Forage crops other than grasses

Front matter

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A Rape Plant Grown for Seed.

— Whatcom County, Washington.

Author's Preface

This work has been written in the hope of meeting a long-felt want. It has been the aim of the writer to adapt it to the needs of the farmer, the stockman and the agricultural student. It is left with the agriculturists of this country to say how far these objects have been attained.

University Experiment Farm, St. Anthony Park, Minn., igoo.

Chapter I. Forage Crops

Forage in its widest sense means any food suitable for horses, cattle, sheep and swine. Thus applied, it would include pasture, soiling and fodder crops, and all manner of matured seeds. In the title given to this book, however, and in the book itself, it will be used only in the more restricted sense of pasture crops other than those provided by the various grasses. It is thus used for the reason, first, that in the ordinary phraseology of the farm, it is so understood. Second, that there is a felt necessity for a more restricted and precise use of certain terms in agriculture that have heretofore been used in a loose sense. And, third, that it would seem to express the various subjects considered in the book more accurately and more concisely than any other term that could be chosen. The terms forage crops as thus defined, and pastures, are frequently regarded as synonymous and interchangeable. But grasses are not included in the discussion, for the reason, first, that where grazed off they are usually spoken of as pasture crops, and, second, that to include them would unduly swell the contents of this volume.

In nearly all instances these forage crops are sown from year to year, whereas grass pastures usually endure for several years. In many instances the latter grow, as it were, spontaneously; the former seldom do. Forage crops, like pastures, are fed off by the animals where they grow, and usually in the green form ; but there are instances where both may be grazed in the matured form, as in the gleaning of ripe peas by swine, or the grazing of buffalo or bunch grass by cattle and sheep in the winter. Some of these forage crops are grown and grazed off in succession the same season, and are also sown as "catch" crops, while grasses are never thus sown or grazed. And some forage crops, as, for instance, Jerusalem artichokes, are gathered from beneath the surface of the ground, w^hereas grass pastures are grazed only on the surface.

Soiling and Fodder Crops not Considered. — In this book the question of forage crops only will be considered, although excellent reasons may be given for including soiling and fodder crops in the discussion. Soiling food may be defined as food cut or pulled and fed to animals in the green form. And fodder crops may be defined as food for live stock in the matured form, and fed before or after the removal of the seeds. Both definitions are restricted rather than general, as both terms are sometimes used, and, perhaps unfortunately, in a wider and more general sense. Among the reasons that may be given for including these crops in the discussion, are the following: First, forage, soiling and fodder crops each includes a large number of the same plants. And, second, the processes of preparing the land for many of these and of growing them up to a certain stage are exactly the same. Discussing these various classes of crops therefore together would avoid no little repetition, which it would be impossible to avoid when discussing them separately. But to this plan there is the one strong objection, vis., that it would so swell the contents of the book as to make it too unwieldy for commercial use as a text-book. It would also increase unduly the cost of the book to those readers who are desirous of obtaining information only with reference to one phase of this three-fold question.

Possible Exception to Definitions. — Agricultural literature is only in what may be termed the formative stage. And more especially is this true of agricultural text-books. Exception may be taken, therefore, by those critically inclined to almost any definition that may be given of forage crops, and, indeed, of other classes of crops, as, for instance, cereals and field roots. In formulating definitions in agriculture, no better plan, perhaps, can be followed than to give heed to the common understanding regarding the meaning and application of the various terms in use. But this common understanding is not an absolutely safe guide, since it differs sometimes in communities in regard to the use of a certain term, and often it differs even in the same community. Some time must elapse, therefore, before definitions in agriculture will so crystallize as to assume a form so definite and abiding that it will meet with universal acceptance.

A Greatly Important Question. — The growing of forage crops is to-day what may be termed a burning question, and it is likely to become more and more so with the passing of the years. Some time, and in the future that is near, forage crops other than grasses will be grown from sea to sea, but, of course, not equally in all parts of the continent. The exceptions will be the range and mountain districts, which forbid a varied agriculture.

But little attention has been given to the growing of this class of forage crops in the past, and for manifest reasons. The history of our agriculture has been largely one of occupancy. Men have taken possession of the soil and tilled it after the most primitive fashion. Such, at least, has been its history in all the west. While it is true that some progress has been made in intensive cultivation in the east, such farming has been greatly hampered by the tide of agricultural products which has flowed eastward in great volume from the cheap and fertile lands of the Mississippi basin. On every hand, however, there are indications of change. The unoccupied tillable domain is only a fraction of what it was. And this means that the great grazing lands of the tillable prairies are only a fraction of what they once were. There is no further west. Populations are increasing at a very rapid rate, and, therefore, a more intensive cultivation will soon become a necessity in all parts of the continent. And with the increase of intensive cultivation, as surely as the sun goes down in the evening, increased attention will be given to the growing of these forage crops, some of the reasons for which will be stated below.

JVJiy Forage Crops Should be Grozmi. — Forage crops, other than grasses and clovers, should be grown because of the many benefits which they bring to those who grow them. Chief among these are the following : First, they may be made to supplement pasture crops that are more permanent, that is to say, perennial in character, when the area of these is insufficient, or when from any cause or causes theymayfail to produce plentifully. Second, many of them may be grown as catch crops where other crops have failed to grow, hence the use of the land for the season is not lost. Third, by growing these crops the farmer is enabled proportionately to increase the live stock of his farm, and, in consequence, proportionately to increase its producing power. Fourth, such a system exercises a salutary influence on weed eradication, because of the frequency with which the ground is plowed and otherwise disturbed, and because the weeds which grow in the forage are usually eaten down before they mature their seeds. Fifth, it enables the farmer to provide succulent pasture for animals at certain seasons of the year, when ordinarily it could not be obtained in any other way. And, sixth, it provides vegetation that may be plowed under with great benefit to the land, when,* because of its abundance, it has been only partially consumed while being grazed.

Who Should Grow Forage Crops. — All farmers on small or moderately sized holdings who keep live stock should also grow forage crops in addition to their grass pastures, since they so much reduce the area required for the latter. But those stock growers who live on large holdings, and more especially those of them whose tillable lands are in climates where the rainfall is oftentimes less than could be desired, should also grow them. In these areas the yields from grass pastures are frequently small, very much less than can be obtained from crops sown expressly to provide pasture for a single season or but a part of a season. As a rule, therefore, the necessity for growing these crops will increase with the less favorable conditions for growing grass pastures, and vice versa. Those crops can, however, be more profitably grown to furnish grazing for sheep and swine than to furnish the same for cattle anc' horses, since the tramping of the latter, while grazing, leads to a greater percentage of waste in the pasture. Nevertheless, s(~>me of these pasture crops may be grown with great advantage by dairymen, more especially in the prairie country west of the Mississippi.

The Possible Outcome. — When farmers generally who live upon arable lands give that attention to the growing of this class of forage crops which they ought to, from the standpoint of self-interest, no limit can be set to the possible increase in live stock and live stock products. More especially will this be true when they give that attention also to the growing of soiling and fodder crops which their importance demands. In those encouraging days that are drawing near, the production in these lines that will be obtained from small areas would astonish many of the farmers of to-day. And the increase will no less apply to the quantity than to the quality of the product, because of the suitable character of the food furnished, because of its seasonableness and because of its abundance. When nearly one hundred sheep can be pastured from the closing days of April to the opening days of November on ten acres of such forage, as was done in 1897 at the Minnesota University experiment farm, the possibilities in live stock production in our republic light up with a peculiar brightness. When it is remembered that the soil was sandy, that the subsoil was sand or gravel or a mixture of the two, that the land had been but feebly fertilized, the brightness grows more radiant. And when it is called to mind that 10.33 tons of cured fodder and 10.39 ^^^s of soiling food were also taken from the same ten acres during the growing period of the year mentioned, and that much unused forage was plowed under as green manure, the firmament of possible production becomes all ablaze with promise. The first to look at those happy indications will probably be the first to engage in growing forage crops.

Plants Discussed. — The plants discussed in the l)ook include those which can be grown for forage in any part of the tillable areas of the United States and Canada, grasses/excepted. Some varieties, however, but little known, or of only local value, are doubtless not included. The attempt has been made to classify or group them in the hope of rendering the discussion more simple and concise. But in the absence of a guide, it is possible that some exception may be taken to the classification adopted. It is based largely on family relationships and, to some extent, on similarity of treatment required in growing them.

In discussing the various plants considered, it has been the aim to give them space in the order of their relative importance. But it was not in all instances found practicable to do so, and for the reason that the relative importance of several of these plants has not yet been determined. Experience in growing them has also been so limited that some time must yet elapse before such experience will be forthcoming. In the judgment of the writer, a great future awaits the growing of vetches for forage and soiling food in our country, but at the present time the growth of these crops is greatly circumscribed. Their adaptation, therefore, to certain localities is, in the meantime, a matter of conjecture rather than one of fact. And the same may be said of certain other crops.

In addition to the various plants that are discussed in the book, a chapter is written on succession in forage crops, and also one on sheep pastures at the Minnesota University experiment farm. In the latter an exemplification is given of what is advocated in the book.

Chapter II. Indian Corn Or Maize

Indian corn (Zea Mays) is one of the greatest •food plants that was ever bestowed on any country. It is indigenous to this continent, and can be grown, in one or the other of its forms, in nearly all parts of the continent capable of maturing cereals. There is probably no other plant at the present time that produces more food for man and beast, and that is susceptible of being grown under so great a variety of conditions.

Corn is of many varieties. They run up mto the hundreds, and the number of varieties is sure to be increased. It is well that it is so, for in this way new kinds can be produced with special adaptation to the needs of the respective regions in which they are to be grown. While new varieties are thus being evolved, established varieties are continually being introduced into sections where they had not been grown hitherto, and in these sections they are being acclimatized ; hence we can confidently hope that in the near future almost every part of America that can mature grain crops will be possessed of those varieties of corn best adapted to its needs.

Corn varies exceedingly in its habits of growth. Some kinds grow only to the hight of a few inches from the ground. Other varieties grow to the hight of twelve feet and more. Some varieties produce only one stalk and but one or two ears. Other lO FORAGE CROPS.

kinds produce several stalks and bear a number of ears. Some kinds produce but few leaves and much grain, other varieties grow many leaves and but little grain. Some are sweet, others much less so. Some are flint and some are dent, and others are hybrid, as it were, between these. Some kinds mature under ninety days, other varieties require many months to complete their growth. Various other distinctions appertain to the multi-form varieties of this food product. Verily, their name is legion.

At one time corn was grown chiefly for the grain product, but it is now grown more and more to provide soiling food and fodder. It is not improbable that, ere many years shall pass, the area of corn fed green and in the cured form unhusked, will much exceed the area that will be husked. Notwithstanding the rapid increase in the growing of corn for soiling, for ensilage and for fodder to be fed in the autumn and winter, the idea of growing corn for pasture does not seem to have made an impression on the mind of the corn growers of this country. When the author sought information on this point, in 1894, prior to taking up the work of experimenting in growing corn for sheep pasture, none could be found. It may be that the search was too narrow and restricted, but the fact stated will make it clear that at that time information on the point at issue was not plentiful. It is of this particular feature of corn production that the present chapter will treat. A view of sheep pasturing on first growth of corn and rape at the Minnesota University experiment farm is seen in Fig. 2.

While it is more than proba1)le that corn will never become generally popular as a pasture for

INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE.

II other classes of domestic animals than sheep, nevertheless there are circumstances under which it may be fittingly grown to furnish grazing for cattle. In the upper Mississippi basin and the country lying still further north, grasses are much prone to lose their succulence in the early summer, and frequently they do not regain it again the same year. In these areas much wheat is grown from year to year on the same land. As a result, the lands become foul, and must be occasionally summer fallowed to clean them. It is while summer fallowing the land that corn may be thus grown to provide pasture for cattle or horses not at work. While the cattle are grazing the corn much of it will be broken down and fouled, so as to be unfit for food. Notwithstanding, much pasture relatively can be thus furnished per acre. And when the plow immediately follows the grazing, as it ought to, the uneaten portion of the corn plowed under will very materially increase the power of the land to hold moisture during the years following. The land will thus be cleaned and supplied with humus in the one season, and much pasture will have been secured at no added cost, other than that of the seed. This method of growing corn forage is applicable to all lands that are to be summer fallowed, wherever they may be located.

But it is in providing pasture for sheep that the best results are obtained from growing corn forage. At the Minnesota University experiment station the tests that have been made thus far in growing corn, alone or in combination with other forage plants, to provide food for sheep, have been decidedly encouraging. Further reference will be made to these experiments in the closing chapter. The waste in pasturing corn with sheep is very Httle, as compared with the waste in pasturing it with cattle. And, in providing pasture for this class of live stock, it may be successfully grown wherever sheep are kept in the arable portions of the United States and Canada.

The greatest obstacle in the way of growing corn for pasture lies in the cost of the seed, which in some seasons is a considerable item. But this cost is offset in the abundance of the pasture furnished, and in its timeliness.

Distribution. — Corn can be grown successfully for forage in any part of the United States that is susceptible of cultivation. As would naturally be expected, some sections are much more favorable than others to its production ; but there is no state in the Union in which at least one crop of pasture cannot be grown every season, and in some of the states two or more crops can be grown in succession. The states included in what is known as the corn belt have a most decided advantage in growing corn for the grain product; but in growing it as forage, the advantage is materially lessened. Since a corn crop will reach a stage sufficiently advanced for being pastured off in from six to ten weeks from the time of sowing the seed, according to the weather, the period of growth is quite long enough to admit of growing a crop of corn forage as far north as Lake Winnipeg. Corn wants heat and moisture to produce it quickly, and in nearly all the tillable portions of the United States and Canada there is enough of both to produce a maximum crop of corn that will become sufficiently advanced for being eaten down before the coming of the cool weather of autumn.

Inland from the oceans, the average heat of the days during the summer months is not much less than the average much further south ; hence corn grows almost as quickly at that period in the northern states as in the states included in the lower Mississippi basin. But in the states that lie along the northern boundary, the whole season of growth is so short that the large and slowmaturing varieties of corn cannot always be ripened in the areas adjacent to the Canadian border. Nor can the ripening of some of the small varieties always be depended on. But there is always time enough to grow a crop of corn forage, and to pasture it off before it is liable to be stricken down by frost.

In the northern states in proximity to the sea, both east and west, the period without frost is longer than with the states inland, but the summer heat is also less, more especially on the Pacific side of the continent ; hence the growth of the corn is much slower. It is not improbable that corn sown at the proper season at Duluth, would be as far advanced in six to eight weeks from the time of planting as the same kind of corn would be at Puget Sound in ten to twelve weeks from the time of planting.

At St. Paul, Minn., there is ample time to grow two crops of corn to provide forage in succession on the same land in the average season. In the Gulf states, therefore, there should be ample time to grow as many more crops in succession within the year, providing ample moisture is present. Hence, in this way in the ''sunny south" a very large quantity of corn forage could be obtained in one season from a piece of land.

In portions of the semi-arid region adjacent to the Rocky uKumtains on the eastern side, corn forage can assuredly be grown and turned to good account. The reference here is to much of the tillable land in the region named that cannot be suppHed with irrigating waters. Some moisture is precipitated on these lands every winter and spring. Now, if the land has been plowed in the autumn previously, and if pains is taken to so stir the surface of the ground m the early spring that the ground moisture will not escape by evaporation until the season has come for corn planting, the moisture thus retained in the soil is likely to grow a good crop of corn forage. If not eaten off when grown, it will cure on the ground when the moisture fails; but still it will provide much food.

Place in the Rotation. — Corn for forage may be given any place in the rotation. First, it may with propriety be made to follow a cereal crop that has been grown on foul land which requires to be cleaned. Or, second, it may follow a hay or pasture crop when the presence of vegetable matter in the soil is an important consideration. Or, third, it may with peculiar fitness be grown as a catch crop. When grown as a catch crop, it may come after rye that has just been pastured off ; after any kind of spring grain that may have failed to grow ; after a stand of grass pastured off early, but that is not good enough to retain ; after winter oats, or crimson clover that has been eaten down or harvested ; or, where the season is long enough, it may follow rape eaten down. There may also be instances when it would be prudent to sow corn again, although the principle of thus growing two crops upon the same land in succession is not a good one. And it may, with much propriety, be sown on the bare fallow.

The crops that shc^itld immediately follow corn sown for pasture will depend somewhat on the fact as to whether other plants have been grown with the corn and, to some extent, on the character of the plants so grown. When the corn is sown alone, it may fitly be followed the same season with winter rye and rape to furnish fall pasture, or with crimson clover or winter wheat, according to the locality. But it will not avail to sow these crops unless there is sufficient moisture in the soil to sprout the seed. A crop of corn growing thickly, as for pasture, is mighty to pump water out of the soil. When sown with such crops as rape, cowpeas or vetches, these crops will furnish more or less pasture after the corn has been eaten down. The amount of the pasture thus furnished will, of course, be largely dependent upon the amount of moisture that falls late in the season. The natural order the next year will be a grain crop where some cro]) has not l)een sown after the corn that is to live through the winter.

Soil. — The soil best suited to growing corn for pasture will be much the same as that best suited to growing corn for other uses, that is to say, it will be a deep, rich, mild, moist, friable loam. If well supplied with humus, the condition will be further improved. The decaying humus furnishes readily available plant food and also much increases the power of the soil to hold moisture. Stiff clay soils may be made to produce strong crops of corn when the season is favorable and when the plants get a good start, but it is usually at an expenditure of much labor in preparing the land. Moreover, the corn grows slowly on these, and in a dry season it is not likely to prove a success. Light, sandy soils are not good, unless they have been artificially enriched. The same is true of gravelly soils low in fertility, and when these poor soils lie on a subsoil of sand or gravel, the condition is still less hopeful. And, if it should become dry, it is still further aggravated. Peat soils are not good in a dry season. Muck soils are excellent when moist, and the same is true of the average dark colored soils of the prairie and of the gray soils of the Rocky mountain region. Hardpan subsoils that come near the surface are not good. They prevent the corn roots from getting down into the soil, and corn naturally ransacks the soil for food, both near the surface and down from it. Subsoils in which- the water table lies quite near the surface are not good, since they hinder the downward course of the roots; nor will corn grow in saturated surface soils. Mild clay subsoils are considered the best, since the moisture does not filter too quickly through them, and the roots of the corn can easily penetrate into them in search of food.

Preparing the Soil. — When preparing the soil for corn that is to be sown for pasture, the aim should be to secure a deep, firm, finely pulverized, moist and clean seed bed. Sometimes, as, for instance, when the ground is plowed the autumn previously, all these conditions can be secured. At other times some of them only can be reached, owing to the too limited period for giving it the necessary cultivation. When the ground is plowed in the autumn, the plowing should be deep. It should be deep to enable the young roots and rootlets of the corn to penetrate it easily during the earlier stages of growth and to give the soil power to retain more moisture near the surface. And the aim should be to plow it in the fall, that time may be given for the upturned soil to become warmer than it would be if spring plowed, through the influence of the sun shining on it and of the warm rain penetrating it. Second, to give time for weathering influences, as that of frost, to operate upon it, so tliat inert fertility will be unlocked and made available. Third, that the seed bed w^ill be given time to regain its former density. And, fourth, that ample time may be given to sprout the weeds on the surface before sowing the corn. This can be done by running the harrow or cultivator over the surface of the soil as soon as the ground is dry, and by using the harrow again and again on the same soil as often as the weeds have sprouted in considerable numbers. It is very important that this shall be done even on fallow land that is to be sown with corn. In addition to the cleaning of the land, the soil moisture will be retained in it. But in some localities, especially those in wdiich the soils are essentially clay, and where the winters are mild and rainy, it may be unwise to plow the land in the fall, lest it assume an impacted and clammy condition that would seriously interfere with and hinder the operations of tillage. Under these conditions the land should be plowed as early as possible in the spring and subsequently managed like fall plowed land up to the time of sowing the corn.

When the corn is to follow rye or crimson clover or winter oats, or any other crop that has been grazed off in the spring, or grain that has been sown and failed to make a stand, the depth of the plowing should be regulated by the composition of the soil, its present condition as to moisture, and the general character of the climate. The more clay the soil con-

INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. IQ

tains, so long- as it may be classed as a loam and not a clay soil, the moister its condition. The more humid the climate and the more frequent the showers, the more deeply may the land be plowed, and vice versa.

When light and springy soils are plowed deeply in the spring, they lie so loosely upon themselves that there is much loss by surface evaporation. The same is true of these soils, but in a less degree, when they are plowed shallow in the spring. And the drier the climate, the more aggravated does this condition become. As soon, therefore, as such lands are plowed in the spring, they should be at once rolled. The aim should be to roll them the same day that the plowing is done. The pressure of the roller lessens the surface evaporation. But the rolled surface should ere long be followed by the harrow, to hinder the soil from lifting with the wind, as it does in certain sections of the prairie, and to create a more perfect dust blanket, that will hinder the escape of ground moisture. Cloddy surfaces should be made fine by the use of the roller and harrow.