30 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



such trouble by the mere force of natural conditions. Drain- 

 ino- and manuring can do much in reducing the miscellane- 

 ous plants to small numbers, and a constant war against 

 them should be maintained. You can increase the milk yield 

 by feeding grain to the cows in summer ; it helps out the 

 pastures and keeps the cows in better flesh. 



Soiling. 

 The advantages of soiling over pasturage are so great, 

 especially where dairying on high-grade land, that every 

 dairyman should study the question of adopting this system. 

 jMuch depends on cost of labor ; it may be profitable to 

 practise partial soiling where it will not pay to do more. 

 It has been shown that by feeding cows wholly on green 

 forage crops in the stable, from two to five times as much 

 milk can be produced from an acre as from pasturing the 

 same land. Many farms contain many acres of excellent 

 pasture land that cannot be tilled, but for tillage land the 

 profit in soiling is great. Many more cows can be kept on 

 a given area, and the productive capacity of the land may be 

 rapidly increased. There is a great saving of manure, 

 which is a great gain in soiling. For this system of feeding 

 stock a variety of green crops is necessary, grown to come 

 to best feeding conditions in well-arranged succession 

 throughout the growing season. It needs a good deal of 

 skillful management to bring on the crops at the right time 

 in })roper succession and sufficient quantity. One point 

 gained by soiling is the saving ; the food expended by the 

 animal in its exertion to procure its food at pasture ; but 

 moderate exercise should be given. The herd should be 

 turned into a small lot or yard each day, or, better, at night. 

 The feeder must study each cow. Cows diflfer in their 

 tastes and in their requirements in the way of food. Some 

 cows need more feed than others. To feed rightly re- 

 quires a lot of common-sense on the part of the feeder. 

 Ensilage fed judicially is no detriment to a gilt-edged prod- 

 uct. I shall not attempt to set forth any balanced rations 

 here, as the feed bulletins from our Agricultural Experiment 

 Station can do it much better that I can. Feed makes a 



