14 



THE CREAMERY PATRON S HANDBOOK. 



the fall or winter, followed with the harrow in the spring. The best pas- 

 tures are those that are never disturbed by the plow. The English gar- 

 dener's directions for making a lawn apply to pasture. His instructions 

 were to prepare the ground very carefully, sow the seed, and then water and 

 mow it, and water and mow it, for 400 years. 



However good the pastures may be, there are times when they must 

 be supplemented with forage crops and grain rations to maintain the dairy 

 herd in good flow of milk, and the poorer the pastures the greater the 

 necessity. The earliest of the green forage crops is rye and it affords a 

 generous supply of good feed although it comes at a time when the feed 



BELLE GRADE SHORTHORN. 

 Ten Month's Record, 339 Pounds Butter; Net Profit, $35.40. 



supply is usually quite sufficient for the time being. The use of rye in 

 the early spring makes it possible to hold in reserve a larger surplus of grass 

 for midsummer. It can be sown in the corn fields after the last plowing 

 and in most seasons it will afford a good supply of green feed after the corn 

 crop has been secured in the fall. This practice tends to eradicate weeds 

 and renovate the soil. 



First among the soiling crops for midsummer and early autumn, I 

 would place sorghum. Its hardiness, vigor of growth, abundant yield and 

 adaptation to our soil place it among the most reliable and profitable crops 



