HOME GROWN DAIRY FEEDS. I9 



for feeding; and those were the years when our farming paid 

 the best and when we could carry the most Hve stock. 



Corn comes in on the dairy farm as the first crop in the rota- 

 tion. The land, after having been in grain one year and in 

 grass two years, is plowed abaut six inches deep either in spring 

 or fall as is most convenient, plowing a rolling furrow which 

 mixes the farm manure spread upon the green sward well with 

 the soil from top to bottom of the furrow. In preparing the 

 land for planting, the disk harrow is indispensable. The land 

 should be stirred deeply and thoroughly, and worked until a fine 

 seed bed is obtained. It may be, however, on the driest of corn 

 soils, that the lower portions worked should be kept firm, but 

 on the clay loam at "The Pines" every effort is made to keep 

 the mellow condition as deep .as possible. If sweet com is 

 planted for canning, the packers require that the seed used be 

 furnished by them and they usually have several varieties, some 

 maturing much earlier than others ; the earlier the variety the 

 smaller its growth. The dairy farmer will therefore choose as 

 large a variety as he dares to risk in his locality. 



If corn for grain and for the silo is wanted, then the same 

 rule as to selection of variety should hold. If most or all of 

 the ears are to be removed, the largest variety that has matured 

 in the vicinity should be chosen. If the crop is to be ensiloed 

 whole, and that course is preferable, in my judgment, the San- 

 ford or Leaming, and varieties of that class, should be chosen. 

 The Sanford, a white flint corn, grows best on a somewhat 

 heavy clay loam, and is to be preferred for farms containing 

 such soil. The Leaming thrives best on the lighter soils and 

 requires heavier fertilization. In planting, the distance apart 

 for hills and rows will be regulated by the size of the variety, 

 but I would plant no thicker for the silo than for the field crop. 

 From six to twelve hundred pounds of high grade fertilizer 

 may be used per acre, the former amount where land is in good 

 condition, and where barn dressing is used. The latter quan- 

 tity will be found to pay well on worn land, or where no manure 

 is used. If the land is badly infested with witch grass, or weeds 

 are exceptionally troublesome, planting in checks is much to be 

 preferred. For two years we have followed this plan, and last 

 season the hoe was not taken on to a four acre piece of our 



