58 A TEXT-BOOK OF GRASSES 



Both these systems are attempts to furnish green feed 

 without turning the animals out to pasture. These systems 

 are most used and have reached their highest develop- 

 ment in connection with dairying. The advantages are that 

 the quantity and kind of material fed can be controlled, 

 that there is less waste than in pasturing, that crops can 

 be utilized which would be impracticable for pasture, and 

 that stock are saved the work of traveling about in search 

 of food. Silage still further has the advantage of continu- 

 ing the supply of green feed through the winter. 



75. Soiling. — The practice of soiling is well adapted 

 to intensive farming. When the price of land is high it is 

 usually more economical to raise large crops of forage on 

 well-fertilized fields and feed green than to have pasture, 

 since the latter can not produce so great a quantity of 

 feed. On the other hand the labor required for soiling is 

 much greater. The cost of labor compared with the price 

 of the products as milk or beef, determines the system to 

 use. By proper care in selecting crops, a continuous yield 

 of green forage may be obtained through a large portion 

 of the growing season. 



Many crops are used for soiling, but in the main they 

 are annuals and often succulent plants. They include the 

 grains, the succulent grasses, such as corn, or sorghum, 

 and the annual legumes mentioned before (Par. 63). Peren- 

 nial grasses and clovers may also be used, but the advan- 

 tage is less, as they do not give so large a yield as do 

 annuals. Teosinte and pearl millet are used locally with 

 success, the former giving, on the rich moist valley lands 

 of Louisiana, enormous yields of forage. 



76. Silage. — In this process the green forage is placed 

 in an air-tight receptacle called a silo. This may consist 

 of a pit or room in a barn, or more commonly a separate, 



