CATTLE FOODS. 20 



when we attempt to arrange them with reference to their eco- 

 nomical value our list is greatly reduced. 



The farm is the raw material factory ; the moderti dairy 

 cow, the improved machine for converting the crude material 

 into a higher grade product. In the production of raw material 

 the farmer has two important questions to consider. First, the 

 quality of the raw material he is producing, (the chemist, speak- 

 ing in more scientific language, refers to it as the amount of 

 digestible material in the feed); second, the cost of produc- 

 ing this raw material. In times past there has been a consider- 

 able misunderstanding between the chemist and farmer. The 

 chemist has thought only about the quality of the material ; the 

 farmer only about the cost. The chemist in his experiments 

 and practical suggestions must consider cost as well as quality 

 if he expects the farmer to derive any benefit from his work, 

 and the farmer in growing his raw material must consider qual- 

 ity as well as cost, and try to ascertain how he can produce the 

 largest quantity of the best quality, for the least outlay of time 

 and energy. 



The more we as experimenters have investigated, the more 

 I think we are convinced that the two great sources of raw 

 material are grass and corn. We have not found anything that 

 will replace them. The questions then to be considered in this 

 connection are, when shall the farmer depend upon grass as his 

 chief source of supply, and when upon corn. If he possesses 

 a natural grass farm, let him depend upon hay as his chief 

 source of roughage, because in my judgment, hay is the very 

 cheapest food he can produce. It requires, comparatively 

 speaking, a small outlay to handle the product from an acre. 

 As a grass farmer, he should have an ideal before him ; that 

 each acre shall produce from two and one-half to three tons of 

 hay. In harvesting, do not wait until the blades of grass have 

 become sticks of wood. If you have a large area to cut, make 

 a beginning somewhere just as the grass is coming into blossom. 

 If possible seed some of your land with grasses that bloom 

 early so as not to have all of the grasses come into bloom at 

 once. The following mixture is very good for early hay : 



Orchard grass, r bushel. (14 pounds). 



Alsike clover, 4 pounds 



Red clover, 6 pounds. 



This mixture will be ready to cut from the 7th to the 15th 

 of June, before the Timothy and Red Top are in blossom. It 

 should be cut just as the blossoms appear. Study how to cut 

 and harvest the hay crop with the least outlay of money. 

 Watch the weather and cut towards sundown if it is promising. 



