^^ERICAN HERD-BOOTi 



DEVOTED TO 

 AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND RURAL AND DOMESTIC AFFAIRS. 



Perfect Agriculture is the true foundation of all trade and industry.— Liebio. 



Vol. XI.— No. 3.] 



10th mo. (October) 15th, 181G. 



[Whole No. 141. 



rOBLISHED MONTHLY, 



BY J O S I A H T A T U M, 



EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR, 



No. 50 North Fourth Street, 

 PHILADELPHIA. 



Price onedoUarper year. — Forconditionsseelastpage 



Soiling, or House Feeding. 



The practice of soiling stock prevails to 

 some, but not within my observation, to a 

 great extent, in England. The soiling of 

 stc k, implies the keeping of them in sta- 

 bles or yards all the season, and bringing to 

 them green feed, when it is to be obtained, 

 cut fresh from the fields. I have not been 

 able to get that exact information on the 

 subject which I should have desired ; and 

 perhaps it would be vain to look for it. 



Work horses are almost universally soiled 

 in England upon clover, rye grass, rye, 

 vetches or tares, or rye and vetches sown 

 together. These are sown expressly for 

 this purpose. The horses are frequently 

 kept upon them without any additional feed; 

 but when on the road, or when the farm 

 work is severe, they require grain of some 

 sort in addition. 



Sheep, as I liave before said, which are in 

 a course of preparation for the market, and 

 sometimes store sheep, especially those 



Car.— Vol. XL— No. 3. 



which have lambs by their side, that are 

 designed for market, are folded, and the 

 tares cut green and convoyed to them, 

 which may be considered as soiling. A 

 large stock on Lord Hatherton's admirably 

 managed farm at Teddesley Park, in Staf- 

 fordshire, are soiled; and their good condi- 

 tion evinced the excellent care which was 

 taken of them. In many cases, in small 

 holdings, I have found the system pursued 

 with great success. On Lord Gosford's es- 

 tates in Ireland, under the judicious and ex- 

 cellent care of Mr. Blacker, who has the 

 superintendence, as he informed me, of se- 

 veral hundreds of tenants — such are the 

 subdivisions of estates in that country, — I 

 found that among many of these small ten- 

 ants he had introduced the practice of soil- 

 ing their 'cows. Several, whom I visited, 

 were keeping in good health, and with great 

 advantage, three or four cows, where form- 

 erly they kept but one, and that one in a 

 ihalf-starved condition. It is said that in 

 Ireland a cow is sometimes recommended 

 'for her capacity of getting her own living 

 ;by leaping hedge and ditch, and foraging 

 'kny where at Iier pleasure. Under a sys- 

 'tem of soiling, that branch of her education 

 |might well be dispensed with, much to the 

 advantage of the peace of the neighbour- 

 jhood.* 



! * It is not so far as Ireland that we need go to find 

 cows notorious for these qualifications. Within less 

 than a hundred miles of where we write, we have 



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