1884.] QUESTIONS. 229 



freezing. I have cut barley when the ground was frozen and 

 it was good feed. There are little things to learn in growing 

 these crops and feeding them as in everything else. I have 

 done some injury to milk on one or two occasions by chang- 

 ing too suddenly from one kind of feed to rank green barley, 

 cut in cloudy weather, and I have found a rank taste in the 

 milk. But that is nothing seriously against such crops. The 

 change should be made gradually from one feed to another. 



Mr. Webb. Is rye as a soiling crop for cows apt to give a 

 bad taste to the milk ? 



Mr. Cheever. No, not if properly fed. 



Mr. Webb. I have tried it several times and it never failed 

 to give a bad taste to the milk. 



Mr. Cheever. I begin to cut my rye very early in the 

 spring, before it shows any heads, and feed it lightly. It will 

 not do to turn cows from hay out into rank June grass 

 immediately, and expect to get as good milk as if they had 

 been brought to that feed gradually ; and the same is true 

 with respect to any other green feed. 



Mr. Chamberlain. We want to get all the benefit of the 

 gentleman's experience that we possibly can on these subjects, 

 and I would like to ask him at what point in the maturity of 

 these various crops he thinks they are the most valuable ? 



Mr. Cheever. Chemistry and practice may seem to con- 

 flict a little, but we must feed crops when cattle will eat them. 

 Chemists tell us that grass is worth the most when it is in 

 full bloom or a little past. Rye in full bloom will not be 

 eaten greedily by cattle the first time it is offered to them ; 

 but when cut before it blooms, while it is still so tender that 

 you can chew it yourself and swallow it without choking, it 

 will be eaten readily. I would say that it should never stand 

 until it comes into bloom. I have put a great many tons of 

 it into the barn, and I never intend that the blossom shall 

 show before it is cut, and only very rarely is that the case. I 

 do not know why the same rule does not hold for all the forage 

 crops. Barley and oats I think should be cut before they are 



