CEREALS FOR HAY 69 



loses its nourishing qualities, while the grain gains in 

 weight and perfection. The lesson is plain : if one wishes 

 grain he should let it ripen; if he wishes hay he should 

 cut before the grain forms, after bloom and while the 

 nutritious sap is ail through the structure of the plant. 

 Then all of the plant will be eaten and none wasted. 

 Also there will be none of the annoyance of rats and 

 mice burrowing through the mow in search of grain. 



Winter Wheat for Hay. Probably one of the smooth 

 wheats (not bearded) will be found best of any of the 

 common cereals for hay. There are many varieties of 

 wheat and one can find them adapted to almost all soils 

 and situations. In testing wheat, oats and rye for forage 

 in Louisiana on rich alluvial buckshot soil, I was aston- 

 ished to find how much superior the wheat proved to 

 either of the other cereals both in weight of yield and 

 palatability. Rye, a vigorous and worthy crop in north- 

 ern situations, proved the poorest of all. 



Winter Wheat and Fetches for Forage. Many ex- 

 periments in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana have 

 show r n winter wheat and winter vetches to make the most 

 and best forage to be mown off in early spring or during 

 the winter in far southern latitudes of anything yet test- 

 ed. Cereals and the legumes, furthermore, balance each 

 other very well. 



CEREALS FOR HAY. 



Rye Hay. Rye makes as poor hay as one could de- 

 sire. If it must be used for this purpose mow it as 

 soon as it begins to shoot, not waiting for it to head 

 at all. 



