CROPS ON DAIRY FARMS. 71 



masticate and to digest. And herein a great gain is to be 

 found a saving of labour and of food, a lessened expenditure 

 of force. 



Green Food. 



Many farmers take care to have some early green food for 

 cattle in the early spring that is, in the latter part of April, or 

 the first week of May winter tares and rye answering the pur- 

 pose as well as anything else, as arable crops ; trifolium incar* 

 natium, a valuable member of the clover family, and sainfoin are 

 grown in the southern counties as early green food for stock. 

 On the carboniferous limestone soil of north Derbyshire, my 

 father's cows used to get an early and excellent bite of green 

 food in the budding spring on land seeded down the previous 

 year ; many men, however, prefer to mow the "seeds'' for hay, 

 in which event the cows have to wait until there is grass for 

 them on the permanent pastures. Much depends on the soil, 

 whether it be sound; and on the climate, if it be genial. By 

 liberal and judicious top-dressing of winter-saved pastures 

 top-dressing in the autumn it is possible to have ordinary 

 pasture grass almost as early as " seeds." 



The object of green crops on arable land is primarily to 

 shorten winter at both ends, but the practice in arable dairy 

 farming may be extended until it includes, by successive crops, 

 the whole of the spring, summer, and autumn. For the winter, 

 roots and white crops are raised on arable land, and in some 

 cases green crops for silage. For autumn use, cabbages form 

 a valuable food for dairy cows, and the tops of turnips and 

 mangolds fill up a gap. Common turnips are useful for early 

 winter, s\ttedes next, and mangolds keep well into spring. As 

 I have said, the object of arable dairy farming is to make 

 the land carry more stock and produce more milk. This is no 

 doubt the result, but the system requires an extra outlay in 

 men, horses, implements, and manure, and the question for 

 each farmer to ask himself is this : Does the arable system yield 

 enough to pay the extra cost and leave a profit ? 



