Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1890-04-24
BARLEY Hnn California.

W. a Henry, of the Wisconsin Expert
ment Station, writes to the Rural New
Yorker: | spent last summer in southern
California, reaching there the last of May
! At the time ofmy arrival the barley crop
had all been harvested for hay, while part
of thai intended for grain was still Staad-
ing. As the stacks Of barley hay were in
the fields, ! had good opportunity of noting
the quality of the hay, and observing how
it was used by the farmers. For making
barley hay sack containing 100 10 no
pounds of barley is Sown per acre, upon
freshly prepared ground, during the win
ter. When maturing, but before the
grains are ripe the barley is cut with u
mower and gathered with a hay rake, when
dry, and secured in stack careleSsly con-
structed as there is little or no danger in
May. About al Of the hay sold in cities
is baled and most of the enterprisng
farmers bale it for home use. as then it can
be kept in compact form with little waste
in sheds
Owing to theelimate weeds donot spring
mp in the stubble fields after the grain is
removed. and the shatteringS drop seed
enough for a second crop so that the fol-
lowing year a volunteer crop Is very
, common. As the ground is not touched
with the plow or other tool for the second
crop, this volunteer crop costs very little.
1t is quite common to cut the sowed crop
for gram, and the following year use the
volunteer crop for hay As the crop upon
plawed ground grows quite rankly, 1t does
not usually make as gond hay as the vol
unteer crop, which is timer and more de-
sirable. BY cutting the barley hay before
the heads are dry enough to break up,
there Is plenty Of gain with the hay to
make feed rich enough of itself for main
tanning horses that do not work hard, as
we'll as cows The yield is from one and
one-half to two and one-haf tons per acre.
Bearded barley is commonly used, though
! saw a beardless variety which was strong
ly recommended. In this case the boards,
instead of being from to inches long,
We're merely short stubs quarter to
half inch in length, with a rounded,
blunt end. The grain resembled common
barley.
Farmers who keep stock at the east and
desire to grow as much of their own feed
as possible, will often find the barley crop
Il valuable one for hay. think, since it is
often important to grow this crop FOR the
purpose of rotation, seeding down, etc 1t
can be managed with the mower and hay
rake, and should make excellent food for
dairy cows.
At this station for several years we have
cut oats early for hay, ANA with increas-
ing experience have come to thi ak more
and more of the crop for feeding both
horses and cows. BY cutting early the
grain does not shatter, and the straw
which is then really hay seems very pala-
! table and is much relished 10y our stock
cannot see the advantage for a farmer in
separating the grain from the straw only
to put the two together again later in his
cows and horses. 1t Is too much like do
ing something for nothing.
The only objection 10 the whole system
is that mice cut the oat heads very badly
and faint the straw. We have avoided
this in part by keeping cats about the barn.
Some of our farmers succeed admirably in
stacking the oats, not drawing them to
! the barn until needed for feed In this
way they claim the mice do not bother
! Other farmers, after stacking and allow
ing it to sweat, run the oat hay through
the feed-cutter cutting the straw into
short lengths. This material, when piled
up in the barn, is in such shape that the
mice cannot burrow into it, because the
finely cut straw drops back into the bur
rows as fast as made, eifectually closing
it. As the mice cannot run through the
straw any more than through bin Of oats
they can do but little damage, and are in
sight when the cats can check them. In
these times of low prices the threshing bill
is an item of considerable importance, and
since there is no more feed on the farm
after the threshers nave come and gone
than before they came, ! do not see the
economy of their presence on farms where
| the grain is all fed out.