560 AGRICULTURE. 



enough feed to keep them going without too much help from 

 hay, nor until the ground is firm enough to prevent their hoofs 

 from damaging the young shoots of the grasses. 



On the other hand, if the grass gets too old, the animals refuse 

 much of it, and the fodder will be lost. Pastures consisting 

 largely of early, strong-growing grasses, particularly cock's foot 

 (orchard-grass), will need to be stocked before others which pro- 

 duce finer and later varieties. 



It is sometimes a nice question to determine when to take 

 stock off the pastures in the fall. This will depend much on 

 the length of the growing season in any particular locality. In 

 northern latitudes the growth of vegetation will be arrested 

 early, and when the grass has quite ceased to grow the stock 

 should be removed, that the ground may be in proper condition 

 for an early start in the following spring. Usually, however, in 

 northern sections of the country, the question is effectually set- 

 tled by the early descent of the winter snows. In southern lati- 

 tudes the climate is.so mild that the growing season continues 

 all winter, so that stock live mainly or entirely upon the growing 

 grass, there being sorts there which naturally make, their prin- 

 cipal growth in the coolest portion of the year. 



Supplementary Feed. It often happens that a drought 

 occurs in the summer or fall, in which the pastures are dried 

 and parched so that the cattle fail to get a sufficient amount of 

 feed. It is, therefore, the practice of careful and provident 

 farmers to have a tract of land sown to some kind of fodder, 

 which may be drawn upon to supply the deficiency of pasturage, 

 and not only to keep the animals from suffering, but to keep 

 them also in a growing condition. Corn sown broadcast or in 

 close drills, or sorghum sown in like manner, are some of the 

 best grasses for this purpose. 



Some varieties of sweet corn, combining earliness and pro- 

 ductiveness, or large size, will be better than common field corn, 

 especially to keep up the supply of milk from cows. 



Hungarian grass and millet make excellent fodder crops. 

 They are both considered to be but varieties of the same species, 

 and there is practically little difference between them. If sowed 

 on tolerably rich ground, they will produce sometimes a very 

 large yield of grass. They are of rapid growth, and are fre- 



