37 



emergency. Farmers generally will appreciate the situation of 

 one of the fraternity, who, in comment upon the desirability 

 of floating capital, said, '' I can't make the dum stuff float." 



In recent years the winter feeding season has been lengthened 

 out at both ends. Cows are brought in from the pastures earlier 

 than formerly, and it is no longer the practice of the best dairy- 

 men to turn them out while late snows are still on the ground. 

 Provision for feeding in the barn for a considerable time after cows 

 go to pasture is no^v the rule. Hay and grain are fed after the 

 cows come in from the pasture at night. Silage remaining from 

 the winter supply may be used, and early spring forage, to be fed 

 green, all s( i ve to make the transition from " hay to grass " less 

 of a shock than it used to be. Concerning forage crops for early 

 spring in our climate there is very little new to write. Winter rye 

 is a standard early crop, which may be fed between May 5 and 

 20. It is relished by cows until it begins to blossom, and does 

 not occupy the land when needed for summer tillage. It may be 

 used as a nurse crop for clover, or it is out of the way for corn 

 planting. Some judgment is needed in feeding it, or a strong 

 taste will be imparted to the milk. This taste seems to grow with 

 heavy rye feeding as the blossoming stage approaches. Winter 

 wheat and winter vetch may follow rye to the relish of cows, but 

 the uncertainty of a stand of the former and the cost of seed of 

 the latter, together with the abundance of pasture grass the latter 

 part of May, make their general use of doubtful economy. 



Clovers are also valuable feeds at this season, and should be 

 grown to their fullest possible extent, for reasons too well known 

 to require statement. If not needed at the season of their matur- 

 ity as fodders, they are equally valuable to cure for winter forage. 

 But we are discussing supplementary feeds for May and June, 

 which in pasture sections are not needed. It is unusual to meet a 

 shortage at this season, but more often the problem of disposal of 

 surplus confronts us. The season of drought commonly begins in 

 July, and its effects are most apparent between that time and 

 October. At this season drought is not unusual, but the absence 

 of a shortage in atmospheric moisture is the exception. We may 

 safely anticipate a "dry spell" about four years out of five, and, 

 even if it does not materialize, the first flush of pasturage is gone 

 by mid-summer, and pastures no longer produce as abundantly 

 as earlier. 



Every dairyman should anticipate these conditions, and be pre- 

 pared to meet them. Two general schemes may be considered by 

 farmers in this connection, namely, soiling and summer silage. 

 In a soiling scheme for late summer and early autumn, the prin- 



