LEGUMES FOR FORAGE 189 



extent for soilage. Crimson clover thrives on both sandy and clay 

 land, if well drained, and has the advantage that the crop may be 

 harvested or plowed under as manure early enough so that other crops 

 may be raised the same year. When grown for hay it is important 

 that crimson clover be cut by the time the flowers at the base of the 

 most advanced heads have faded. After this, the minute barbed hairs 

 of the blossom heads and stems become hard and wiry. If hay from 

 over-ripe clover is fed to horses or mules these hairs sometimes mat 

 together in the digestive tract, forming felt-like masses which plug 

 the intestines, causing death. Cut at the right stage, crimson clover 

 hay is about equal to that from red clover. 



Bur clovers. — The southern bur clover and the California bur 

 clover are winter annuals that furnish valuable pasturage in mild re- 

 gions. The former, which is the hardier, is found chiefly in the south- 

 ern states, and the latter in California and Texas. They are admir- 

 able supplements to Bermuda pasture, furnishing feed when that 

 grass is resting and reseeding unless grazed too closely. Even on 

 land where summer cultivated crops are grown, bur clover, if once 

 sown, volunteers in the fall. 



The common field-pea vine. — The common field pea, discussed as a 

 grain crop in Chapter X, is grown in Canada and the northern states 

 to some extent for forage. Peas and oats, if cut early, make nutritious 

 hay well liked by all classes of stock, and also silage of good quality. 

 The combination is frequently sown as a spring soiling crop, espe- 

 cially for dairy cows, or as pasturage, chiefly for swine. In some of 

 the irrigated Rocky Mountain valleys field peas, usually with a small 

 quantity of oats or barley, are sown extensively and grazed when 

 nearly mature by sheep and pigs. 



Pea-cannery refuse. — Formerly the bruised pea vines and empty 

 pods from the pea canneries were used only for manure. This rich 

 by-product is now usually preserved in silos or in large stacks, where 

 the decaying exterior preserves the mass within. The silage has a 

 strong odor but is relished by all farm animals, especially dairy cows, 

 fattening cattle, and sheep. 



Cowpea. — This hot weather annual is the most important legume in 

 the cotton belt, furnishing grain for humans and animals, tho chiefly 

 grown for forage and green manure. It flourishes on all types of soil 

 and with but little attention, increasing the fertility of the land and 

 furnishing rich hay, pasturage, soilage, and silage. Sown at corn 

 planting or later, early varieties mature the first pods in 70 to 90 

 days. The crop may be then cut for hay, or the harvesting consid- 

 erably delayed without loss. Cowpeas yield from 1 to 3 tons of hay 

 per acre which is equal to red clover or alfalfa in value and is an 



