II02 The Quality of Farm and Garden Seeds, [feb.. 



horizontally, and that each cock is trimmed free from, all loose 

 straw. If much of the heap is composed of straw standing 

 vertically the cock will tend to split open and so enable rain 

 to pass right through. Peas and oats need different treatment 

 in the making from other kinds of hay, in order to secure the 

 best results. Such hay is not easily spoiled by bad weather 

 in the early stages of making, but, as in the case of all other 

 kinds, if long exposed to rain after the sap has gone from the 

 stems, it will be seriously injured. It should be allowed to 

 cure in the cocks for a considerable time, and it may be advisable 

 to put two cocks into one to complete the curing process. 

 Meadow hay may be improved by heating mildly in the stack, 

 but pea and oat hay should not heat at all. It should be 

 completely cured before being stacked, and it is of the greatest 

 importance that it should be quite free from rain-water, other- 

 wise the peas will become mouldy. The stacks must be 

 thatched as soon as possible, as the open nature of the hay 

 readily admits rain into the interior, and much harm to the 

 produce may result. 



Feeding:. — Pea and oat hay is very nutritious, containing 

 the materials that would have gone to form the highly nutritious 

 seeds of the crop if ripening had been permitted, and in practice 

 it is found to be a better food than meadow hay. It should not 

 be expected, however, that such hay will eliminate the need for 

 the feeding of concentrated foods. Pea and oat hay may be 

 chaffed and used to improve inferior fodder, or it may be fed 

 uncut ; but animals which have been accustomed to feed on cut 

 chaff and rootsJ'wiU, at first, leave a quantity of the rougher 

 part of the oat straw. From 7 to 14 lb. may be fed per day. 

 The hay is excellent for feeding with large quantities of roots, 

 as it counteracts the tendency to scour caused by the excessive 

 feeding of succulent fodder. 



Yields. — When suitable varieties are grown heavy yields are 

 obtained. On average soils the yield should be about 3 tons 

 per acre, while even poor soils should give 2 tons per acre. 



The following tables and notes embody the results of tests 

 made at the Official Seed Testing Station from ist August, 

 1 91 9, to about the middle of January, 1920. 

 The anality of pubhcation of these results should 



Farm and Garden . • t . . .1 i_ 1.1 



Seeds serve to mdicate to growers the probable 



quality of the seed available for sowing 

 this season. In the tables the average figures for the previous 

 year are given for purposes of comparison : — 



