The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-05-06

goes On more rapidly in hot weather,
and II or two cases have been reported
where clover has become nearly putrid
during the time of using. Compare
lively small, deep silos and solidly
packed silage seem to be necessary to
prevent too rapid fermentation during
hot weather. In a complete system of
soiling it is important to have q success
sion of folders throughout the growing
season, with each, when needed for
use, in its best stage of growth for feed
ing. There should be no breaks in the
succession, and each crop should be
used, as nearly as possible, at the time
when it contains the largest amount
| of valuable food constituents. Forage
crops are now available that will afford
good feed in this climate from early in
| May until November 1, and in this state
rye has even been fed during the latter
part of April.
In deciding on a series of fodder
crops for use in soiling, or for partial
stall feeding, the question of the quality
as well at the quantity of food should be
carefully considered. Total yield should
not be the sole test Of the value Of any
crop. The nutritive value of one crop,
as indicated by the food constituents it
contains, far exceeds that of another.
There is a vast difference in fodder
crops in their effects on soil fertility.
While some are rank feeders, constantly
depicting the soil, others aid the soil in
storing up the plant food. If a number
of crops can be grown having the
special power of obtaining much of
their food supply from the air and sub
soil, the question how TO conserve soil
fertility no longer bears as serious an
aspect as formerly. The great class OF
plants having this peculiar power Of
gathering nitrogen from the atmosphere
is known as legumes, of which the
clovers are leading representatives.
Their great worth consists, first, in
their high feeding value; second, in
their high manurial value; third, in
their special power of gathering plant
food from natural resources, and hence
their tendency to improve the soil.
Fodder crops are generally considered
to be the best stage of growth for feed
ing when In bloom. If fed much before
this, they will not have made full growth,
and light Yields will result; while if
allowed to remain standing till past the
Towering period, the fodder becomes
woody, and is not as freely eaten or as
completely digested. The best results
seem to be obtained when the fodder
from a single planting or sowing is not
fed longer than ten or twelve days.
The same kind of crop may be made
available for longer periods by planting
or sowing small areas of land success
sively and feeding from these as the
fodder on each reaches its best stage OF
growth. By careful management in
the practice Of soiling or partial stall
feeding, the same area of land may
often be made to furnish two crops pei
year. For example, oats and peas cut
and fed in July may be succeeded by
barley, or barley and peas, which will
afford good forage in October; rye OF
wheat fed in May may be followed by
cowpeas, which will supply good feed
from late in August till damaging frosts
occur. Two moderately large crops OF
very nutritious forage may thus be
found to possess greater value than one
large slow-growing crop.-Professor G,
S. Phelps, in New England Homestead,