FARM ANIMALS 165 



plants raised on the land devoted to this purpose 

 are cut before becoming mature and are fed im- 

 mediately in a perfectly fresh condition to the 

 cows. The material is thus presented to them 

 in the most succulent and palatable form in which 

 it can be obtained and this, as is well known, has 

 a great deal to do in determining the effectiveness 

 of foods in the production of milk. In all locali- 

 ties where alfalfa can. be cultivated successfully 

 this should constitute part of the soiling system. 

 Alfalfa may be cut from three to five times annu- 

 ally and the area devoted to this crop may be al- 

 lowed to remain in alfalfa for eight or ten years 

 while neighboring plots may be plowed frequently 

 as required and planted to other crops to con- 

 tinue a proper system of rotation. In Wisconsin, 

 excellent results in soiling have been obtained in 

 the use of fall rye, alfalfa, red clover, oats, peas, 

 flint corn, sorghum, sweet corn and other forage 

 plants. 



Pasture is a term which means various things, 

 according to the system of dairy farming prac- 

 ticed by the individual dairyman. It may mean 

 the familiar old fields allowed to remain in native 

 grasses year after year without any attempt at 

 improvement by way of cultivation or in intro- 

 ducing other and better forage plants. On the 

 other hand, pasture may mean the most succu- 

 lent and nutritious crops of alfalfa, cowpeas, 

 clovers, vetches, oats, Canada field peas, wheat, 

 rye, corn and other crops used particularly in in- 

 creasing the milk yield. Obviously the amount 

 of forage produced by native grasses without any 

 assistance from man is exceedingly small. If the 

 price of land is high it is bad economy to allow 

 the soil to remain in that condition, since from 



