110 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



managed; provision is also made against the failure of pastures. It obviates one of the 

 most expensive features of ordinary farming by the saving of fences, and prevents the 

 seeding of weeds. It also saves land that may profitably be used for other purposes than 

 pasturing, in those sections where land is valuable and expensive, since, with the same degree 

 of fertility, considerably less than one-half the area of land will be required to yield an equal 

 amount of forage crops to that which is fed from the grazing system. The cattle are 

 protected and kept more comfortable in this way, and are prevented from tramping and 

 wasting more fodder than they will ea.t. It more than doubles the amount of stock that 

 may be kept on a given area of land, while there is a vast increase in the amount of manure 

 that may be saved by this means, and which would be mostly lost by pasturage. 



It requires some additional labor, but it is claimed by the advocates of the soiling 

 system generally that the benefits derived are so much greater than from pasturing, that they 

 more than compensate for the extra labor and care attending it. 



Objections to the System. The objections to the system of soiling that have been 

 urged by its opponents are, that it requires considerable additional labor, close attention, and 

 careful management. That during the hot weather, unless particular pains are taken to keep 

 the stables clean, there will be a tendency to produce unsanitary conditions, not only among 

 the cattle, but also in the dwellings that may be adjacent, the air becoming vitiated; that it 

 is also more difficult to keep the milk sweet and free from taints. 



In many parts of the country there is an abundance of pasture, while the owners of 

 farins have at the same time all the land under cultivation that they can properly care for, 

 and under such circumstances the adoption of the soiling system would render a portion of 

 the land entirely useless. Besides, its adoption would bring the extra care and labor 

 attending it into the season which, to the farmer, is the most busy of the whole year. 



Soiling and Pasturing Compared. The following experiment was made not long 

 since by Mr. E. Brown, of Mankle, Scotland, a farmer of extensive operations, who was 

 desirous of testing the comparative merits of soiling and pasturing cattle, the results of which, 

 as will be seen, are considerably in favor of soiling. 



In the spring he took forty-eight Aberdeenshire bullocks which had been wintered in 

 his farm-yard, and separated them fairly into two equal lots, one of which he put to grass, 

 while the other was soiled. The latter were fed on Swedish turnips until the clover was 

 ready for cutting, and then the clover was given sparingly for a week, in order to avoid 

 danger from over-eating, after which a full supply was allowed. The animals thrived 

 exceedingly well until the grass got hard and withered. About the last of July, the clover 

 having ripened, vetches were substituted, which were continued until the second crop of clover 

 was ready for cutting. Ten of the soiled lots were sold in August, and the remainder of 

 the two lots in September. 



The results are thus stated: The forty-eight cattle cost in purchase and wintering, 

 503 2s. The best ten of the soiled lot sold at 17 5s. each; the remainder of the two lots 

 sold at 14 5s. each; the soiled lot thus bringing 377, and the grazed lot 342, a difference 

 of 35 in favor of the soiled cattle. It required one and three-quarters acres of Swedish 

 turnips, eight acres of clover, and three acres of vetches, to furnish the food consumed by 

 the twenty-four soiled cattle. 



Mr. H. Stewart gives his opinion of the soiling system, the result of practical experience, 

 as follows: 



The supposed large cost of soiling is the principal objection to the practice with most 

 persons. It is useless to claim that it is not more costly than pasturing, so far as labor 

 is concerned ; but at the same time when well managed it is certainly more profitable. There 

 are times and places in which it is more profitable to grow small crops with a small 



