THE STALK CROP. 173 



an acre. The advantages of such a crop are therefore 

 sufficiently apparent, as the yield is three or four 

 times greater than that of hay, while the quality, if 

 the stalks are well cured, is in no respect inferior. To 

 the stock farmer this crop especially commends itself; 

 for if his ohject is to winter his cattle with economy 

 and advantage, there is no provender he can raise that 

 is superior, for this purpose, to well-cured corn-forage. 



GREEN FODDER. The practice of sowing corn, 

 either broadcast or in drills, for the purpose of feed- 

 ing it in the green state during summer and autumn, 

 has been gaining ground for a number of years. The 

 advantage of this is found to be so decided that farm- 

 ers are beginning to adopt it very generally. There 

 is, perhaps, no other way in which an equal amount 

 of nutritious feed can be extracted from the same ex- 

 tent of ground. All kinds of cattle and young stock 

 thrive upon it, and for milch cows especially it is al- 

 lowed by practical men to be better adapted than any 

 other product of the farm. 



This crop requires for its best results a high con- 

 dition of soil, and well remunerates the application 

 of manure and labor. Sorghum is sometimes planted 

 as a soiling crop, but the sweet varieties of Indian 

 corn are generally preferred. The best method of 

 planting is in drills, which is found to give a larger 

 yield than sowing broadcast. The product of the 

 green fodder crop is usually from fifteen to twenty 

 tons. Thirty tons have been raised, and higher yields 

 are reported. Considering the amount of this prov- 

 ender that can be grown upon an acre, and its unri- 



