No. 5. 



Soiling, or House-feedivg. 



141 



had nine hundred stooks of excellent oats, 

 and an acre of flax. 



O. P. occupied six acres of land. Two 

 acres and two roods w ere in potatoes, one 

 acre in turnips, and he produced about thirty 

 barrels of oats. He house-fed three cows, 

 three calves, and an ass; he made three fir- 

 kins of butter; he had two pigs; he had to 

 support a family of eleven persons; and yet 

 he had twenty barrels of potatoes to sell. 



Q. R. held four acres, one rood, and twen- 

 ty perches of land. He had two acres of 

 potatoes in arable land, and three roods in 

 reclaimed bog, of which he had reclaimed 

 two acres; he had one acre of turnips; he 

 had ten barrels of oats to sell ; he had made 

 three firkins of butter during the summer; 

 he had house-fed two cows and two heifers. 

 He had thirteen in a family to support, and 

 he expected to sell ten barrels of potatoes; 

 had already sold three pigs at a profit, after 

 paying their cost, of £5. 



S. T. held five acres of land. He had 

 two acres of potatoes, three roods of turnips, 

 twenty perches of flax. He had house-fed 

 three cows and a genet. He had made 

 three firkins of butter, and had twenty-four 

 barrels of oats and fifteen barrels of potatoes 

 to sell. 



I do not deem it necessary to multiply 

 these examples, although more are within 

 my reach. I need not point out the conclu- 

 sions to which they lead. Two things, how- 

 ever, deserve particular attention. The first 

 is, that none of the product of the land is 

 lost or wasted. The second, which reveals 

 the whole secret of success, is in the large 

 quantity of manure which is obtained upon 

 this system. It is confidently stated that, 

 where everything is well managed and saved, 

 a single cow will furnish ample manure, in 

 the course of the year, to be applied to an 

 acre of ground. I do not recollect that, in 

 any of the cases which I visited, any pro- 

 vision was made for saving the liquid ma- 

 nure in a tank, so as to be applied by sprink- 

 ling to the land. This, if properly done, as 

 may be seen from Mr. Dickenson's example, 

 would have greatly increased the resources 

 of these small farmers. 



How far the system is applicable in other 

 cases, every farmer must determine from the 

 circumstances in which he is placed. I have 

 no hesitation in saying that there is no farm- 

 er who keeps live stock, to whom the subject 

 is not worthy of attention. Perhaps there 

 is no farmer with whom it may not very ad- 

 vantageously be to a degree applicable. The 

 moving spring of every farmer's success is 

 his manure heap; and how the manure heap 

 is to be created and enlarged every one 

 knows- 



The great matter to be considered is, how 

 to obtain a supply of succulent food through- 

 out the whole year. With us in the United 

 States, the plant of Indian corn, for a part 

 of the season, cut green, and as early as it 

 will bear cutting, furnishes the richest and 

 most abundant of all provision. It may be 

 sown broadcast or in drills, and so as to fur- 

 nish a succession of feed until the frost 

 comes. This advantage cannot be had here 



The Italian rye grass is an admirable 

 plant for this purpose. In addition to this, 

 there is a species of rye, called St. John's 

 day rye, lately introduced hero, which grows 

 luxuriantly, and comes into a state fit to be 

 repeatedly cut very early. I saw this plant 

 cultivated on Mr. Pusey's estate, and there 

 brought into most advantageous contrast 

 with the common rye, which was sown in 

 the same field. 



For house-feeding, likewise, lucerne is 

 sometimes cultivated, although not so ex- 

 tensively in England as I had expected to 

 have found it. This requires to be sown on 

 rich soil; broadcast, if the land is clean; but 

 in narrow drills, so as to admit of being 

 hoed, if it is likely to be infested with 

 weeds, which, in truth, constitute a princi- 

 pal obstacle to its cultivation. It is believed 

 there is no more nutritious food to be found 

 for cattle and horses, and none from which 

 so large a product can be obtained from an 

 acre, save only Indian corn, in a favourable 

 climate and soil. It is stated confidently, 

 but perhaps extravagantly, that an acre of 

 good lucerne will keep four or five horses 

 from May to October, when cut just as the 

 flower opens. It requires a dry, rich, loamy 

 soil. The climate of Scotland is said to be 

 too cold for it ; but I have known very good 

 crops of it produced in the neighbourhood of 

 Boston, New England. Clover — the com- 

 mon red clover — furnishes an excellent arti- 

 cle for soiling, scarcely inferior to any thing 

 which can be found ; but its cultivation is 

 too familiar for me to enlarge upon it. 



The article mainly depended on in Eng- 

 land for soiling, especially for horses, is 

 vetches or tares. These furnish a very 

 large amount of feed, and there is at least 

 one kind which may be cut more than once 

 in a season. Of the vetches which are cul- 

 tivated for the purpose of soiling in England 

 there are two kinds ; one, which will bear 

 to be sown in the autumn ; the other, which 

 is sown in the spring, to afl^brd late summer 

 or autumn feed. As well as I could learn, 

 there is no observable difference in them, 

 but that one will endure the winter, and 

 consequently will afford early spring feed, 

 and the other kind will not endure the win- 

 ter; and the general impression is, that 



