18 



Notes on Forage Crops. 



[Apr , 



NOTES ON FORAGE CROPS. 



Jas. C. Brown, 



Vice-Principal of the Harper Adavis Agricultural College, ■ 

 'Newport, Salop. 



A CONSIDERABLE range of forage crops is available to the 

 farmers of this country, and several of these are well tried and 

 have been grown for many years. There also exists a much more 

 extensive array of forage crops, v^^hich, while obviously having 

 great future possibilities, are at present debarred from being 

 grown generally, through suffering from one or more weaknesses 

 which make them uncertain in productiveness, or unsuitable in 

 use. An extensive field awaits the improver of crops, but the 

 importance of the opportunity has not yet been fully realised. 



Lucerne. — Lucerne may be taken as an example of the 

 need for improvement in fodder crops, as it seems certain that 

 this plant could be made suitable to the varying conditions of 

 soil and climate existing in this country. This crop has a habitat 

 almost as wide as the wheat crop, and where it succeeds is 

 unrivailed in productiveness. All attempts to render soil suitable 

 by manurial treatment seem to have failed, and inoculation by 

 bacterial cultures has not given very hopeful results, however 

 effective in America. Throughout the world varieties of thi& 

 plant are being developed suitable to particular regions, but in 

 England no variety of this crop has as yet been raised which i& 

 adapted to the general conditions of agriculture of the country. 

 In the United States Grimm's Alfalfa, has proved its- 

 superiority over the common varieties, while a most interesting 

 series of hybrids of Medicago sativa and Mcdicago Invulina have 

 been obtained in Canada. It may be hoped that some of the 

 types obtained by the above crossing may be suitable for eultiya- 

 tion in Britain, and that they may possess the hardiness and 

 suitability to the climatic and soil conditions of this country. 



Bush Vetch. — Other examples of plants which admit of 

 improvement are Prickly Comfrey. the Flat Pea and th^> Bush 

 Vetch (Vicia sepium) particularly the last. This plant is, without 

 doubt, one of the most valuable fodder plants indigenous to this 

 country : herbage containing it is sought by cattle in preference 

 t(» almost all other kinds, and greedily consul med. It possesses. 



