58 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 
Both these systems are attempts to furnish green feed 
without turning the animals out to pasture. These systems 
are most used and have reached their highest develop- 
ment in connection with dairying. The advantages are that 
the quantity and kind of material fed can be controlled, 
that there is less waste than in pasturing, that crops can 
be utilized which would be impracticable for pasture, and 
that stock are saved the work of traveling about in search 
of food. Silage still further has the advantage of continu- 
ing the supply of green feed through the winter. 
75. Soiling—The practice of soiling is well adapted 
to intensive farming. When the price of land is high it is 
usually more economical to raise large crops of forage on 
well-fertilized fields and feed green than to have pasture, 
since the latter can not produce so great a quantity of 
feed. On the other hand the labor required for soiling is 
much greater. The vost of labor compared with the price 
of the products as milk or beef, determines the system to 
use. By proper care in selecting crops, a continuous yield 
of green forage may be obtained through a large portion 
of the growing season. 
Many crops are used for soiling, but in the main they 
are annuals and often succulent plants. They include the 
grains, the succulent grasses, such as corn, or sorghum, 
and the annual legumes mentioned before (Par. 63). Peren- 
nial grasses and clovers may also be used, but the advan- 
tage is less, as they do not give so large a yield as do 
annuals. Teosinte and pearl millet are used locally with 
success, the former giving, on the rich moist valley lands 
of Louisiana, enormous yields of forage. 
76. Silage.—In this process the green forage is placed 
in an air-tight receptacle called a silo. This may consist 
of a pit or room in a barn, or more commonly a separate, 
