Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-04-24

mower and gathered with hay rake, when
dry, and secured in stacks carelessly con-
structed, as there is little or no danger in
May. About all of the hay sold in cities
is baled; and most of the enterprising
farmers bale it for home use. as then it can
De kept in compact form with little waste
in sheds.
Owing to the climate weeds do not spring
up In the stubble fields after the grain is
removed, and the shatterings drop seed
enough for second crop, so that the fol-
lowing year volunteer" crop is very
common As the ground is not touched
with the pillow 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
PLAYED ground grows quite rankly, it does
not usually make as good hay as the vol
unteer crop, which is finer and more de-
sirable. By cutting the barley hay before
the heads are dry enough to break up,
there is plenty Of grain 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-half tons per acre.
Bearded barley is commonly used, though
| saw a beardless variety which was strong
y recommended. In this case the boards,
instead of being from to inches long,
were merely short stubs a quarter to a
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
valuable one for hay, think, since it is
often important to grow this crop for the
purpose of rotation seeding down, ETC. It
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, and with increas-
ing experience have come to think 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 by 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 to 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, effectually 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