370 THE SMALL GRAINS 



check the growth of winter cereals to prevent winter- 

 killing, but pasturing is commonly practiced for the feed- 

 ing value of the forage. Both Avheat and rye are em- 

 ployed for fall and winter pasturage, but rye is not so 

 commonly grown. Occasionally the crop remains green 

 nearly all winter. As the cereals furnish the chief pas- 

 turage other than alfalfa, they are particularly valuable 

 for supplementing the latter, at a time of year when other 

 green food is not available. Both cattle and hogs are put 

 on the grain crops. In the southern plains, hogs are 

 turned from alfalfa to wheat or rye pastures in Novem- 

 ber, and may be left there during the winter if the ground 

 is dry. About April they go back to alfalfa. From 

 Kansas to Texas inclusive, rye is probably not grown nearly 

 so much as it might be profitably. It is about the best 

 winter cover-crop, and after considerable pasturing, can 

 yet be turned under as a good green-manure. In Texas 

 and Oklahoma, winter barley may be used as well as rye 

 or wheat. These cereals will not support as many animals 

 as alfalfa, but will carry from 6 to 10 hogs to the acre 

 (Quinn, 1907, pp. 10-12). 



In the North, and for spring forage in the South, oats 

 are employed for pasturing. It is stated that hogs do 

 better as a rule on oats than on wheat. Rape is some- 

 times sown with the oats intended to be pastured. 



GATHERING THE CROP 



399. Harvesting. In the Great Plains area, where 

 the acreage in small cereals is very large, cutting the 

 crop is done chiefly with the self-binder, the best method 

 for thoroughly curing the grain (Fig. 116). Harvesting 

 occurs generally in the beginning of the dry season, when 



