so 



The replacing of seven pounds of hay with three pounds of com 

 meal rich in digestible matter, and with four pounds of bran and 

 cottonseed meal especially rich in digestible protein, furnishes a 

 ration containing less fiber and more starchy matter than is con- 

 tained in the hay ; such a combination likewise gives the required 

 amount of total digestible matter, and digestible protein. 



Is it possible for the Massachusetts farmer to grow 

 Home Grown economically the larger part of the protein needed 

 Protein. by his dairy stock ? The writer, in view of his ob- 



servation and experience, is obliged to return a 

 negative answer. The leguminous crops best suited to New Eng- 

 land conditions are peas, vetches, clovers and soy beans. 



Peas sown with oats in the Spring produce a satisfactory green 

 crop for July soiling, and furnish rather more protein than oats sown 

 by themselves. 



Feas grown as a grain crop, while a satisfactory source of protein, 

 do not recommend themselves as economical for Massachusetts con- 

 ditions. 



Spring vetch can be sown with oats in a manner similar to peas, 

 but the seed costs more, and it is no more valuable for forage than 

 the latter. 



Sand 'oetch c^u he sown with wheat about September ist, and 

 yields an excellent forage from May 25th to June 7th. The vetch, 

 however, is a poor seeder and the seed is quite expensive ($6.00 to 

 $7.50 a hundred pounds). It cannot therefore, be considered an 

 economical forage plant.' 



Aljalfa is too uncertain a crop at the present time to recommend 

 itself to Massachusetts dairymen. It is worthy of trial in a small 

 way on well drained land free from a hardpan subsoil. Whether it 

 will be a profitable crop for general use in Massachusetts, is yet to 

 be demonstrated." 



Clover in the writer's judgment may be considered the alfalfa of 

 the eastern states, and it deserves a great deal more attention from 

 dairy farmers than is ordinarily given it. It is really a biennial, or 

 at least a short lived perennial, and is best grown in rotation. It is 

 preferred to sow the seed about August ist at the rate of 15-20 



'Fifteenth report of Hatch Experiment Station, pp. 63-67. 

 ^Eighteenth report of Hatch Experiment Station, pp. 42-43. 



