19-21.] 



Notes on Forage Crops. 



28 



oat crop to be harvested for thrashing, but the difficulty has 

 nlways been to prevent the crop becoming laid. The only 

 precaution possible is to keep the proportion of peas small. 

 If the mixture is to be harvested in sheaves, it is necessary 

 that the pea should ripen in advance of the oats. A mixed 

 crop of peas and oats is one of the means by which the grain 

 yield of weak soils can be raised. It is possible to grow the 

 mixture successfully on soils which will not give a profitable 

 crop of oats. The presence of peas in a crop of oats seems 

 to increase the growth of the oats, and particularly in respect 

 of the size and yield of the ear. The chief drawback to the 

 crop is the risk of its lodging as a result of the heavy load of 

 grain it carries. 



It is hoped that the new peas, with light foliage, comparar 

 tively short stem, and early ripening, will help to make this 

 mixture popular, especially on soils where the oat yield is below 

 40 bush, per acre. On. really first-class oat soils the mixture 

 would not be satisfactory. In combination with Duns oats a 

 mixture of peas and oats gives the heaviest hay crop obtainable. 



Cereals.. — All the cereals, when cut green, are good fodder 

 for all kinds of live stock, and there appears to be little to 

 choose between them; the oat, however, is considered the most 

 suitable. 



Rye is important because of its earliness, and its ability to 

 grow during the winter months, but unfortunately its period 

 of usefulness is short, as the stems become hard much more 

 rapidly than in the case of the other cereals. It is rejected 

 by live stock after seed formation has commenced. Three 

 varieties are known in England, Common Bye, Giant Rye, 

 and St. John's Day Rye. Giant rye gives the earliest and 

 heaviest crops. i\Iany other varieties exist throughout the r\e 

 growing districts of the world, but these have not yet boon 

 tested in this country. 



Barley, in its-early stages of growth, is preferred to all other 

 cereals by sheep which will pick out this plant first in grazing. 

 For feeding to cattle, however, the awns are a drawback and 

 are disliked. Barley can be sown later than oats with the 

 certainty of securing a satisfactory crop. The winter barleys 

 are most suited for the pur}")ose of fodder cropping. A recent 

 introduction is ^Fanchurian barley, which owing to its leafy 

 and rapid growth, appears to have superior possibilities a^ a 

 forage crop. 



