24 THE DAIRY OF THE FARM. 



farms to milch cows also. They may yield on good land, 

 well cultivated, in 2 or even 3 cuttings, if the season be 

 favourable, 10, 6, and 4 tons respectively per acre ; or from 

 12 to 18 tons per acre during the season. If the cattle 

 are foddered, as in small dairies they may be, these and 

 other green foods must be supplied at the rate of fully one 

 cwt. each cow daily. They are available from June or 

 July till October. (4.) Vetches sown in October, and 

 again in April, May and June, may be made to provide a 

 succession of food all through the summer, commencing in 

 May. They yield one cutting, which may furnish from 6 

 to 10 tons of green food per acre ; a very succulent food if 

 given before its flowers appear ; and the better, therefore, for 

 being cut 12 or 24 hours before use, in order to wither and 

 harden somewhat. They may be given with good effect, 

 cut up along with straw or chaff. (5.) Eye cut green is 

 one of the earliest of spring foods ; sown shortly after 

 midsummer it is available early in April, yielding perhaps 4 

 or 5 tons per acre of green food, and more as the crop 

 approaches maturity, when of course it becomes less useful 

 as food. (6.) Italian Eye-grass is one of the best forage 

 plants for cows when cultivated liberally. If manured 

 abundantly after each cutting, especially if the dressing 

 can be washed in by irrigation, another cutting, weighing 

 10 or even 15 tons per acre, will be ready in a few weeks. 

 And as many as five heavy cuttings have been obtained 

 from it in the season on sewage farms. When sufficiently 

 ripened, it is the best possible cut food that can be given 

 to cows, inducing an abundant yield of excellent milk. 

 (7.) Lucerne, on deep, rich, and sheltered soil will also 

 yield a succession of cuttings of excellent food for cows, 

 weighing, if the intervals between the rows be forked and 



