THE SILO, SILAGE AND SOILING CROPS 8l 



experience with soiling will show the feeder the 

 great value of this practice. 



SOILING TO TAKE THE PLACE OF 

 PASTURE 



Where soiling crops are to take the place of pas- 

 ture, preparation must be made the previous year. 

 By this is meant a crop must be sown the previous 

 fall to furnish an early crop in the spring. 



Rye is better for this than any other crop. It 

 grows all winter and shoots up early in the spring 

 and is ready to be fed before the silage is well gone. 

 A small acreage of rye will furnish green food for 

 a month. By this time the clover field is ready 

 for two or four weeks' feeding. Then you can turn 

 in the feed lot, which should be five or six acres in 

 size for 30 or 40 cattle. With a little of the clover 

 hay that has just been made or some of the holdover 

 hay of last year that was provided for this purpose, 

 to be fed in connection with the pasture in the feed 

 lot, you are provided with green food until the 

 early planted corn is ready for the daily feeding. 



Nothing is lost by the practice of soiling. If 

 you have too much rye, the surplus can be cut and 

 put in the silo and fed along during the summer; 

 the surplus clover can be made into hay; the same 

 can be done with cowpeas ; and any excess of corn 

 can be put in the silo. 



ROTATION FOR SOILING CROPS 



As soon as the rye is taken off, the rye land 

 should be plowed and planted to corn and cowpeas ; 

 the early cut corn should be either seeded to cow- 



