SEEDING DOWN WITH A TARE CROP 107 



sufficiently advanced in ripeness to be fit for 

 " haying." The crop may be too full of sap, too 

 immature, and attempts to convert it into hay at 

 such a stage might necessitate an enormous amount 

 of labour and ideal weather to get the crop sufficiently 

 dry for stacking. Even when this is accomplished, 

 the resultant hay will not be near so good as that 

 resulting from a more matured crop. 



Cut too soon, the vetches wilt and fall into dust.; 

 Under such conditions the alternative methods which % 

 can be adopted are either to convert the crop into 1 

 ensilage or cut it for soiling to cattle on the pastures. ] 

 In passing, it may be remarked that the best stage of » 

 ripeness in which to cut the vetch crop for hay (it 

 can be cut at any stage for ensilage) is when the small 

 seeds in the lower pods of the vetch are beginning 

 to form. 



Cutting the vetch crop early for the purposes 

 mentioned, the farmer will avoid an excess of labour 

 at the early hay time, for it is just as necessary to 

 spread out the work in summer as at any time of the 

 year. Just as when the crop is first grazed, the 

 sowing of the grass seeds may be delayed until the 

 immatured vetch crop has been cut and cleared off. 

 This will mean sowing the grass seed mixture about 

 early June, a time of the year when a " good take " 

 of the seeds is an assured thing. 



TWO AND THREE CUTTINGS IN THE TEAR 



Reference has been made earlier to the possibility 

 of obtaining two crops in the year, a crop of forage 

 and a crop of corn from the one seeding. This is 

 accomplished by grazing the corn crop, or cutting it 

 for soiling, before the corn breaks into ear. 



Precisely the same thing happens with a mixed 



