FORAGE CROPS.
Forage is herbage food, whether green or cured. The forage crops are grasses (whether utilized in meadows, pastures or otherwise), all coarse natural grazing crops such as animals are likely to find provided in nature, and miscellaneous roots and vegetative parts grown specifically for feeding purposes. They are distinguished from the threshed grains and all manufactured products. It will be seen at once that there are two cultural groups comprised in the class of forage crops,—the group occupying the land for a series of years (meadows and pastures), and the group comprising the annual-grown or biennial-grown plants (as maize, cowpea, pea, millet, roots). These groups overlap, however, so that no hard and fast line can be drawn between them.
The word roughage is applied to the coarser for age products, as maize, cowpeas, kafir corn ; some times it is used as equivalent to forage.
Fodder is practically equivalent to the word for age, but is less specific ; it is by some restricted to dried or cured forage. The word is commonly used for the coarser kinds, in distinction from hay.
Soiling is the feeding of green harvested forage direct from the field to the animals. The feed is carried to them. This system is distinguished from pasturing. The animals are kept in small enclo sures or in stalls, and thereby their feed is regu lated and the crop is not injured by them. The term is probably derived from that use or origin of the verb to soil that indicates to satisfy or to fill.
A species of pasturing is sometimes known as soiling. By means of movable fences, the animals are allowed to graze a part of the crop clean, and then to move on at the next feeding to fresh for aging. This use of the term is allowable, -since the object is the same,— to supply the animal with a given amount of succulent food : the ani mal does the harvesting.
This practice may be known as pasture soiling. It would not do to al low animals to roam at will and to gorge them selves in such crops as maize, growing grain, heavy alfalfa, clover or cowpeas ; consequently the animals are soiled on these crops in one way or another.
Silage is green or un cured forage that is pre served, or ensiled, in a tight receptacle or silo. Silage is discussed in Vol. III in its feeding rela tions. Its philosophy is discussed in the present volume under Maize and Silage.
There are several special or restricted usages of the term "forage plants" or "forage crops" ; but common-language usage must prevail with a word which has no long been general property.
In this Cyclopedia, the main forage groups are treated separately, for cultural and other reasons. Some of the leading forage discussions may be found under Grasses, Meadows and Pastures, Le gumes, Root-Crops, Soiling Crops, Silage. Detailed information on the different kinds of forage crops is given under the names of the crops, in the proper alphabetic order. Some of the leading for age crops are alfalfa, cabbage, the various cereals, clovers, cowpea, kafir corn, maize or Indian corn, mangels, millet, rape, soybeans, sorghum, vetches.
There are very many minor plants that are used for forage in a small way now and then. Such of these plants as give promise of becoming impor tant or have attracted attention are treated together in this article. Many native plants are foraged by live-stock now and then, but it would be interminable and unprofitable to try to dis cuss them here. Their names sometimes occur in current agricultural literature. Most of them have been mentioned in one place or another in experi ment station literature, and they can be traced through The Experiment Station Record. Unless a plant has been prominently mentioned, it is not discussed in this book.
Literature The current periodical and bulletin literature on forage crops is very large. Some of the book writings are as follows : Flint, Grasses and Forage Plants, J. H. Sanders Publishing Company, Chicago; Shaw, Forage Crops, Clovers, Grasses, Soiling Crops and the Silo (four books), Orange Judd Company, New York city ; Wallace, Clover Culture, Iowa Homestead, Des Moines, Iowa ; Hunt, Forage and Fiber Crops in America, Orange Judd Company; Beal, The Grasses of North America, two vols., Henry Holt Co.; Spillman, Farm Grasses of the United States, Orange Judd Company, New York ; Myrick, The Book of Corn, Orange Judd Company ; Freer, Grasses and Clovers; Phares, Farmers' Book of Grasses: Coburn, Alfalfa ; Peer, Soiling Crops and Ensilage, M. F. Mansfield, New York city; Strider and Schrlter, The Best Forage Plants, Lon don ; Voorhees, Forage-Cropping.