CHAPTER XVII 

 PASTURE OR FORAGE, AND SOILING CROPS 



Pasture or Forage Crops. — Different authorities upon 

 stock feeding make different and often vague distinctions 

 between the terms forage and pasture. In fact few of them 

 make the same distinction. Consequently, we shall regard 

 the two terms as synonymous, although, as stated, a distinc- 

 tion between them is often made. For the purpose of this 

 book, any crop which is harvested by the animals themselves 

 may be regarded as a pasture or forage crop. Although a 

 pasture of forage crop is usually harvested in a green or un- 

 ripe condition, as in the case of clover pasture, such is not 

 always the case, as in the case of pasturing stalk fields after 

 the corn has been harvested. 



Pasture is almost essential to the successful breeding of 

 all classes of five stock. Pastures may be divided into two 

 general classes, permanent and temporary. A permanent 

 pasture is one which is allowed to remain for a considerable 

 period of time. Permanent pastures are more generally 

 used on land which is too rough or too low in fertility to 

 make cultivation profitable, or they are used on cheap land 

 where labor is high. Many farmers on rough, thin, cheap 

 land would make more from their land if it were in permanent 

 pasture than they do by cultivating it. However, there is 

 considerable permanent pasture on corn-belt land which is 



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