304 



FORAGE CROPS 



FORAGE CROPS 



Dreer, Grasses and Clovers; Phares, Farmers' Book 

 of Grasses ; Coburn, Alfalfa ; Peer, Soiling Crops 

 and Ensilage, M. F. Mansfield, New York city; 

 Stebler and Schroter, The Best Forage Plants, Lon- 

 don ; Voorhees, Forage-Cropping. 



The Significance of Forage-Cropping. 



By Charles S. Phelps. 



The term forage refers to any form of herbage 

 used as food for live-stock. It consists of the leaves 

 and stems of fresh or air-dried plants, together, in 

 some cases, with the attached seeds. It includes 



Fig. 412. Pea-and-oat hay. 



Ten acres, average yield, 2.15 Ion per acre. 

 New Jersey. 



mainly pasturage and soiling crops ; hay of the 

 meadow-grasses, legumes, millet, and cereals ; field- 

 cured fodder corn, sorghum, and kafir corn ; the 

 stems and leaves of some grain crops after the 

 seeds are removed ; silage crops ; and root crops. 

 The acreage in forage crops, according to the cen- 

 sus of 1900, exclusive of pasture lands, represents 

 approximately 15 per cent of all improved land, 

 and a little over 21 per cent of the area devoted to 

 all crops, while the percentage of the total value 

 of all crops is 16.6. Forage crops stand second in 

 total acreage and in total value in the list of culti- 

 vated crops, corn being in the lead, while the value 

 per acre is only seventeen cents less than the aver- 

 age for the cereals. 



Pasturage was the earliest form of forage used 

 and is still the chief food of live-stock in nearly all 

 countries in the summer season. In earlier times 

 pasture lands were all held and used in common 

 and only small fenced areas were devoted to the 

 growing of cultivated crops. As the population in- 

 creased, the proportion of cultivated lands became 

 larger and the proportion devoted to grazing be- 

 came less. This change was necessary in order that 

 the land might furnish support for the increasing 

 inhabitants. In the earliest days of stock-raising, 

 dried fodder was the only feed used in winter in 

 cold climates. Wild grasses were doubtless the first 

 plants dried for winter use. The ease with which 

 these could be air-dried and preserved led to the 



selection of the seed of some of the best kinds, and 

 to their being sown on cultivated lands. Little is 

 known as to when the common grasses were first 

 brought into cultivation, or which kinds are the 

 oldest. It is said by one writer that up to 1815 

 not over three or four species were in cultivation 

 throughout Europe. Clover was introduced into 

 England from Flanders about 1650 and soon took 

 an important place in the agriculture of that 

 country. In the earlier history of this country all 

 cereal grains were needed as food for man, and 

 dried herbage was used exclusively as food for live- 

 stock. Little effort was made to produce milk or 

 to fatten cattle, sheep or swine, 

 except during the summer sea- 

 son. The live-stock was sustained 

 through the winter on what was 

 often less than a healthy mainte- 

 nance ration. As the country de- 

 veloped and the proportion of the 

 non-agricultural population grew 

 larger, animal products increased 

 in market value and the winter 

 production of such products be- 

 came profitable. This led not only 

 to the use of grain feeds, but to 

 the production of a better grade 

 of forage. 



In many parts of this country 

 there are large areas so rough 

 and uneven as to be of little value 

 for any other use than pastures. 

 Even in the newer parts of our 

 country there is a steady decrease 

 in the area devoted to grazing and 

 a steady increase in the area devoted to cereals. 

 In the older European countries the area used exclu- 

 sively for pastures is much less than in the United 

 States. Where land values are high it is a common 

 practice to rotate pasture with cultivated lands, 

 and in this way the pastures are improved and 

 made to support more stock. Areas in use for 

 growing grain are frequently sown to clover or 

 rape in the spring and thus are fitted to supplement 

 the regular pastures late in the season. 



In many parts of Europe and in some of the 

 more densely populated parts of this country, the 

 summer feeding of green forage crops, or soiling, 

 is replacing pasture feeding. By this plan of feed- 

 ing, more stock can be kept on a given area, the 

 expense for fencing is greatly reduced and the 

 manure can be more completely saved, but the 

 labor involved is somewhat greater. In this country 

 the high price of labor and the large amount of 

 rough, low-priced land will long defer the general 

 adoption of the soiling system. Irregularity in the 

 supply of pasture, however, as a result of periodic 

 droughts, makes advisable the partial substitution 

 of green forage for pasture feeding. Such a plan 

 of feeding is especially suited to high-priced lands, 

 because more stock can be kept per acre than by 

 exclusive pasturing. A large number of crops can 

 be made available for this plan of feeding, and 

 these can be grown so as to furnish valuable feed 

 throughout the summer season. A number of soil- 



