32 VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S REPORT. 



seed to the acre ; or they may be cut for green feed the latter 

 part of August. If allowed to stand late, their stems become 

 woody. A mixture of two-thirds corn and one-third beans 

 makes excellent silage. The objection to the soy bean is the 

 expense of putting it into the silo. The stems are tough, and one 

 is obliged to cut them with a heavy scythe. They then have 

 to be brought together in piles and loaded onto a wagon with a 

 fork. They do not handle as easily as corn, yield one third 

 less, and it is a question whether it is not more economical to 

 buy protein in the form of cottonseed or gluten meals than to 

 grow it in the form of soy beans. Last year I planted about 

 one-fourth acre of corn and beans together. The corn was 

 planted with a horse planter, and the beans put in the same rows 

 with the corn, by the aid of a hand planter. We secured a ver)^ 

 good crop in this way, and it is my intention to try it on a 

 larger scale the coming season. 



Grass and corn, clover and possibly beans, seem to be the 

 most desirable coarse fodders the farmer can produce for the 

 purposes of feeding his dairy herd six or seven months in the 

 year. Many others have been called, but these few chosen. 



SUMMER CROPS. 



During the mouths, May, June, July, August and Septem- 

 ber, the pastures of the Green Mountain State will furnish the 

 bulk of the coarse feed needed. We, however, in Massachu- 

 setts find it economical to grow many soiling crops to supple- 

 ment our pastures, especially during the months of July and 

 August, and many of our dairymen with but a limited pasture 

 area, grow more or less green crops during the entire summer 

 season. Below is presented a schedule of soiling crops which 

 have proved successful at our station. . 



