350 DRY LAND FARMING 



winter and spring varieties, wheat, barley, oats, peas 

 and vetches. 



Grown alone for hay. The chief of these crops 

 grown alone for hay are rye, wheat, barley and oats. 

 The beards of the speltz lower its value greatly for hay, 

 and the recumbent growth of peas and vetches increases 

 much the labor of harvesting when these crops are 

 grown alone. Although rye may be grown under climatic 

 and soil conditions so rigid as to prevent the successful 

 growth of other grains, its woody character gives it a 

 much lower place as a hay plant than would otherwise 

 be assigned to it. Wheat makes excellent hay for horses 

 but the value of the grain renders it too costly to feed 

 thus in a large way. Barley is in high favor in many 

 areas, especially in those of the far west and southwest. 

 For such use the beardless varieties are the most popular. 

 Oats are grown to furnish food for cows more than for 

 other uses. 



Grown in combination for hay. The combinations 

 that will prove the most suitable will vary with the soil 

 and climatic conditions. The favorite combinations are: 

 (1) oats and peas; (2) barley and peas, and (3) barley 

 and the common vetch. When thus grown in proper 

 combination, the peas and vetches are sustained so that 

 they may be harvested with a grain binder should this 

 be desired. Oats and peas, barley and peas, and barley 

 and vetches furnish most excellent hay for milch cows. 

 Nearly mature and fed with alfalfa hay, the ration would 

 be complete in itself. In areas where the precipitation 

 falls chiefly in the winter, hay furnished by the sand vetch 

 and winter wheat or winter rye may yet become popular. 



Soils. It would not be possible to state with exact 

 precision the soils that will best meet the needs of these 

 combinations, but, since bulk is an important considera- 

 tion when growing hay, the aim should be to grow them 



