ESSENTIALS OF A FORAGE CROP 275 



are very important in our farm economy. They enter more 

 largely into the production of beef and milk in cattle and of 

 mutton and wool in sheep, as well as of energy in horses, 

 than the grains. In general, our farm animals are produced 

 and maintained largely on forage, grains being used only at 

 certain times, as in the fattening of sheep and cattle, when 

 horses are at hard work, or when cows are producing milk. 



Forage plants are also important as soil renovators, 

 adding large quantities of vegetable matter to the soil in the 

 form of decaying roots and stems. The perennial legumi- 

 nous plants penetrate to a great depth and loosen and aerate 

 the subsoil, as well as bring up plant food from greater depths 

 than annual crops. A part of this plant food remains near 

 the surface when the roots and stubble decay, or it is returned 

 to the land in the form of manure. In this and in other ways, 

 forage crops add to the fertility or improve the physical con- 

 dition of the soil. Such annual crops as fodder corn and 

 millet, however, draw rather heavily on the available 

 supply of plant food and leave little vegetable matter behind, 

 while they may injure the physical condition of the soil by 

 reducing the moisture supply late in the season. The grasses 

 and clovers, particularly the more permanent kinds, serve 

 as cover crops to prevent the washing and erosion of the soil, 

 thus preventing loss of fertility. On hillsides, embankments, 

 and similar locations, they thus perform a very valuable work. 

 Certain kinds also add much to the beauty of the landscape 

 and to the home surroundings in the city as well as in the 

 country, by covering the earth with a carpet of green during 

 the summer season. 



343. Essentials of a Forage Crop. One of the most 

 important essentials of a forage crop is that it must be 

 nutritious; that is, it must contain a considerable quantity 

 of food for animals. Though the proportion of nutriment is 

 less than in the grains, forage crops add bulk to the ration of 



