Green Forage Crops 263 



Silage corn. 



Corn grown for the silo, while distinctly a forage crop, 

 is, in its management, very similar to the field crop, and 

 is not planted so thickly as to prevent the formation of 

 ears. The object in its growth is, however, to obtain a 

 large yield of dry matter, somewhat richer in nitrogenous 

 substance and poorer in starch and woody fiber than field 

 corn. Hence the fertilizers for the crop on medium soils 

 should be richer in nitrogen than for the field corn, where 

 the primary object is the grain, and where heavy fertiliza- 

 tion with nitrogen would encourage a disproportionate 

 stalk growth. An application of 30 pounds of nitrogen 

 (equivalent to 250 pounds of dried blood or 450 of cotton- 

 seed meal), 40 of phosphoric acid (equivalent to 300 

 pounds of acid phosphate) and 60 of potash (equivalent 

 to 120 pounds of muriate of potash) would provide for 

 a marked increase in yield. 



Wheat and rye forage. 



In the growth of cereal grains, the object is to secure 

 as large a yield of grain as is possible under the conditions 

 of climate and season, and only such development of 

 leaf and stem as will contribute to a maximum yield of 

 grain. Hence a too liberal nitrogenous fertilization which 

 encourages this form of growth may result in too great 

 a proportionate yield of straw. This objection becomes 

 an advantage when the cereals are grown for forage. 



The cereal crops, wheat and rye, if seeded in the fall, 

 should therefore receive a fertilizer which shall especially 

 promote leaf and stem growth; and to accomplish this 

 purpose in the best manner, a rapid early fall growth, 

 and a consequent deep rooting system, as well as an 



