Milch Cows and Dairy Farming / Comprising the Breeds, Breeding, and Management, in Health and Disease, of Dairy and Other Stock, the Selection of Milch Cows, with a Full Explanation of Guenon's Method; The Culture of Forage Plants, and the Production of Milk, Butter, and Cheese: Embodying the Most Recent Improvements, and Adapted to Farming in the United States and British Provinces. With a Treatise upon the Dairy Husbandry of Holland; To Which Is Added Horsfall's System of Dairy Management

by Charles Louis Flint

Rye

, as a fodder plant, is chiefly valuable for its early growth in spring. It is usually sown in September or October, from the middle to the end of September being, perhaps, the most desirable time, on land previously cultivated and in good condition. If designed to ripen only, a bushel of seed is required to the acre, evenly sown; but, if intended for early fodder in spring, two or two and a half bushels per acre of seed should be used. On warm land the rye can be cut green the last of April or first of May; and care should be taken to cut early, as, if allowed to advance too far towards maturity, the stalk becomes hard and unpalatable to cows.