224 



Missouri Agricultural Report. 



iilarly groomed. Tethering the cows on grass is usually commenced the 

 foi-e part of May, for a portion of the day, at least. 



The soiling crops used are rye, oats and j)eas, oats and vetch, and 

 clover and grass. These are hauled to the barn and fed green, or pas- 

 tured off by tethering the cows along the edge. In some sections 

 where the farms are small all the land is under cultivation and the 

 cows are kept in the barn until tlie oats and peas are nearly mature, 



when the cows are tethered on 

 these during the month of July, 

 after which they are too ripe to 

 be well relished. The cows are 

 then changed to the second crop 

 of clover which by this time is 

 from twelve to eighteen inches 

 high. Some dairymen practice 

 partial soiling all the time, cutting 

 green rye the last of J\Iay, which 

 was sown the previous September. 

 When this rye becomes ripe in 

 June, they feed clover, and when this is mature, about July 1, oats and 

 peas are fed. After these, the second crop of clover is ready. It must 

 be remembered that in the cool European countries it requires much 

 more time for grain to ripen after it is fully headed than in the Cen- 

 tral States, thus making the soiling season of the crop much longer. 

 It is the general rule to pasture until short of grass, about July 1, and 

 then soil until the grass is good again. The cows are left on pasture 



'Pctliei'ed in plenty. Harve.sting oats three 

 feet high August 7. 



Bringing- tethered cows to stable at millving time. Field of roots in foreground. 



until October, the exact time depending upon the season, thus making 

 the period cows receive green feed extend over nearly six months. 



The cows are seldom turned to pasture in Denmark, but tethered 

 by means of a halter on the head and a rope or chain twelve to twenty 

 feet long, which is attached to a ten-inch pin driven into the groimd. 

 The cows are moved, five times a day, from three to six feet, depending 



