JUNE 42 
THE BUBAL WEW-Y6BKEB. 
cuttings while green. For the present emer¬ 
gency the very useful early crops, as oats and 
peas, either together or alone, need not be 
considered. We are in a dilemma just now 
and must have something special that may 
extricate us from it. Corn is the best resource 
in this case; an early, rapid-growing kind for 
early use, and a large late-growing kind for 
fall and winter feeding. It is a great advan¬ 
tage that corn can be grown excellently by the 
use of fertilizers when manure is scarce. A 
piece of land, I care not how poor, may be 
plowed and prepared by good harrowing, and 
planted with corn of the following kinds:— 
Early Concord, Narragauset, Pratt's Early, 
Stowell’s Evergreen and Mammoth Sweet, for 
summer aud early fall cuttings; and Blount’s 
Prolific, Chester County Mammoth, Southern 
Dent, King Phillip, or any other large-grow¬ 
ing varieties for late fall and winter use. It 
does not matter that the variety is one that 
when grown in the usual manner, has very 
large and woody stalks; this can be changed 
by close plauting, and the corn, confined 
laterally, seems to desire to free itself from 
bondage by escaping upwards and grows to a 
great hlght, yielding stalks 18 or 14 feet long 
and but lor 1J inch thick at the butts. The 
sweet varieties do not grow so tall, but I have 
grown the first three kinds with stalks 8 feet 
high, in rows 30 inches apart, yielding at the 
rate of over 400 pounds to the square rod, and 
having a considerable quantity of ears upon 
them. The larger kinds will make more than 
this when fully grown, if the soil is richly fer¬ 
tilized. Six hundred pounds per acre of con¬ 
centrated special corn manure are sufficient to 
produce this yield. 
The seed may be sown by hand in furrows 
made with a small plow, single grains being 
dropped about two inches apart, or three 
grains at every six inches. The fertilizer 
should be broadcasted and harrowed in before 
planting. The larger kinds may be planted in 
the same way, but in rows 36 inches apart. 
These distances are ample; if greater, the 
stalks may be too thick for the best use when 
cured for winter feeding. But let no one be 
misled into sowing fodder corn broadcast. 
The frequent cultivation of the crop, so long 
as a horse can pass in the rows, is necessary 
for the proper maturing of the nutritive qual¬ 
ities of the fodder. If this is not done the crop 
will be oue-half lighter iu weight and deficient 
in feeding value. The plauting should be 
done in consecutive strips. Oue day's plant¬ 
ing may consist of a quarter of an acre or 
more, according to the quantity of stock to be 
fed—a few rows of the Concord or Narragan- 
set, followed by the others in consecutive 
order. The next week another plot may be 
planted in the same way ; or sufficient for two 
weeks' feeding may be planted in each plot in 
one week, bo that the whole planting may be 
made and finished in the week. 
The next useful crop will be Hungarian 
grass, which may be sown on the first cleared 
corn grouud. On good soil this will yield 
seven or ten tons of green fodder, or two and a- 
half to tour tons of dry hay, to the acre. This 
grass may be sown as late as the 1st of August 
and make a good crop. Half a bushel of seed 
per acre is sown broadcast and harrowed in 
with a light harrow. 
For winter use there is nothing so good as 
roots, and of all the roots, mangels are the 
best, and of all the mangels, the Yellow Globe 
stands first. This may be sown up to the 15th 
of June and yet make a good yield. Six pounds 
of seed per acre are sown in rows 30 inches 
apart, a liberal dressing of artificial manure, 
300 to 300 pounds each of blood guano and 
superphosphate of lime per acre, for instance, 
being sown broadcast and harrowed in. Man¬ 
gels, like all the beet tribe, are soda-loving 
plautB, aud 300 to 400 pounds of refuse Balt per 
acre will tell a plain and satisfactory story at 
the harvesting. A quarter of an acre of Yel¬ 
low Globe mangels will give one cow one 
bushel a day for six months, with a moderate 
crop ; a good crop will double this yield. 
Another fodder crop that is not often grown 
or used in this way is rye, sown on rye or oat 
stubble ; or sown among corn at the last work¬ 
ing. This makes a good growth by October, and 
will furnish either cut fodder or late pasture, 
and in some cases early pasture again, in the 
spring. This is a very valuable resource, and 
it deserves the good opinion of farmers and 
dairymen who keep their farms fully stocked, 
as indeed all should do. I have sown five 
bushclB of seed per acre, as a thick growth is 
desirable; but three and a half or four bushels 
will give a close stand. 
Of the newer fodder plants that have been 
highly recommended for soiling or feeding 
green, I can say very little that is satisfactory. 
The much praised so-called Pearl millet—the 
Southern “ Cat-tail" millet—»l have found by no 
means equal to sweet or other corn. I am now 
trying “ Dour a,” a variety of sorghum vulgare, 
and have reason to hope much from this plant. 
I find It highly recommended in the report of 
the East Indian Government’s experimental 
farm at Madras as a green fodder crop under 
the uative uamo of “ Cholum," aud the com¬ 
mon name of "Great millet.” It has there 
CYNODON DACTYLON.—FfG. 304. 
[LBSPEDEZA STRIATA. —FIG.J305. 
yielded at the rate of 70,000 pounds per acre 
up to 90,000 in one cutting only, with high 
culture; while "Pearl millet” (known as 
“ Cumboo ” or Spiked millet) is said to be in¬ 
ferior to Doura both in yield and in feeding 
value. It would be very unsafe and unwise to 
attempt to grow a doubtful plant in an emer¬ 
gency, when a failure would be disastrous: but 
it would certainly be a good thing to try a 
small plot of Doura the present year, so as to 
learn some thing of its value for a soiling crop 
for future use. h. s. 
- . - -»+■♦ ■ ■ 
COEN FODDER. 
PROFESSOR W. 1 . BEAL. 
( Bermuda, wire or scutch grass— Cynodon 
dactylon. This comes from Europe and is a 
perennial, thriving from Pennsylvania south¬ 
ward. The stems are * 1 low, diffusely-branched 
and extensively creeping with short flat 
leaves.” In the Southern States it has long 
been known as a favorite grass for pasture. 
The excessive drought of May has been so 
disastrous to the growth of grass, that even if 
we should have abundant rain through this 
month, there will not be over one-third to one- 
half a crop of hay cut this season. The drought 
has also shortened the growth of the straw of 
rye, wheat, and oats ; there will consequently 
be a much lessened bulk of this to fall back 
upon to use instead of hay, of which straw is 
a tolerable substitute, if meal and bran be 
added to feed with it. This great drought has 
likewise prevented a considerable quantity of 
the seed sown for roots from yet coming up, 
and the growth of beets and mangels will be 
much lessened. If we have suitable weather 
in July and August, good crops of rnta-bagas 
and flat turnips may. be grown, but these are 
only a partial feed, and in the aggregate, will 
do little for the general support of Btock during 
winter. Corn-stalks now must be our chief 
reliance for the loss of summer pasture and 
of hay for winter. 
With due attention this sort of fodder can be 
fairly grown even in a dry time. Plant the 
corn three inches deep in a good loam and 
four Inches in a very light soil; roll well or 
spat down hard over the kernels with the back 
of the hoe, and the seed will be pretty certain 
to vegetate, as so much of soil pressed firmly 
upon it will keep it moderately cool and moist. 
As soon as it comes up, keep the ground con¬ 
stantly stirred and the corn will grow. But 
after so long a spring drought, the probability 
is we shall get an abundance of summer rain, 
and if so, a good growth of corn stalks can be 
obtained, planted even as late as the middle of 
July. 
We suggest planting in drills, and having 
the rows three feet apart, so that the horse 
cultivator can work freely among them, which 
is essential to stimulate a good growth. The 
stalks shoot up so much more freely with the 
rows at this distance, that about as large a 
crop can be obtained as if they stood closer, 
and by admitting plenty of sun and air, they 
are of a superior quality. 
Of the kinds of corn to be grown for fodder, 
the sweet varieties are the best by all means, 
in consequence of the stalks being more nutri¬ 
tious, sweeter and tenderer than the common 
kind. There are various sorts of these—dwarf, 
intermediate and mammoth. The stalks of 
the first grow from 4| to five feet high; the 
second 51 to six feet; the third seven to eight 
feet in ordinary soil ; but in quite a rich soil 
still higher. 
For economy of feed, and we may also add 
for profit derived from the crop, we prefer the 
dwarf sorts ; and certainly would not go be 
yond the intermediate, such as Stowell's Ever¬ 
green Sweet corn. But of the latter, we found 
that our cattle would not eat the butts of the 
stalks within two feet of the ends, while both 
horses and cattle eagerly devoured the whole of 
the dwarf stalks. Now, admitting the latter 
to cut only 4£ feet in length, and the former 
six feet, in consequence of the refusal of the 
animals to eat the difference of length of the 
butts, just as much fodder is got from the 
dwarf-grown as from the intermediate. People 
generally do not think of this, but we have 
carefully experimented on it for years past. 
Aside from this, other things are to be con¬ 
sidered in favor of the dwarf sorts. They do 
not exhaust the soil so much in their growth as 
the larger ones, and they are so much more 
easily handled after cutting that the labor of 
doing this is considerably lessened. They are 
also more quickly dried, and can be more safe¬ 
ly stored away. There is, too, very little dan¬ 
ger of their molding when put away. VVe 
have repeatedly put this sort of corn stalks 
into the mangers of our horses and cattle in 
the winter, alongside of the best of hay and 
they would invariably eat all the former up 
clean before touching the latter. Corn-stalks 
can be grown aA cost of $3 to $5 per ton. In 
many sections hay will probably be worth 
next winter from $30 to $40, according to 
locality. 
-- 
FORAGE GRASSES. 
