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INTRODUCTION. 
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In Europe, the production of Fodder is undoubtedly of the greatest importance. The 
bulk of its agricultural land, its mountains and seacoasts, its islands and peninsulas, espe- 
cially in the temperate zone, is devoted to Fodder production. The same is the case in 
all moist countries, and year by vear the land assigned to it is on the increase. 
Compared with other departments of rural economy, our knowledge of Fodder plants 
is very limited, indeed, only in its infancy. In the past, too little attention has been paid 
to them, so much so, that often the ordinary farmer does not know even the names of the 
most valuable kinds. His notions regarding their cultivation and value are of a most pri- 
mitive type. For future progress, it is essential, that this state of matters be changed. 
The object of this book is to place before the agriculturist those points which are of 
the greatest practical importance for the production of Fodder, in order to stimulate him to 
closer observation and thus to advance our knowledge. 
Formerly, when population was less dense than now, the rational production of Fodder 
was of minor importance. But now, the advance of civilization has brought about an 
increased demand for food, both of man and beast. Ways and means must be devised to 
increase the yield of Fodder, in order to obtain more flesh and milk, more manure, more 
grain and bread. 
To solve this problem, the Economic Society of Berne, as early as 1759, offered a prize 
for a thesis on, »The means of increasing l'odder production by sowing indigenous or fo- 
reign erasses, adapted to the different kinds of soilx. Agricultural Societies, Governments 
and private individuals followed, and more rational and systematic methods of Fodder pro- 
duction soon began to be adopted throughout Europe. The introduction of railways, and the 
spread of means of communication, also forced the farmer to pay increased attention to 
Fodder; more of his land must be devoted to it, since now the price of grain hardly pays 
the cost of its production. Everyone will acknowledge that improvements in this direction 
must be one of the main sources of profit to the farmer. The object of the present work 
is to tell what is at present known of the structure, the mode of life, and the cultivation 
of the best Fodder plants; and so to enable the farmer to observe and experiment on his 
own account, and to devote himself more and more to the production and utilization of the 
best Fodder. 
