CHAPTER III 



GENERAL REMARKS ON FORAGE GRASSES 



IN order to understand the relation between the differ- 

 ent kinds of grasses grown for forage and the conditions 

 suited to their culture it is necessary' to keep in mind the 

 uses to which the grass crop is put and the conditions 

 which must be met by the crop in different parts of the 

 United States. The classification of the forage crops 

 will first be set forth and then the classification of the 

 crop areas. 



CLASSIFICATION OF FORAGE PLANTS 

 Forage plants are those whose foliage or green portions 

 furnish food for stock. The plants cultivated for forage 

 belong, for the most part, to two natural groups or 

 families, the grasses (Gramineae) and the legumes 

 (Leguminosae). A few forage plants belong to other 

 groups. 



GRASSES 



The grass family comprises a large and important 

 group of plants, found growing in all parts of the world 

 where any vegetation is possible, from sea level to the 

 limits of perpetual snow in the highest mountains, from 

 the tropics to the north and south polar regions, in the 

 humid rain-forest, the vast steppes and arid plains, and 

 the sandy wastes and rocky cliffs of all altitudes and 

 latitudes. Grasses are the predominating .vegetation on 



