The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1899-03-15
The Cow In August.

inO WV LII aug
To properly care for the cow in Au-
gust the owner must look at least four
months ahead. He knows as,well as
he will in midsummer that the COW will
shrink in her milk, he knows that in
most years there is drouth and heat,
that there are good many years when
the grasshopper is such burden that
little food is left in the pasture for the
cows, and he knows that if the COW has
feed in sufficient amount at that time,
he must provide for it beforehand as
much as he providessfor her food in
March, He ay,thinkj.it hard to have
to grow feed forlthe COW lin August on
the cultivated fields, but that. .is,j just
what dairymen must do. The pas
lures of Vermont are running out.
They give a good deal of feed in the
spliDg, begin to fail in July or sooner,
it may be in June, are a desert ordn-
arily in August. The farmer must
have soiling crops, silage, or some sub
stitute for the pasture, and that substi.
tute must be good feed for the cow as
the pasture fails. Half grown corn is
not that at all. 1t may really be dam
age to COW by filling up her stomach
with lot of watery stuff, out of which
it is impossible for her to make milk.
The time to cut. corn is.when it begins
to glaze, the place to put this corn is in
the silo.,
Every Vermont dairyman ought to
have slo, must have it or fall behind.
The cow can be fed from the silo in
August as we'll as in January, nay
more, the very best August feed for
the COW is good silsge. OF course it is
too late now to provide such feed for
next August, if it has not already been
done, but you can make ready to pro-
vide siage for the month of August,
1900. For next midsummer drouth, if
you have no silo, no silage for that
time, you must SOW some crop. What
shall it be? Peas. and oats. There is
no better crop. The only trouble with
it is ) may not be accustomed to it,
Well, you never will be unless you &C
to growing it. Set off piece, good
large one of good rich land not too fal
from the barn to grow this crop on
Put the peas in deep at the rate of {
bushel TO an acre. A furrow four inch
es deep is good way to cover them
Then SOW two bushels of oats and har
row in. Do this as early in April al
the ground can be plowed. In ter
weeks or 80 it will be ready to feed
But ten weeks from the middle or las
of April does not bring us to August
but it will bring us to the time wheI
the pastures begin to fail. If not, cure
the pea and oat hay for storing in tn,
barn. Later crops of peas and oats arr
often sown, but the first is best. Earl,
amber sorghum makes good soilins
crop, but do not know when it woul(
be ready to feed in Vermont. All tn
early soiling crops must be put in YER
early to be at their best, the late one
must be put in the ground after thu
ground gets warm and danger from
frost is past
After the peas and oats are cut, tn
ground should be plowed, thorough,
narrowed, fertilized if necessary, an,
then sown to millet, barley, or som
similar crop. Then when that crop i
removed, pillow, harrow all you can at
ford to, and then SOW to winter rye
That will do to hold the soil during tn
winter, and to turn under in the spring
And how the land will improve unde
such treatment The frequent pillow
ing, the turning under of the stubble
the thorough narrowing, all will mel
low up the soil so that it will not loo
like the same land in year or two. l
will soon make the best corn or potat
ground when 80 worked.