lo July, J909.] 'l' lie Future of Dairy Farming in Victoria. 419 



has experience in the management of cuhivation, so that he can arrange 

 things in such a way that, while the routine work of milking the cows is 

 not ulterrupted, he may break up the ground and plant a crop at precisely 

 the right moment, the number of kinds may be increased ; but, to begin 

 nith, four main crops are quite sufficient — two for winter growth and two 

 for summer cultivation. In every case it must be remembered that success 

 depends more upon careful preparation of the land and planting the crop 

 properly at the right moment than upon the fertility of the soil. The old 

 Roman maxim that " In agriculture an opportunity lost one season seldom 

 comes back till next year " should always be borne in mind. 



The earliest winter crop to be sown early in autumn should be a mix- 

 ture of oats, rye, peas and beans in the proportion of \ bushel each of 

 peas, beans and rye to i bushel of oats. In many cases wheat, barley and 

 tares may be added, the total amount of the seeding being fixed at from 

 2 to 3 bushels to the acre. The peas, beans and tares mav be sown broad- 

 cast before the paddock is harrowed ; the cereals sown together with the 

 drill if the farmer has one, but in any case broadcast sowing will give 

 nearly as good results as the drill. This mixture can be somewhat modified 

 as to give the heaviest crop that the land will carry and the one which 

 grows most rapidly through the winter. The richer the land, the more 

 suitable for barley. The poorer the land, the more important that oats 

 and rye should, form the main part of the mixture. The strong stalks of 

 the rye and beans help to support the crop during the later part of the 

 winter. The three or four cereals entering into competition for free air 

 and sunshine make each other grow so as not to be left behind. The ad- 

 mixture of peas and beans very largely increases the percentage of protein 

 or flesh-forming material in the crop and at the same time helps to replace 

 the nitrogen in the soil. The mixture, unless there happens to be too many 

 tares in it, can be readily cut by the reaper and binder. It mav be 

 utilized for feed as green fodder,' but what I want to insist on is that 

 every farmer should grow a sufficient area of some such mixture as this 

 to enable him to make enough silage to carry his cows in luxury through 

 the summer until the maize crop becomes available in the autumn. If this 

 crop is planted in an average year about the end of February it is ready 

 to cut for green fodder by July, and the balance can be made into silage 

 by the end of September or early in October. Remember that all the 

 leguminous plants attain their maximum food value when they are out in 

 bloom. There is no need to worry about the presence of pods. While 

 the grain is maturing, what happens is that there is merely a transference 

 of the materials already obtained from the soil into the seed. The total 

 fodder value of the plant as a whole is not increasing with the process of 

 ripening but is actually diminishing. These observations hold good also in 

 the case of the cereals. Provided the plant has attained full growth, hay 

 or silage made when the ears first appear is just as valuable as that made 

 at a later stage of maturity. 



The Hay Crop. — The second winter crop is an ordinary sowing of 

 either oats or a mixture of oats and wheat for hay. On the average no 

 better advice can be given than a mixture of Algerian oats with some such 

 wheat as " Dart's Imperial." It should be sown early after the preceding 

 fodder crop has been got in, and it should be harvested towards the end oi 

 November after the maize has been planted. In this way seeding time and 

 harvest may both be extended so that the number of hands employed on the 

 farm may be reduced to the minimum. An average seeding on land rather 

 below the average in fertility is i| bushels of oats and f bushels of wheat, 

 or 2 J bushels of oats alone. One great reason why this crop should be 

 looked upon as the mainstay of the farm, is the fact that however long the 



