British Dairy Farming. 
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them. In this way they stand for two or three months, 
and are readily consumed by cattle, horses and sheep ; but a 
greater amount of nourishment is lost if the sheaves remain 
longer than if they had been placed in a silo. M. Crevat, who 
is a great disciple of this system, says that maize provides the 
chief item of food for his stock during nine months of the year. 
He gives it green from July to October, dry from October to 
January, and in the form of silage from April to July. The 
general cost of cultivation in France is sometimes 135. to 14*. 
per ton, from planting to putting in the silo, but considerably less 
where the crop is consumed green. In my own case I have 
found that, exclusive of manure and rent, the cost has not exceeded 
21. per acre, this including a bushel of seed, ample hoeing, bird- 
scaring and cutting, and yet it has been taken as a second 
crop. The favourite crop preceding maize abroad is rye, but it 
is sometimes taken after winter oats and vetches, and in the 
majority of cases it is an easy matter to get off an early sown 
crop of winter vetches in time to put the maize in. 
Among many other cases which might be quoted are those 
of Mr. Stannard, of Elmstead, who grew 35 tons of 9-foot maize 
in 1881 ; Mr. Bateman, who has grown 30 tons ; and a Kentish 
gentleman, who grew three lots in the past year after a crop 
of rye, which he fed down, subsequently manuring the land 
heavily. In this case 10-inch drills produced 20 tons by 
weight, and 20-inch, llh tons; while small round maize, grown 
at 20 inches apart, produced 19^ tons by the end of August. 
At the last weighing, however, the 20-inch horse-toothed maize 
had gone far ahead of the others, yielding a marvellous crop. 
It is thus apparent that a huge bulk of splendid food can be 
obtained long before September sets in. M. Goffart, who some 
time since gave particulars of fifty farms upon which he knew 
maize to be grown, stated that the lowest crop he ever knew was 
6 tons to the acre, the highest having been 40 tons. On the 
farm of M. Cottu the last three crops on the same soil yielded 
25, 28, and 22 tons respectively, and in the same season I saw 
similar broadcasted crops at the French farm school of Pilletiere 
and at the Agricultural College of Grignon. In some districts 
it has been the practice to imitate the French, who grow pump- 
kins between the rows of maize, by the introduction of swedes ; 
but this plan is not a success, although it may be adopted as a 
precautionary measure, the swedes being utilized if the maize 
fails. 
In feeding maize to milking cattle I have found only one 
precaution necessary, i.e., the addition of a small amount of 
cotton-cake — 2 lbs. daily — to prevent looseness. The plant was 
cut once a day, laid in bundles, and in twelve hours carried to the 
VOL. XXIII.— S. S. K 
