CROPS FOR SOILING AND FODDER CORN. 97 



repetition of it, and if these differ in any respect, and especially if 

 they are inferior, failure is apt to result. 



Art 1 have had many inquiries as to the best manner of drying 

 Pearl Millet for " hay," I would say that our crop was sown in a 

 solid block, so that when cut it had to be removed from the land 

 where it grew, and tied in sheaves, and hung up on an extemporized 

 rail fence until cured. This plan of course would not answer on a 

 large scale, as the crop is so enormous that such an expedient for 

 drying would be too expensive both for labor and rails, and as it is 

 too heavy and succulent to be dried like Timothy and Clover, on the 

 ground where it is cut, it must be removed, for to attempt to dry it 

 where it grows would destroy the second crop. Circumstances, of 

 course, must in a great measure be a guide, but we would suggest, 

 that when grown for the purpose of being dried, that it be sown in 

 beds, say twelve feet wide, with alleys six feet between, where it may 

 be dried ; this, of course, would be a loss of one-third of the land for 

 the first crop, but it would be little or no loss of crop in the second, 

 for the millet would spread so as to fill up all the six feet of alley. 



FODDER CORN. 



Q. I believe, Mr. Crozier, you hold that one of the most valuable 

 crops for soiling purposes is fodder corn. Please state what is your 

 mode of culture and experience with this crop ? 



A. In my hands fodder corn has been such a successful crop that it 

 seems useless for me to attempt to grow anything else of the same 

 nature. I consider it to be above all others the most valuable for 

 soiling purpdses, on account of the great length of time we can 

 feed it in its green state, from July until frost, and at the very time 

 when in most cases grass and all other green feed is withered and dried. 

 As this, in my estimation, is a crop of such vast importance, I will give 

 in detail my method of culture, which is as follows : I have found that 

 to obtain the best results with this crop the land should be plowed in the 

 fall and left to the action of the frost all winter. About the middle of 

 April I harrow and strike out furrows three and one-half feet apart. 

 This is done with a home-made implement called a " furrow marker," 

 which has two triangular teeth, and makes two furrows at once, six 

 inches deep and ten wide, thus making a greater width of row than 

 could possibly be done with the plow. (See illustration.) Manure 

 is dropped in the furrows at the rate of twenty wagon loads of good 

 compost to the acre. If manure cannot be had, the best artificial 

 fertilizer that can be procured should be used instead, at the rate of 



