CORN FOE FODDER 291 



quite equal to the plot cut for weighing. This crop was 

 not cut until the ears had formed and was cut up in a fod- 

 der cutter, ears and stalks together, and fed with some bran 

 and corn meal, to dairy cows with a most remarkable in- 

 crease in the yield of cream and butter. 



Corn should never be sown broadcast, as it needs light 

 and air to mature its sap and make a substantial and nutri- 

 tious growth. The best mode of culture, and that usually 

 practiced by farmers and dairymen who soil their stock, or 

 who preserve their crops by ensilage, is to plant in rows 3 

 feet apart, and from 6 inches apart with single plants to 

 18 inches with 4 or 5 plants together. This gives suffi- 

 cient room for the air and sun light to reach the plants, and 

 for the frequent cultivation of the land. (See article on 

 corn culture in the next chapter.) The seed required for 

 this close planting is about one bushel to the acre. N 



The early varieties of sweet corn are especially fit for fod- 

 der crops. As soon as the fall rye is cut off, or as the strip 

 of the field is cleared, the ground is manured and plowed. 

 Liberal manuring is the secret of large fodder crops. The 

 land is then planted with some early variety of sweet corn, 

 the Narraganset being commonly prefered on account of its 

 longer stalks and larger ears, while it is only a few days lat- 

 er than the earliest. By the middle of July this crop is 

 ready for use, and as a strip of it is removed the ground is 

 at once prepared for another crop; usually evergreen or 

 mammoth sweet corn; which matures for use in September 

 and thus makes the third crop taken from the land in 5 

 months. With ordinary good culture and manuring, at 

 least 40 or 50 tons of green fodder may thus be taken from 

 one acre of land ; which is sufficient to feed ten cows during 

 this period, at the rate of one ton per cow per month or 60 

 Ibs. to the cow per day. This fact which has been proved 

 in continual practice by the author in his dairy, during- 

 several years, and also by many other dairy farmers, goes 

 to prove the great advantage of this method of growing 

 crops for the feeding of stock, and the improvement of the 

 soil; a necessary result of the feeding of so much stock. 



