2O8 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



vetches, or of the three combined. In other instances wheat, 

 oats, barley and flax are grown together. When legumes 

 are grown with non-legumes, the aim usually is to have not 

 more of the latter in the mixture than will sustain the le- 

 gumes, but this of course may be varied at the will of the 

 grower. In order to obtain the desired proportions of each 

 plant, the seed must be sown with that end in view, and it 

 may take some time to ascertain how much of each will fur- 

 nish the best fodder. 



Peas and oats grown together furnish excellent fodder 

 when the crop has been kept from lodging. If cut a little 

 underripe the hay is excellent for all kinds of growing 

 stock. But when fed to growing animals it may be neces- 

 sary to add other fodder as the peas and oats may contain 

 too large a proportion of grain for the needs of the stock. 

 For dairy cows, such food is excellent. It also meets in fine 

 form the needs of sheep. When breeding ewes are fed such 

 fodder usually they do not require any additional grain. 

 This fodder when properly grown may be cut with the 

 binder and fed from the sheaf or it may be cured like hay. 



Oats and vetches are grown similarly to oats and peas. 

 The proportions of each that ought to be sown can only 

 be determined by experiment, but the vetch is the more val- 

 uable fodder of the two, and should, therefore, furnish the 

 bulk of the fodder. The relatively high cost of the seed is 

 the most serious objection in the way of growing such hay 

 in the meantime. It furnishes a grand fodder for milch 

 cows and ranks even higher as a fodder for sheep. Such 

 hay can be obtained from the common vetch and also from 

 the sand or hairy vetch. The latter cannot be harvested 

 satisfactorily for hay, unless grown with some grain crop 

 owing to the intertwining nature of the vines. 



Oat, pea and vetch hay is much relished and when 

 properly grown is of fine growth. Usually the seed of the 

 vetch must be used freely in the mixture or the vetches will 

 be overshadowed by the growth of the other plants. Some 

 variety of oats, short and stiff in the straw, is to be preferred 



