The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-04-26

q fine crop. This wescut and removed
in the fall and the stubble sprane mn
and survived the winter, growing some
at intervals during the winter.
One OF the best crops at the station
ls oats and peas grown as follows:
The ground la prepared in the fall
and the seed put in the ground at the
earliest possible moment i'm the spring.
Two bushels Of peas are used per acre
Ii In the latter part of March the sur
face OF the ground ia sufficiently dry
the peas are either own broadcast on
the surfaces and plo wed under three to
four inches deep or put i'm with a grain
drill as deep as possible. The bats are
sown shallow latter at the rate of one
bushel OF oats to the acre. Careful
rec lrds are not at hand to show the
yield per acre Of this crop, nor have
comparative feeding trials been insti.
tuted to determine it's relative value
compared with clover hay or other
forage crops. Experience has demon
strated that cattle like the hay and
that they eat it in sufficient quantities
to produce a full yield of milk and but
ter. On several occasions the crop has
been harvested into a silo, making a
silage richer in protein than any other
silsge fed at the station.
The plot Of alfalfa, the behavior and
yield Of which has been reported in
previous bulletins Of the station, was
completely destroyed By the eve
weather in the early months Of 1892.
In May hardly a root was left alive,
and scarcely a green stem showed
above the ground.
A half acre of rape was sown in the
spring of 1896 in the east end of No. 8,
by the side of a similar area of vetches
and oats, and near the half acre plots
of sorghum and fodder corn, the yields
of which are reported on page SO. Three
pounds Of rape seed were soWn April
%, with a WheelbarroW seeder, and the
ground was gone over with a light har
row the next day. No further Cultiva-
ton was given the crop, which was cut
and put in the silo June "a. The total
weight Of green rape was 6, 955 pounds,
containing 81 per cent. of moisture.
The yield of dry matter per acre was
therefore 2,677 pounds. The COWS ate
the rape silage with evident relish, and
no faint was impaired to the milk by
it. Further experiment will be neces-
sary to establish the practicability of
rape, either as green fodder or as sitage,
for q cew feed. After the removal of
the first crop Of rape it sprang up
again quickly, and was pastured with
the half acre Of crimson clover Rdioin.
ing, through the fall. On August 10 it
was noted that the sheep much pre-
ferred the rape to the crimson clover
and that they had eaten the former
we'll into the ground before attacking
the latter, the flock having been put
on the field July 81.
The millet grown on the farm has been
fed for the most part az hay. On one
or two occasions the green fodder has
been put in the silo. The silage ia liked
by the COWS, and when fed keeps up
the flow Of milk and butter. 1t is I'm.
usually dry for silage, containing, as
it did in 1896, but "a per cent. of water.
When pitched out Of the silo it was
light and fluffy, resembling hay rather
than silage. It had a pleasant odor
and kept with very little spelling.
Millet ia 60 be recommended to every
dairy man because it can be soWn late
in tue season after q crop Of peas and
oats has been removed or can be sub
ssituted for corn when the spring work
has been so delayed as to make the
planting of the latter impractiCable.
Mangolds, carrots, sugar beets and
rutabsgas: Where silage ia not used
it is wise for dairymen to provide sue
cuIence for the winter in the shape of
some kind of roots. The three which
suggest themselves as probably yield
ing the most food products for the
labor expended in growing them are
mangolds, sugar beets and carrots.
Turnips and rutabagas need be used in
the dairy with extreme caution, be-
cause of their liability to impart an I'm
pleasant faint both to the milk and to
the products made from it. It is true,
undoubtedly, that rutabagas can be fed
to dairy COWS in such a way as to avoid
this faint in the milk. But precautions
as to the manner or amount have to be
taken, and sometimes this precaution
is apt to be neglected, with the result
that the sample of butter is injured
and perhaps q customer permanently
offended. The reasonable use Of the