CATTLE SOILING AND ENSILAGE. 815 



to offset this, the advocates of the system say that no man can 

 make more than a living, in any business, by his own labor, and 

 the men who make the most are those who best understand how 

 to wisely employ the labor of others. 



The cost of soiling may be considered under two heads 

 direct and indirect. By the first is meant the labor of cutting 

 and taking to the animals the food consumed. This will vary 

 under different circumstances the number of cattle to be fed, 

 distance that food must be drawn, etc. A small number will 

 cost more per head than a larger number. 



Mr. Peer, who has soiled for several years, says : " There 

 is no excuse for its costing over two cents per day for each 

 head." Mr. H. Stewart says : " Soiling is a little more labo- 

 rious than pasturing, but each dollar spent in extra labor is re- 

 placed ten times over by the saving of feed, land, and manure. 

 I have found labor very much cheaper than feed." Again he 

 says : " All the feeding, cleaning, and attendance of twenty- 

 six head of stock, viz : fifteen cows, seven heifers, one bull, and 

 three horses, was done by a boy fourteen years old, and he had 

 considerable time to spend in the field." Mr. E. W. Stewart, in 

 " Feeding Animals," gives his own experience with thirty-five 

 head, averaging 1,000 pounds each. They were fed from May 

 20th to December 1st. An accurate account of the labor was 

 kept, and it required six hours per day of one man and two 

 hours of one horse. The grass was cut with a light mowing- 

 machine, hitched behind a one-horse cart, and two cart-loads 

 were fed per day. One hundred loads of manure was made, 

 which was regarded as full compensation for all the labor. 



Where soiling crops, such as rye, oats, fodder, corn, etc., are 

 grown, there will be some extra labor in preparing and seeding 

 the land, but this will be repaid by the increased quantity of 

 food grown. The difficulty of providing against wet weather is 

 serious in bad seasons, but in many cases a storm can be antici- 

 pated and an extra supply of food secured, and occasionally the 

 stock must be fed for a day or two on dry food and a little 

 bran or meal added to the hay ration. 



Another objection is the difficulty of providing a succession 



