4 FORAGE CROPS 



very generally grown, is rich in nutrients, pala- 

 table, and capable of use as a green forage or 

 as hay; it possesses an important advantage in 

 being capable of deriving a part at least of the 

 nitrogenous food necessary for its growth from the 

 air, and for this reason is regarded as an improving 

 rather than an exhausting crop. It supplements 

 the corn crop in composition, as well as in its 

 power of obtaining nitrogen. Thus, in the growing 

 of corn and clover in rotation, better rations are 

 obtained and the soil less quickly depleted, than if 

 corn alone is grown. 



On the other hand, such crops as rye and wheat, 

 while readily grown, are serviceable only for a 

 short period as green forage or for soiling, and 

 are not so generally useful in their dried state as 

 corn or clover. Their usefulness is due chiefly 

 to their time of growth and season of maturity, 

 which permits of their use as green forage or pas- 

 ture when such crops as corn and clover are not 

 yet ready. 



The cowpea possesses the characteristics attrib- 

 uted to the clover in food acquirements, but it is 

 possible to grow it only in the hot season, and it 

 therefore serves only as a late summer or fall food. 



Another point of very great importance, and 

 one which should be observed in comparing the 

 various forage crops, is the food- content in the 

 green state. Succulence is of course very impor- 



