167 



The growing of a leguminous plant and a cereal together, as oats 

 and peas, to be fed as green forage, has proved quite popular where it 

 has been tried. The experiment stations in nearly every State have 

 tested the adaptability of various fodder plant?, leguminous and non- 

 leguminous, and can furnish information as to selection, where seed can 

 be obtained, etc. 



By a judicious selection of soiling crops not only can a much larger 

 number of cows be kept on a given area of land, but the land may be 

 brought into a higher state of cultivation and fertility, and much grain 

 may be spared. 



Soiling is a feature of a more intensive system of farming, and finds 

 more extensive application as the value of the land increases. 



VALUE OF LEGUMINOUS CROPS FOR FEEDING. 



Why should the farmer go on raising meadow hay as his main sup- 

 ply of coarse fodder and buying grain to supplement it, when by grow- 

 ing leguminous crops the nitrogen required by animals can be produced 

 at the lowest cost P The crops of red clover, crimson clover, Japan clover 

 (Lespedeza), cowpea, alfalfa, sojabean, horse bean, serradella, and many 

 others of this class far surpass common hay in the food materials they 

 contain, both pound for pound and in yield per acre. They may be 

 grown as catch crops and used for soiling or pasturage, or they may be 

 grown for making hay or silage. By mixing the green crops with corn 



and ensiling the two together a palatable and nutritious food is pro- 

 duced which is much richer in port ein (nitrogen) than silage made from 



corn alone. 



The cultivation of these leguminous plants involves somewhat more 

 labour, as a rule, than raising grass hay, but it is believed that it will 

 prove profitable for it enables the farmer to raise his own concentrated 

 feed at the same time that he raises his coarse fodder. For instance, a 

 recent experiment has indicated that soja-bean meal is fully equal to 

 cotton-seed meal for milk and butter production. This meal is one of 

 the richest feeding stuffs we have. It exceeds linseed meal and gluten 

 meal in portein (nitrogen) and far exceeds these and cotton-seed meal in 

 fat. It is only surpassed in protein by cotton-seed meal and some of the 

 oil cakes lit le used in this country. The beans c^n be trashed out and 

 ground and the straw fed as coarse fodder. This straw is richer in 

 food materials than a good medow hay. It contains 9| per cent, of 

 protein while meadow hay averages about 1\ per cent. The cowpea 

 may be treated in similar manner. The ground cowpeas are a richly 

 nitrogenous feed, althouth not as rich as soja-bean meal; and the vines 

 are nearly or quite equal to clover hay and far surpass grass hay in 

 richness. 



The following table shows the average composition of hay from 

 leguminous crops as compared with hay from grasses : 



