The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-01-26
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without interfering with the dairy interest;
but ! object to raising grain solely from
the force of old habits, and | also object 10
feeding dairy COWS upon dead corn stalks.
the straw of ripened gram and Overtime
hay, which is little better than straw. when
1t is just as easy and much more profitable
to supply them with the very best fodder
our land can be made to produce.
II you have no faith in dairy farming
you had better leave it to those who have
Dut III you have faith in it don't have too
many irons in the fire.
have faith in dairy farming and for tho
past twenty years have made it leading
department on my own farm. gave up
grain growing years ago, because / found
That the grass crop is of the first importance
on dairy farm, for without an abundan,
supply OF good grass, superior butter can
not be made at profit in New England all
the year round. My first aim, after obtain
ing good butter cows and conveniences for
making butter, is to secure the largest DOS
slble amount of the very best fodder that
the farm can produce.
! When field has been planted year and
is ready to seed down, instead of sowing il
to grain and grass together, SOW grass
seed alone, except on such portions as de-
sire to raise rye or oats TO be cut green for
fodder. Experiments repeated time and
again have convinced me that the crops of
grass on my own farm are almost nvaria-
DlY worth more for fodder the year they
are sown, than the grain and straw togeth-
er would be worth if grain instead of grass
was made the leading crop. The first trial
was made about twenty years ago when.
owing to bad weather the previous wear.
| seed grain was very high and very POOR. !
was sent to the city to purchase grass seed
ana oats for growing crop of fodder, as
we mad already given up raising oats for
| the gram. Seed oats were SO extremely
dear that bought but halt the quantity /
intended, when the field was sown one half
received no grain. Of course that part of
the field seeded with grain locked the most
promising during the early part of the sea-
son. The oats grew and were cut for fod-
der in July. Up to this time the season
la been rather dry and the grass alone had
made but little growth above ground. 1t
was, however, well rooted and covered the
ground like thick mat. About the mid
die of July the weather changed to wet
and showery, and the grass took new
start and by the last of August produced
crop of hay fully as heavy as the oat
crop on the other half of the field, and of
far better quality. 1t was thick, fine and
the straw, like straw generally, was better
for d'y animals than for mich cows.
For several years these experiments were
continued by sowing grass seed, both with
and without grain, until it was prov ed be-
You'd doubt that on my own farm, the latter
is far the better plan.
have sowed grass seed alone in early
spring. and at intermediate seasons up to
the 10th of June, which is entirely too late
for best results. but have never in one in
stance been sorry that grain had not been
mixed with the grass to afford 1t protection.
So long as a ton Of good, fine, sweet Eng
lish hay is worth more than ton of any
kind of straw. so long will it be advisable
to raise grass alone Unsteady of mixing it
with any of the small grains.
admit that on farms infested by weeds
the crop of gram will appear to better all
vantage than the first crop of grass. Some
who have tried this system have failed be-
cause the weeds have choked out the young
grass and injured it as much as would a
crop of grain. Such farmers are to be pitied
when they are forced to choose between
raising an inferior crop of straw and more
inferior crop of weeds. There must be
screw loose somewhere in their manage
ment, for claim that we have a right to
choose the kind of crop we will grow and
failure to do this, only proves our igno-
rance of some of the details connected with
the culture of those crops.
When seeding with grass alone | have
almost invariably cut two crops the first
year, while if grain had been sown only
one crop could have been taken, except un-
der extremely favorable circumstances.
The first crop should be cut rather early, as
soon as it begins to lodge, whether it is
grown or not At this time many of the
annual weeds, which are just coming into
bloom, are so nearly killed by cutting that
they do not rally, and the second crop OF
grass will be nearly tree from them.
On good, moist, rich land, well pulverized
and laid down smoothly, my first crop of
hay from spring seeding is nearly or
quite equal in value to crop of grain
while the second crop is far more valuable
than any second crop following grain
crop the first year. 1t must be remembered
that except for clover, spring is not the
natural season for sowing grass seed. Ma
ture sows IN August, and the seeds come up
and make a growth of leaves the same fall,
but seed stalks are not sent up till the fol-
lowing season. Nature manages the grass
es as we do fall grain. We sow wheat and
rye early enough to allow Of good growth
of leaves, which afford the roots protection
against the frosts and winds of winter. So
fully do those plants which SOW their seeds
in autumn seem to understand and conform
to natures laws, that if we SOW their seeds
in early spring instead of late summer, they
seldom attempt to throw up seed stalks the
first year.
Winter rye, if sown in spring or early
summer will make great growth of leaves
but will seldom produce seed much earlier
than II In nntnhap mr. Nox, ,ha,
Farmers, therefore, who may make the ex-
pertinent of sowing grass in spring without
grain, must not expect to obtain a crop of
hay like that grown upon old fields and
II raising hay for the city market were the
main object, | would not recommend SOW
ing grass alone in spring at all. But where
hay for dairy cows is an object, it will Of
ten pay to grow 1t in this way, and if the
work is well done and the land is rich. and
moist and tolerably free from weeds, two
good crops of very good hay may be OBJ
tanned in every favorable season.
l have said that spring is not natures
time for sowing the grasses. August is
her seeding month for biennias and all
those plants which require few weeks or
months for getting established in the soil,
the year previous to throwing up seed stalks,
aud our best results may usually be obtain
ed by following her example.
ANIMALS start naturally in the spring and
1t is hard to fight them with biennials and
perennials sown at the same time. Early
autumn is undoubtedly the best time In the
whole year for sowing most of our cult
waited grasses, and we should endeavor
to have as much of our land ready tor seed
ing at this season as possible. If sown,
then the ANIMALS which grow so vigorously