»E FAR1
GardeiS
V
VOL. .LXVI
INDIANAPOLIS, JUNE 17, 1911.
NO. 24
Written tor Indiana Farmer:
WI1EX XO MAKE HAY OF TIMOTHY
AND    CLOVER.
By W. A. G.
Both timothy and clover, if cut quite
green, even if the curing has been
quite perfect, make hay that is bitter
to thf taste of animals, and they do
not like to eat it as they do that which
is mnde from well ripened grass. It
does not do them near the good either,
is there is a lack of strength in the
feeding quality. The reason is, the
great quantity of sap in the stalks sours
In the process of curing the hay, and
becomes an acid, instead of a sugar or
a saccharine quality that makes, the
hay sweet.
It has been and Is still argued by
many, that timothy cut and cured while
in bloom and yet quite green, retains
the real strength in the stalks and
bladea that is afterwards lost in the
formation and ripening of the seed.
But that is a bad mistake. Nothing
but the true ripening process allowed
to progress to a certain stage, can be
relied on to make hay of the most nutritious quality.
Take timothy cut too green, no difference how well it is cured, and on an
examination of the stalks they will be
found black and very brittle at all the
Joints. Chew the blackened joints and
the taste is quite bitter. Indeed the
whole stalks are similarly affected, and
that is the reason why no kind of stock
likes that kind of hay as they do that
made from mature grass. Clover cut
green is of like bad quality, although it
may be beautiful in appearance. Every
one knows what a difference there Is in
the taste and quality of a well ripened
apple or peach over specimens of those
fruits pulled before fully mature and
allowed to ripen apart from the trees.
The same principal holds good in the
making of hay. Natural laws cannot
be violated without incuring more or
less disaster and loss, in anything the
human  family  undertakes.
Something has been said regarding
*hy farmers are always in a hurry to
*et the first crop of clover off the land,
In order that the second might get a
good growth for seed. It is not every
"me the best seed crop is obtained by
extra early cutting of the first one. We
nave noticed a good many seasons,
•hen It being rainy, the second crop
made such a rank growth that the
Prospect for seed was blasted by the
"op falling down and preventing the
"loom from developing much seed.
Then, perhaps, the oftener we have
d that later cutting followed by
ar>" weather made the seed yield very
■fht.
Taken all together, we believe there
8 not enough advantage gained by
*»rly cutting to make the sacrifice of
'Poll|nK the quality of the clover hay
n order to secure a little larger yield
of seed.
Making hay from both timothy and
**T Is much  more  easily  done  and
*!thout   any   danger   of   heating   and
guiding, if allowed to properly ripen
■*«*» cutting.     The  weather,  too,   is
^nerally more    settled.     The    curing
w is much    more rapid    because
to so much less sap to dry out be-
tilaclng  the  hay  in  the   mow  or
If the weather is bright and the
air dry there is no necessity of the hay
tedder being used, and it saves much
work in the curing process.
Hay made from well ripened grass,
except during a very rainy time, is not
liable to get mouldy and dusty, and is
so much more healthy for stock that it
pays to wait on that account alone.
Bright straw is much superior as stock
food to moldy and dusty hay of any
kind. For horses dusty, molded hay is
positively dangerous to feed, unless it
is first well sprinkled, and  if it is un-
from one-half to one bushel of seed,
depending on the variety, per mr.
Any dent corn that will grow Is all
right. The remaining seed supply, and
the tip and butt kernels which have
been shelled from the seed ears can
be used to good advantage in the fodder fleld.
When a good seed bed has been prepared the cultivation is easy. Sown in
drills it is well to blind cultivate and
harrow smooth before the corn is up.
Cultivate whenever necessary, and cross
A well-kept roadside,  offering the least  protection  possible for destructive Insects.    No rail fence or brambles.—From U. S. Year book 1908.
healthy for horses, it follows as a Just
conclusion that feeding it to other
stock cannot be any thing else but injurious to health and thrift.
In conclusion we recommend that
clover for good hay, be allowed to
stand until fully two-thirds of the
heads or bloom is well dried up, and for
timothy, let it get quite ripe, or allow
it to stand until some of the earliest
heads show signs of shedding the seed.
If those who doubt what has been
recommended, will try it they will be
more than pleased with results.
Written for Indiana Farmer:
GROWING CORN FOR FOPDER
By W. H. Underwood.
Fodder corn is coming to be of more
importance each year. It can be grown
cheaply, yields well, is a good land
cleaner, is easily handled, and greatly
relished by all classes of live stock. It
should be planted about the middle of
June, but in 1909 and 1910 I planted
it July 10 and 12, and had a yield of
four loads of nice, well-cured fodder
per acre.
It should be sown in drills from
three to three and a half feet apart.
For seeding it I prefer the grain drill
to the corn planter. The chain covers
wear down the small lumps and cover
the seed with a flne dust mulch,
through which the young plants can
easily push up. By closing several
feeds of the drill and raising the shoes
a splendid fodder corn drill with which
rapid work can be done, will be made.
I like to sow the seed thickly, using
with harrow or a weeder, while the
corn is small. It is simply surprising
how fast corn grows during July and
August.
Fodder corn, when sown ahout the
middle of June, will form small ears,
and should be cut when the corn Is
denting. When cut at this stage It
makes a good food for stock cattle and
a good roughage for fattening steers,
milch cows and brood sows. Horses
like to eat the butts left in the racks by
the cattle.
When sown by the middle of July tho
corn will be in full bloom by the middle
of September, and should be cut before
killing frosts set In. No ears will yet
be formed, and the fodder, therefore
will be more in tho nature of hay, of
extra good quality, readily eaten by
cattle of all ages. Calves are particularly fond of it. Sheep prefer it to
good hay. When fed to horses thoy
will clean the manger slick and clean,
and hogs consider It a treat when fed
a bundle or two two or three times a
week.
The corn, when sown in drills, should
be harvested with a corn binder, but
cnn be harvested quite successfully
with an open elevator grain binder. The
bundles should be of medium size. Let
them lie on the ground for a day or
two to cure. They will then be only
half as heavy as they were when cut,
which means only half as much work
when shocking.
The shocks should be large, thirty-
live to fifty bundles per shock. I set
the bundles quite prependicular; All up
all holes; have the outside row particularly tight, and makes the whole shock
as nearly symmetrical as possible. I
draw the tups tightly together with a
rope, having a hook or pulley attadu-d
to one end, and tie with binder twine,
ln this condition it will cure well. The
shock will withstand any amount of
wind and rain, and may be lett in the
fleld until needed in the feed racks.
When it is desirable to haul the fodder from the fleld and store it elsewhere, care should be taken that the
fodder is dry. It will spoil easily when
put up in a big stack on the mow. Dry
fodder should be easily and successfully
stored in the haymow, where equipped
with track and slings. A fork does not
work as well in bundles.
The fodder can also be stored in long,
narrow rigs. The rigs should be about
three-fourths as wide as the length of
two bundles. The bundles should be
laid with the butts toward the outside
and the heads lapping over each other.
Stored away In this manner a portion
of the rig or stack can be opened and
hauled away down to the OOttC3] >
out  opening much  of the  stack.
When fodder corn ls stored with the
Intention of feeding it to cattle when
turned out to pasture in the spring, it
11 to put in a stack built like a
ttrutn Btack. It can then be fed to the
i aittle out In the pasture on grass. Hy
throwing a bundle here and there the
pasture will be manured nicely, and
the labor of hauling out the manure
avoided. If any of the fodder Is soiled,
or not eaten for other reasons, it will
in- where lt will do tho moat good. It
will serve as a mulch.
ALSIKE CLOVER.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Will you please answer the following
questions:
1. When Is the best Ume to sow alsike clover?
2. What are Its feeding qualities
compared  with red clover?
9. I sowed alsike with oats the first
week In May; what will the outcome
be?
4. For hay should not red top or
timothy be sown with it to hold it oft
the ground? J. A.  S.
Clay Co.
Answer: 1. The best time to sow
alsike Is in late summer or early fall.
2. Alsike has a higher percentage of
digestible matter than red clover, but
the yield is not so great. The stems
are not as coarse and the plant is more
hardy than red clover. It will grow
where red clover will not do well and
In unfavorable seasons. It makes an
excellent  pasture.
Red clover contains 8.10 per cent of
crude fiber and 4.4 per cent of protein.
Alsike contains 7.4 per cent Of crude
fiber and 3.9 per cent of protein. Red
clover produces more feed per acre but
the quality is not so good.
3. Alsike matures the same time
that red clover does, so that the results
with oats and alsike clover will be the
same as lf red clover had been used.
4. The habits of alsike clover are
creeping. It should be sown with other
crops for support. A good mixture
for hay is timothy 15 pounds, red clover 6 and alsike clover 4.
i • i	
According to the Wisconsin Farm
Crop Report for June lst the condition
of wheat ln that State is 92 for winter
and 94 for spring; oats is 97 and alfalfa 93.