276 FIELD CROPS 



ruminants, and aid in the digestion of more concentrated 

 feeds. A good forage crop must also be palatable, for no 

 matter how nutritious it is, if it is not readily eaten by 

 animals it is valueless for the purpose. Some plants have a 

 peculiar and offensive odor, or the stems and leaves are 

 covered with hairs, or there is some other reason why ani- 

 mals do not eat them readily, though they may possess every 

 other requisite of a good forage crop. Productiveness is 

 likewise important, for it is necessary that our forage crops 

 yield well in order to obtain the largest returns from a given 

 area and to support the largest possible number of animals. 



A good forage crop must have good seed habits; that is, 

 the seed must be produced quite abundantly, be easily har- 

 vested, and retain its germinating power reasonably well, 

 in order that it may not be too expensive to justify its com- 

 mon use. It must be easily eradicated when it is desirable 

 to replace it with some other crop. A perennial forage 

 plant to be used in meadows and pastures must be vigorous 

 and hardy enough to cope successfully with weeds and other 

 unfavorable conditions of growth, yet its habit of growth 

 must be such that it can be destroyed readily when the land 

 is plowed and planted to some other crop. A few of our 

 good forage grasses are desirable in every particular except 

 this, but their usefulness is largely limited because of the 

 difficulty of disposing of them when desirable. Among 

 crops of this class may be mentioned quack grass, Johnson 

 grass, and Bermuda grass. 



344. Comparative Feeding Values of Different Forage 

 Crops. The amounts of digestible nutrients in 100 pounds of 

 the more important forage plants are shown in the table 

 which follows. These figures are presented here for pur- 

 poses of comparison, and reference will be made to them 

 from time to time in the pages which follow. The digestible 

 nutrients in corn and in wheat bran are also presented. 



