834 AgHctdtural Gazette of N.S.TF. [Oct. 2, 1908. 



For a suininer catch cioj) Huiigaiia)i millet is a success, can be harvested 

 witliin ten weeks of sowing, yields a fine Haggy hay much relished by calves- 

 and cattle ; it also makes excellent silage. 



For winter green feed, oats and Cape bailey hold pride ot' place. 



Of tlie varieties of oats, when a crop of hay is look''(l for, Algerian is the- 

 best, being comparatively free from rust attack. Tartarian is the better 

 variety for actual green feed, also makes a gooff hay, but is very liable to i-ust. 



Cape l)arley is relished as a green fodder by stock ; has no value as hay on 

 account of the dangerous and disagreeable beard. 



Rye flourishes better on poor country than oats or barley. As a green food 

 stock eat it readily ; has no value as hay. When oats or barley receive a fail- 

 start, and are fed off when from (J to S inches high, as many as two, and. 

 during very favourable seasons, three feedings can be got from the one sowing 

 with an additional ton to the acre crop of hay from the oats. 



When cut with a scythe or mower, oats cr barley die out during frosty 

 weather. If a subsequent feeding or hay c:-op is desired, cows must be allowed 

 to do the mowing by grazing. 



In feeding off allow the milkers from an hour to an liour and a-half everv 

 morning on the crop. Some farmers herd the cattle while gi-azing, confining 

 them in I'otation to certain sections of crop. 



This had better be done when paddock has been sown at inter^■als of a week 

 or fortnight, the green stuff being more advanced in growth on the early-sown 

 portions of the field. When crop is all of one sowing and growth the cows 

 may be left to themselves for the usual hour ; they are too busy feeding foi- 

 this short period to wander far and trample under foot imu-h of the green stuff. 

 Cows fed in this way, and given a reasonable allowance of hay at night, will 

 freshen up wonderfully in their milk. 



Oats being a soft bulky food, cows ration needs building up with a more 

 concentrated fodder. Hay assists in regulating the bowels, thus preventing 

 scouring, and in a way balances the ration. 



In the south winter crops can be sown from Marcli to May, and for eai-ly 

 spring feed as late as June. 



To obtain best results when feeding cows it is advisable to chaff and feed 

 all fodder from troughs. In feeding chaffed ensilage troughs are absolutely 

 necessary. AVhen cattle are fed in this way their allowance of ensilage, 

 maize, or sorghum can be balanced up to a full milk making ratio by the 

 addition of concentrates, in the form of lucerne, oaten, or meadow hay. bran 

 or oilcake, as the case may be. To obtain best results from a milking cow 

 this balanced ration is necessary. 



A cow may be being fed as much ensilage as she can eat and still not be 

 milking up to what her average would be if running on good grass. 



Ensilage, green maize, or sorghum are the bulky cheap appetite satisfying 

 foods, but are deficient in ])rotein — the necessary milk making element. 



To get this protein for a heavy yield of milk from say ensilage, the cow 

 would have to do the impossible and consume perhaps twice the weight of 

 fodder she was capable of eating in the twentv-foui- hours. 



