Dry Farming In Colorado 
35 
to injure livestock to which it is fed. This is especially true of 
horses. When cut at the proper time, just as the seed is reaching 
the milk, it makes a palatable, nutritious hay. The hay can be cut 
and allowed to partly cure in the swath, raked and cocked for com¬ 
plete curing. As soon as thoroly cured, it should be stacked to 
prevent loss. 
STOCK MELONS 
Another source of possible late fall and early winter succu¬ 
lent feed is stock melons. Stock melons look very much like 
watermelons, but have a very much thicker rind. Experiments at 
Eads and Cheyenne Wells show that stock will eat these melons 
with relish. They make an excellent sod crop and if weeds are 
kept down will do well on old lands. They are best adapted to 
the hotter portions of the eastern and southeastern parts of the 
State. The land should be well prepared, and if sod land, the sod 
should be rolled flat immediately behind the plow. The melons 
should be planted in hills at least 10 feet apart each way. On sod 
land they need very little cultivation. On old lands they will need 
sufficient cultivation to keep the weed crop down. 
The keeping quality of the melons is good, if kept from freez¬ 
ing. Thus they may be fed out in the fall as desired, if properly 
protected from being frozen, by straw or other covering. 
THE GRAINS FOR HAY 
A large use is already being made of many of the grains for 
both hay and pasture. Winter wheat and rye each make fairly 
good late fall and summer pasture. These two grains are the only 
ones at all well adapted for pasture purposes, but they are very 
well adapted for dry-land annual pastures. In the cooler regions, 
and in the northern and northwestern parts of the Colorado plains, 
rye is probably preferable. In the warmer portions, winter wheat 
will be preferable. Wheat, oats, beardless barleys, rye and em- 
mer will each make a good quality of hay if harvested when the 
the seed is in the milk or soft dough stage. Often these crops will 
make profitable hay yields, the season taken into consideration, 
when the grain which is produced upon them would not be worth 
harvesting. 
When grown for hay, these crops are planted and cared for 
as they would be for grain. For pasture purposes, winter wheat 
and rye should be seeded in July; for hay purposes, the latter part 
of September is preferable, where the crop is to be harvested the 
following year. Barley and emmer can be seeded in March if 
conditions are such that the land can be worked. Oats should not 
