168 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK i. 



months, and that their health is injured ; but this will never be the 

 case where stalls are so constructed as to admit a regular circulation 

 of air, and yet afford shelter from the attacks of flies. The cattle may 

 also be allowed the freedom of an open yard ; indeed, in that season, 

 fold-yards, with open sheds, are by many preferred to stalls. This is 

 the practice in Yorkshire, where the management of stock is well under- 

 stood ; and there is no scientific grazier who is not a strong advocate 

 for perfect ventilation even during the inclemency of winter. Plenty of 

 good and wholesome air is indispensably necessary to the preservation 

 of the health and the speedy fattening of animals. 



When grass (whether natural or artificial) is to be given, it should be 

 cut in the morning for the evening food, and in the afternoon for the 

 morning. The afternoon crop should be carried to the barn, or some 

 other convenient place, and spread out in order to evaporate its super- 

 fluous moisture ; and in rainy weather both crops should be taken off the 

 ground. Attention, however, should be paid to the due proportion to 

 be cut; and, until this is ascertained, it is a good plan to measure each 

 mess, and to chalk down the quantity in weight, which the basket, cart- 

 body, or other vehicle employed for carrying food, contains. This 

 practice will, at least, have a tendency to teach farm-servants to observe 

 method, the value of which is of considerable importance in all business, 

 and in none more so than in the various subjects that are connected 

 with husbandry. In the early part of the season, either when tares and 

 clover are inadequate to the support of the stock, or when it may be 

 thought expedient to change the stock gradually from dry to green 

 food, a portion of these grasses may be mixed with the hay or other 

 provender on which the cattle are fed ; and if the mixture is made 

 up over-night, the dry provender will be found to have acquired a sweet 

 and pleasant odour, and to be rendered so moist and palatable as to be 

 readity eaten. 



In concluding our remarks on the subject of summer soiling of cattle, 

 we would caution our readers on one or two points connected with it. 

 Like all other departments of practical farming, its success depends 

 upon, and is greatly modified by, circumstances of locality, soil, and 

 climate ; so that a system which may be well adapted for one place will 

 not be so for another. It would, for example, be in vain to expect good, 

 or at least economical results, from the adoption of the system in hilly 

 districts, where the pastures are not only poor, but uncertain in growth, 

 and the climate is variable and ungenial. In such localities the best that 

 can be made of the land is to graze it, the farmer using his judgment 

 as to the kind and quality of stock best adapted for the pasturage. 



Soiling, to be successful, must have fine rich land for the raising of that 

 succession of crops which is the very foundation of the system : and this 

 land must be perpetually kept in good heart. So that another element 

 of success is good farming. Climate has also a great deal to do with 

 the system, and the most favourable is that not so much characterised 

 by high temperature alone as by an association of warm sunshine with 

 light and refreshing showers. This aids most effectually the cultivation 

 of the succulent plants and grasses demanded by the system. Where 



