CROPPING AND FEEDING SYSTEMS 



837 



yield for these crops on the farm in question, the relative acreage of each 

 can then be approximately determined. 



Plenty of pasture may reduce the requirements for hay. Where corn 

 does well, it is generally cheaper to feed than oats. A horse or mule without 

 pasture generally requires about 3 tons of hay or its equivalent annually. 

 He needs approximately 70 bushels of corn or 100 bushels of oats. Some of 

 each is better than either alone. 



Cows usually require about 1 to 13^ tons of grain, 1 ton of hay and 4 

 tons of silage per year. If silage is not available, about 2^ tons of hay per 

 cow is needed. 



Seven sheep require about as much feed as one cow. Hens eat about 

 twice as much in proportion to their weight as other farm animals; 100 

 hens are equivalent to a 1000-pound cow and are- considered an animal unit. 



Buildings on a Dairy Farm. 1 



Changing Cropping System. — The development of the livestock 

 enterprises on the farm will often necessitate changing the cropping system 

 to meet the feed requirements. This will often require increasing the area 

 of crops that produce the roughage. Such a change may be effected by 

 substituting forage crops for cash crops or by increasing the length of the 

 rotation. For example, the amount of hay produced could be very mate- 

 rially increased by increasing the ordinary four-crop rotation of equal areas 

 of corn, oats, wheat and hay to a five-years' rotation of the same crops in 

 which hay would remain for two years. This would increase the proportion 

 of total cropped land in hay from one-fourth to two-fifths. 



Two Rotations on the Same Farm. — The best development of the 

 cropping system often calls for two rotations. This will be determined 

 chiefly by the nature of the crops grown and the sequence that gives best 



1 Courtesy of Hoard's Dairyman. 



