112 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



prepare ; but it will take no more time to do this in the barn than to do similar work in the 

 field. I think perhaps that those who know something of this kind of work, and how much 

 time will be required, will readily believe, with a little help perhaps in the field, that a smart 

 boy, who has nothing else to do, may feed and keep clean forty cows, kept in this manner. 

 It is true that on a compact farm of sixty acres there will be less time lost in going back and 

 forth from the stables to the fields than on a larger farm; but allowances of this kind are 

 easily made. 



In my own case, the practice of soiling has grown out of peculiar circumstances, and to 

 give a minute statement would be misleading, and not nearly so favorable to the practice as 

 it should be. My farm has been to a large extent an experimental one. Much land, fertil 

 izers, and labor have been given for the purpose of experiments. Different kinds of cows 

 have been kept for comparison, various feeds have been used, various implements have been 

 tested; experiments in dairying and its effects have been made; but so far as the main 

 business, the production of milk, butter, and some market crops is concerned, I am free to 

 say that without the money made in that way I could not very well have paid my way in 

 my other work. Generally, however, the results of my work are sufficiently clear and cer 

 tain to show to me, and I think to other practical persons, that the labor involved in the 

 practice of soiling is by no means so large as is generally supposed, and that in certain cases 

 it may be made very profitable.&quot; 



In adopting the soiling system, or any other method of practice, the farmer should first 

 take into consideration tlie circumstances and conditions by which he is surrounded, the 

 advantages to be gained, and difficulties to be met. While some farmers might make it 

 very profitable, others might not; therefore a careful deliberation should first be given the 

 subject, and the special circumstances and surroundings be fully considered. It is always a 

 good plan to make such a change gradually, carefully testing the merits of the system before 

 fully adopting it. 



Soiling will frequently prove very advantageous to the farmer in connection with matur 

 ing stock, since it provides for a supply of food against the time of drouth and when the 

 pastures begin to fail. The amount of forage to be cultivated to supplement the pasturage 

 would not be proportionally large in such cases, and would almost invariably abundantly 

 repay the labor attending it. 



Crops for Soiling. The principal crops used in soiling are clover, Indian corn, rye, 

 and various other grains, grasses of different varieties, branching sorghum, and amber cane, 

 millet, lucerne or alfalfa, common clover, alsike clover, the cow pea, and roots of various 

 kinds, such as beets, turnips, carrots, etc. Broom corn has also been utilized with profit in 

 this manner, after the brush has been cut off. As the seed is not allowed to ripen before the 

 brush is harvested, the stalks are still tender and juicy, and if cut at once make quite nutri 

 tious forage. The stalks should be passed through a corn stalk cutter and mixed with a 

 little bran, meal, or shorts before being fed. Sorghum and amber cane are preferred by many 

 to sweet corn, since they produce nearly the same weight as the latter and are more 

 nutritious. 



The forage crop most extensively used in soiling is perhaps corn. It is not of course 

 the most nutritious food, but the amount produced is so very large that the quantity fully 

 makes up whatever deficiency there may be in quality. Nearly all the varieties of corn are 

 used for this purpose, the sweet corn cultivated in gardens being generally preferred. It is 

 more nutritious than the common field cultivated varieties, and the entire stalk much sweeter. 

 The large gourd seed varieties of the common kind produce a much larger stalk when in 

 tassel than the smaller varieties, but it is more coarse in fibre, and not as nutritious as the 

 latter. 



Some farmers who practice soiling are quite partial to the flint and smaller dent varieties. 



