Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-06-20
Farm and Household.



The dry weather in May threatens us with
short hay crop and it should serve as
timely hint to every farmer to prepare for it
by putting in such forage crops as will serve
to piece out with when the short time comes.
For this purpose have never found any crop
so much to my satisfaction as that of sowed
corn Sow in drills far enough apart to al
low the horse and cultivator to do most, il
not ALL of the wedding Let your drills run
north and south, if you can conveniently,
that the sun may shine between the rows as
much as possible, for believe in the bene-
fetal effects of sunlight upon all vegetation
that is intended for food for man OF animals
as well as upon the animals themselves. Gull
tivate as frequently as you can from the time
it breaks ground, until it is so large that you
cannot get through with the horse, and unless
il is a very weedy piece Of ground you will
not need to put a hand hoe in the field. You
will thus receive a large amount of fodder at
small cost of money or labor and of fodder,
too, that is the very best for mich cows. And
perhaps l need not limit its use to mich COWS
alone rs a well-known farmer near the centre
Of this State told me a few days ago of hav-
ing kept his horses lboth carriage and farm
horses, and very good ones for the entire
winter upon nothing but corn fodder, and the
fodder of field corn ut that, and that they had
triyen as well as if fed upon the best of hay
II is according to my experience that such
fodder as he used, the fodder from corn
grown for the grain and allowed to ripen up
on the stalk is not worth near so much as
that grown simply for fodder which docs not
lose nutritious qualities by perfecting the
seed, and as do not doubt either his word OF
his powers of judgment l would not hesitate
to recommend corn fodder as an excellent
food for horses, or for working cattle as well
as for milch cows.
1t does not need very strong or rich land to
grow upon, but will thrive upon any fair corn
land, with a small amount of manure plowed
or narrowed in, and little fertilizer strewn
along the drill The best crop l ever grew
was upon bit of moving which had become
so run down as to cut but about half ton of
hay to the acre. l turned this over near the
last of June, moving most of the thickest
spots in il, rather TO avoid trouble in turning
them in than for the sake of the grass. Then
put on light coat of manure and scattered
a little fertilizer along the drill, and sowed the
corn, using some two bushels of seed to the
acre. As | sowed the seed and fertilizer by
machine which sowed both at once as well as
making the burrows and covering them, as it
was only hoed by hand once and cultivated
three times, and as the crop was large one,
found that l could get fodder at less cost of
ldbOI per lbu lIOul Wis NIbl Auhu NOulh Ill
moving over grass land which did not yield
more than a half ton to the acre. This prov
ed one of the most profitable crops I ever
raised.
I never succeeded as well with Hungarian
grass, though l have seen some very good
fields of it, which yielded good return for the
money. 1t is a more uncertain crop than
sowed corn, and needs, think, n stronger and
deeper soil 1t may not need much more
manure, if the soil is just right, but as it roots
deeper it will not thrive quite as well upon
run-out moving field, just turned over, unless
the soil is quite deep and mellow. Yet it
must have warm land and one not very wet.
Upon such land it may be sown any time
from the middle of June to the first of August.
1t requires about bushel of seed to the acre
should be cut as soon as it begins to blossom,
and requires to be well cured before being
put in the barn. Such grass will prove a good
substitute for good English hay, and suits
those who have had good luck in getting a
good crop, and having it well made into hay,
much better than corn fodder does. Yet l
do not think cows would give as much milk
upon that food as they would upon the sowed
corn, when equally well grown and well taken
care Of" Young Farmer in Boston Jour-
ndl