100 



the time the flowers appear until it is damaged in the fall by frost) 

 and its great adaptability to varying soils and climatic conditions 

 make it one of the most valuable. Because of its high protein con- 

 tent it is excellent to feed with materials that are lacking in protein, 

 but rich in carbohydrates. Cattle like it fairly well. 



VETCHES. 



Common vetches are an excellent soiling crop. They are parti- 

 cularly adapted to sandy soil. When sown in the early spring, they 

 will give an abundance of fairly succulent feed about the end of 

 July or August. They are as nutritious as clover and are relished 

 by cattle even more. 



WHITE CLOVER. 



White clover is never sown alone but always in mixtures 

 intended for pasture and, when pastured, it gives a thick growth of 

 leaves till late in the fall. It does very well on heavy soils. 



ENSILAGE CROPS. 



CORN, SUNFLOWER, AND HORSE BEAN SILAGE. 



This mixture, commonly known as * The Robertson Mixture/ 

 gave good results on the Central Experimental Farm, where it was 

 first tried. As to yield per acre, quality and quantity of digestible 

 matter contained in the whole, it has proved especially suited for 

 feeding dairy cows. There are, however, some strong doubts as 

 to the practicability of harvesting these crops when grown together. 

 Horse beans are rather weak plants with short stems as compared 

 to corn and, when grown together, it is very difficult to cut both 

 clean with the binder. In the case of sunflowers, only the heads 

 are of any feeding value, the stems are coarse, woody and hollow, 

 and almost indigestible, which renders them objectionable in silage 

 making. It is considered better, therefore, to grow these crops 

 separately. 



This combination of corn, horse beans and sunflowers gives a 

 forage which approaches very nearly the balanced ration, supplying 

 carbohydrates, proteins and fats in effective proportions. The mix- 

 ture, however, has not proven very popular anywhere, on account of 

 difficulties met with in growing the sunflower and horse b*ean. 



