large fami- 

 ly will be prosperous on a 60 acre farm and pay a rental 

 of seven or eight dollars per acre. 



422. Plants Suited to Pastures. In grazing, the upper 

 parts of the stems and leaves are removed or tramped 

 upon and disturbed by the animals. Good pasture plants 

 have habits of growth such that they are not permanently 



(296) 



