FARM CROPS 33 



causes. Next, as regards the forage crops. 

 Droughty conditions in the early part of the 

 year mean a light hay crop, though of some- 

 what greater nutritive value than it would 

 otherwise be. When this occurs one has to 

 consider how the ricks may be supplemented, as 

 the winter feeding of the stock till next year 

 relies largely on having sufficient hay, and it is 

 impossible to cause the hay to give a satisfactory 

 yield, as can be done with the roots, by means 

 of hoeing. To supplement the meadow hay it 

 would be necessary to make into hay any 

 lucerne or sainfoin one may have growing. It 

 should be cut just before flowering, or it gives a 

 woody hay, and requires very careful handling 

 in making as the leaves quickly wither and drop 

 off. It gives a valuable and highly nutritious 

 hay, best adapted for horses, and the aftermath 

 can be grazed with sheep or cattle. If, by 

 making these crops into hay, it entails a 

 deficiency in forage when the pastures fail in 

 late summer (which these crops were intended 

 to supplement), then the best remedy is to have 

 some land under maize, which revels in a hot 

 summer and can be cut for green fodder from 

 September till the frost sets in. Another 



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