CHAPTER XI 

 FORAGE CROPS 



OUR study so far has dealt mostly with the cereals the 

 crops raised chiefly for their grain. We now come to 

 study the distinct types of forage crops, or those grown for 

 their leaves and stems, which are fed to stock. Besides 

 serving them as food for animals, certain forage crops are 

 ot great value in enriching the soil and causing it to pro- 

 duce larger yields of cereals. 



When the forage plants are fed green by grazing, we 

 call the crop pasture; if cut, and at once fed green without 

 allowing time to cure, it is called a soiling crop. If the crop 

 is cut and allowed to cure before feeding it, it is called hay, 

 straw, fodder, or stover as the case may be. We have 

 already noted that a forage crop, cut and stored so that it 

 will keep green, is called silage or ensilage. 



1. Important Forage Crops 



The most important forage crops may be divided into 

 two broad classes, grasses and legumes. 



Grasses. The grasses are among the most wide- 

 spread and important of our plants. They include an al- 

 most endless variety, many of which grow without culti- 

 vation, or even special seeding, the seed being carried by 

 the wind, birds and in many other ways. 



Among the most important grasses grown in the north- 

 ern states are timothy, blue-grass, the millets and red-top. 

 Common to the southern states are Bermuda grass, carpet 

 grass, Lespedeza, Johnson grass, orchard grass and brome- 

 grass. 

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