HAPPY HOLLOW FARM 151 



length of our growing season almost two 

 hundred and twenty days between killing 

 frosts in spring and fall promised much 

 better returns if we would use that land 

 in the production of annual forage crops. 

 Conditions did not fit the northern farmer's 

 system of crop rotation, with clover and 

 grass as important items. We could do bet- 

 ter by double-cropping with small grains and 

 cowpeas, filling in at odd times with catch 

 crops of rape or sorghum or broad "succotash" 

 mixtures to be pastured down. We were aim- 

 ing at a system that would keep our cultivable 

 fields in use to the fullest possible extent 

 throughout the year, while allowing us to shift 

 plans quickly at any time to suit changing 

 seasonal conditions. Permanent pasture or 

 meadow would be too inflexible to go well with 

 such a system. 



Yet, with the best we could do in manage- 

 ment, there would be times in the year when we 

 would have no crop ready for feeding to ad- 

 vantage. The use of the silo would settle that 

 difficulty by and by; but for the present, de- 

 spite our theory, good permanent pasture 

 would fill some awkward gaps in spring and 

 summer. 



