36 



lets, the Japanese and the golden millets are probably the best. 

 These may be grown for hay, but make a rather coarse fodder. 

 They should be grown on rich soil, and be seeded at the rate of 

 not less than ^ bushel per acre. When grown thickly and cut be- 

 fore the heads are fully formed, the millets will make a fairly good 

 grade of hay. Most dairymen, however, find them more valuable 

 for green fodder than for hay. Even when used for green fodder, 

 thick seeding and early cutting are desirable, in order to avoid the 

 stems becoming woody, so that stock does not eat the fodder 

 readily. 



Soy Beans. 



Soy bean fodder is a crop which has been strongly recommended 

 for growing in New England, and it is worthy of careful trial. 

 The writer has had fifteen years experience with this crop in 

 Connecticut, and has seldom had a failure. In years when corn 

 can be grown to maturity, this crop will usually ripen its seed. If 

 wanted for its seed, it should, of course, be sown early, not later than 

 June 15 ; but for feeding green or for silage it may be sown as late 

 as July 10. As this is a bean-like plant, it should be sown in drills 

 and cultivated, aud never be sown broadcast unless wanted for green 

 manuring. One bushel of seed per acre has been found to be a 

 good rate of seeding when growing the crop for fodder. The seed 

 may be planted in any of the common corn planters, or drills may 

 be opened with a marker, and the seed be sown by hand and be 

 covered with a plow or a wing-toothed cultivator. The crop may 

 be harvested for silage, or be fed green. When used for silage 

 it should be placed in the silo in layers with corn. Two loads of 

 corn to one load of the soy beans makes a good mixture. Soy 

 bean silage, when preserved alone and fed separately, has been 

 known to cause a disagreeable flavor in milk and butter ; but when 

 the mixture of two-thirds corn and one-third soy beans has been 

 fed in the form of silage, no bad results have been noticed. Soy 

 bean fodder may be fed green for three to four weeks in Septem- 

 ber, pi'oviding frost does not injure it. No bad flavors are known 

 to occur in milk or butter from the crop when fed in the green 

 state. When used as a green fodder, the feeding should com- 

 mence as soon as the crop begins to blossom, for the stems of the 

 plants become woody soon after seed develops. 



Poor success will often be had with this crop until the soil 

 becomes inoculated with the special bacteria which produce the 

 nodules on the roots of soy beans. This inoculation may be ac- 

 complished by treating the seed with the pure cultures now offered 

 for sale by reliable dealers; by getting soil from an old soy bean 



