382 CFEBAI.S. 



waste, we leave to every farmer in the State to tell, com- 

 paring the amount, he himself has lost. 



There is a numerous class of small farmers and tenants 

 in the State, comprising a majority of the citizen, who do 

 not have the land on which to raise hay. From the pecu- 

 liar circumstances of their annual lease they cannot sow 

 clover or set a meadow, and yet these men have their horses, 

 cows, and possibly sheep that must be fed as regularly as 

 the animals of the landlord. 



Nothing is easier than for these men, instead of belling 

 their stock and letting them browse on a precarious range, 

 to provide an abundance of the very best hay for them 

 This is done by sowing one, two or more acres in corn, ac- 

 cording to their necessities. Should they desire to do so, 

 they can raise two crops in the year, provided they will 

 sow as soon as the frost is out of the ground. It only re- 

 quires about ninety days for corn fodder to mature, and it 

 can be cut some sooner. There are several ways of seeding 

 down, and either one must be adapted to the ground to be 

 sown. After the ground is prepared by breaking, harrow- 

 ing and rolling, the seed may, on very rich ground, be sown 

 broad-cast, one bushel of seed to the acre. Another plan 

 is to lay off the ground one way and drill in the rows, they 

 being not more than eighteen inches or two feet apart. It 

 should be plowed about twice, and then cut, when the 

 grain that will form on some of the stalks gets in the roast- 

 ing ear state. Another plan, if the farmer owns a corn' 

 drill, is to drill the corn on freshly prepared land about six 

 inches apart. It will soon come up, and prevent, by its 

 shade, the growth of weeds or grass. Cut when in the 

 tassel. 



A crop of 40 or 50 tons of green forage is not uncommon 

 on an acre of land, and one farmer writes that he, by a fair 

 calculation, in a drilled piece got 72 tons. Of course from 

 its exceedingly succulent character, both of leaves and 

 stems, it loses greatly, but on fair ground not less than 



