Partial Soiling. 77 



acre farm produce what generally requires 400 or 

 500 acres, you can satisfy yourself with the old say- 

 ing, " He laughs best who laughs last." 



I do not mean to advise you to go into the system 

 with a rush. Go into it gradually. There are little 

 things that will come up the first year or two that 

 may discourage you, something you did not think 

 of. 1 shall try to give you my experience and prac- 

 tice, and if you keep near the line, I am sure you 

 will succeed. But when you do try, put your cattle 

 in the barn and feed them there. Put them in day- 

 times and turn them into a small pasture or enclosure 

 nights ; and whatever you do, do not begrudge a lit- 

 tle extra labor. You cannot get something for noth- 

 ing, but you can get more from soiling for the money 

 expended than anything I know or ever heard of in 

 connection with farming. 



OBJECTIONS TO PARTIAL SOILING. 



One master cow will occupy a whole rack. After 

 she has mussed it over and breathed on it for a time, 

 others will only eat it when compelled to from hun- 

 ger. Feeding in the field is little better. The cat- 

 tle drive and hook one another about, and grab a 

 mouthful here and another there, and eat it in fear, 

 when they should have it by themselves in quiet. 

 They tramp upon it, foul it, tramp up the meadow, 

 destroying the grass and tramping in weed seeds to 

 pester you for years to come. One cow sees an- 

 other ten rods away eating something that looks like 



