46 



^^ MILCH KINE. 



the farm at the present time, merely, but to pursue such 

 a system of cultivation that the soil shall, after each 

 successive crop, be left in better condition than before. 

 Under the old method of making butter from the milk 

 and feeding the skimmed milk to swine, there was far 

 less danger of a gradual deterioration of the soil than 

 by the system now under consideration ; for, during the 

 growth and fattening of the swine, a large if not an 

 adequate amount of manure would be made ready for 

 application to the land. In Great Britain and on the 

 Continent of Europe, there are large tracts of land that 

 have been ijnder constant cultivation for hundreds of 

 years, and yet, at this very time, the capacity of the 

 soil for production is greater than at any former period. 

 This is brought about by feeding largely of the products 

 of the farm, in hay, roots and grain, to cattle, sheep and 

 swine fattened for the market, thus making their 

 manure more valuable ; and also by no inconsiderable 

 annual outlay for the purchase of various fertilizers 

 brought from abroad. Mr. Holbrook, of Brattleboro, 

 one of the best cultivators of the soil in Vermont, thinks 

 the farmer cannot afford to sell any considerable amount 

 of the grain raised on the farm ; but that in a succession 

 of years, he w^ill realize the greatest profit by feeding 

 most of his grain crop to his stock, thereby increasing 

 the fertility of the soil by their more enriching manure, 

 depending mainly for his cash returns upon the meat 

 sold in the market. Mr. John Johnston, of Geneva, 

 New York, finds that he cannot keep his land in a 

 sufficiently fertile condition for profitable production of 

 wheat unless he buys largely of oil-meal to feed to his 

 stock, chieOy for the purpose of making more active 



