The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1898-03-03
FORAGE CROPS.
Their Value to Farmers of the Northwest
Beyond All Estimate. -

q ~
Their value to Farmers of the Northwest
Beyond All Estimate.
At a session Of the Farmers Alliance
at St. Paul Professor Shaw read an ex-
haustive paper ON forage crops, which
was reported in full in the Minneapolis
Tribune, from which the following ex-
tracts are cleaned:
The forage crops other than grasses
that can be grown with success in all
the upper Mississippi basin include win
ter rye, mixed grains, corn, sorghum,
rape and cabbage. Those that render
less service are millet, the sofa bean,
the cowpea and Canada field pea. Of
these crops the most reliable for cattle
include winter rye, peas, oats, corn,
sorghum, mixed grains and rape Those
best adapted for sheep are winter rye,
rape and cabbage, and those which best
meet the needs of swine include rye,
mixed grains, rape and the Canada field
pea.
Winter rye may be sown for pasture
any time from midsummer on, provid-
ing it is given time to become strong
before winter closes in. 1t should not be
sown in the spring. Winter rye is one
of the best pasture plants that can be
grown on our prairies.
Of the mixed grains the widest COM
bination will usually be found the best.
Such combination would consist of
mixture of wheat, rye, barley and oats.
In the extreme north peas may be add
ed. Grass seeds and clovers may Ofttimes
be sown with advantage along with
such mixtures on the soils of the prairie.
Peas and oats grown together have spe-
cial adaptation in providing pasture for
sheep. The treading Of cattle is more
injurious to the peas than the tramping
of sheep. Corn may be turned to excel
lent account as pasture for sheep alone,
or along with rape.
Sorghum has great capacity for pro-
ducing pasture. 1t is best adapted to the
needs Of sheep, but if pastured ere it
gets too high it is also valuable in fur
nishing pasture for cattle. In growing
sorghum for pasture everything depends
upon the preparation of the land. Sorg
hum will grow again and again where
eaten down until the season of early
frosts. After that season it has little
power to grow any further. 1t is essen
TALLY hot weather plant, while rye
and rape are cool weather plants.
Rape may justly be crowned king
among the forage plants other than
grass or clover that grow in the upper
Mississippi basin. It merits such posi-
ton because of its power to grow early
and late, because of the great variety of
ways in which it may be grown, be-
cause of the great quantity and excel
lence of the forage which it produces
and because of it's great suitability
for being fed to all the various
classes of live stock upon the farm, not
excepting the fowls. One acre of rape
will produce from 10 to 10 tons of green
food, and every ton Of rape is worth
two tons Of clover for feeding. Rape
is in good condition for being worked
in the spring and at any time subse-
quently until the middle of the summer,
providing the land is sufficiently moist
to sprout the seed. 1t may be sown
alone or along with clover, corn, sorg-
hum or pease and oaths.
Cabbage furnishes grand pasture for
sheep in the late fall when many other
kinds of food are out of season or have
been injured as food by hard freezing.
They may be sown on we'll prepared
land any time after the danger from
spring frosts is past until the first or
middle of July.
Millet is of less value as a pasture
than some of the plants named, but in
sections where clover is not much grown
it may be used in providing pasture in
July and August. 1t is ready for being
grazed in, say, six weeks from the date
of sowing, and it should not be sown
until warm weather has fully come.
The sofa bean is grand food for live
stock, but Minnesota is little too far
north to grow it at it's best. It is also
better adapted for soiling and for fod-
der than for pasture, but it may be pas
tured more especially by sheep.
Cowpeas may be sown broadcast or
drilled in when grown from pasture and
at the rate of ~ to 2 bushels per acre.
AS with the sofa beans, our climate is
little. too cool for growing them at
their best. It is in order to pasture
them with cattle, sheep and swine. The
Canada field pea may be sown alone to
provide pasture for swine, and with
much profit in any part of our state, but
better crops will probably be realized
in the northern than in the southern
portions. <g $ass} 5sA-ssf
How to Detect the San Jose Scale.
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