DAIRY CATTLE 



457 



Of the various crops used for soiling, 

 alfalfa, crimson clover, sorghum, corn, 

 rye, red clover, cowpeas, soy beans, oats, 

 peas, millet, kafir corn, vetches, rape, 

 mixed grasses, teosinte and various other 

 plants have given good results. In Penn- 

 sylvania, it appeared that from three 

 to five times as much forage was pro- 

 duced on an acre of ground in a soiling 

 system as from pasture. These results 

 have been abundantly corroborated by 

 the practical experience of dairymen, 

 who follow a soiling system. It is de- 

 sirable to use some legume at frequent 

 intervals in order to prevent the impov- 

 erishment of the soil by continued crop- 

 ping. The green forage may be fed in 

 the stable or in yards according to con- 

 venience. The great advantage of a 

 soiling system is that the crops are 

 fed in a succulent form at a stage of 

 growth when they are also most pala- 

 table and most nutritious. Dairy cows 

 will readily eat from 40 to 60 pounds 

 of green forage a day in addition to 

 the grain ration. Some dairymen rec- 

 ommend that cows be fed the green for- 

 age four or five times daily. 



In Maryland, Doane found that while 

 cows appeared to do better on pasture 

 than on the same material fed to them 

 green in the stable, it was possible to 

 give enough better feed under a soiling 

 system to compensate for the difference 

 in favor of pasture. 



Rye is one of the most popular of 

 early crops grown for soiling. In Mary- 

 land, Doane made a comparison between 

 rye, cowpea silage, corn silage and other 

 materials. In tbis test, it appeared that 

 the value of green rye has been much 

 overestimated, and in many instances it 

 will be profitable to provide silage for use 

 during the early season when rye is 

 green. In Massachusetts, Lindsey found 

 that a mixture of wheat and winter 

 vetch makes a desirable green fodder for 

 spring. Good results were also obtained 

 from mixtures of grass and clover, oats 

 and peas, barnyard millet and peas, corn 

 and soy beans, barley and peas, etc. In 

 these tests it appeared that the chief ob- 

 jection to a system of soiling lies in 

 the time and labor consumed in the pro- 

 duction of the crops. 



It is necessary to prepare numerous 

 small areas of land at frequent inter- 

 vals and to cut and draw quantities of 

 green forage to the barn every two or 

 three days. This work consumes so 

 much time as to interfere with other 



farming operations, but this objection 

 would not hold in the case of pure dairy 

 farming, where no other line of farm 

 work is carried on. If the products of 

 the land are fed to dairy cows and the 

 manure carefully preserved and returned 

 to the land, the soil is soon brought to 

 a high state of fertility, as has been 

 shown by Doane and others. The great 

 amount of humus thus restored to the 

 soil favors the production of a large 

 growth of stalk in the crops raised and 

 thus furnishes more succulent material 

 for dairy cows. 



Lane has called attention to the fact 

 that three crops may be grown upon the 

 same ground in one season, as, for ex- 

 ample, rye, followed by a mixture of 

 oats and peas, and this mixture followed 

 by corn. If alfalfa is used for soiling 

 purposes, from three to six crops a year 

 may be cut, depending on the latitude. 



In a comparison of soiling crops with 

 silage, the cows yielded more milk on 

 green forage, but the fat percentage was 

 higher on silage. 



Carrying capacity op various crops — 

 In Pennsylvania, Watson and Mairs 

 found that 1 acre of clover and timothy 

 would carry 10 cows for 16 days; an 

 acre of flat peas, 36 days; an acre of 

 rape, 37 days; an acre of soy beans, 17 

 days; an acre of sorghum, 35 days; an 

 acre of cowpeas, 21 days; and an acre 

 of corn, 16 days. Among these various 

 crops, cowpeas seemed to be one of the 

 most effective in maintaining a large 

 milk flow. For soiling purposes, alfalfa 

 proved entirely satisfactory and pro- 

 duced the largest amount of protein to 

 the acre of any crop tested. Corn 

 ranked second in the production of for- 

 age to the acre, and mixtures of sor- 

 ghum and cowpeas, and field peas and 

 oats were very satisfactory. Rape was 

 found somewhat objectionable in these 

 tests on account of giving a bad flavor 

 to the milk and not being particularly 

 palatable to the cows. 



Extensive tests have been carried on 

 in Wisconsin to determine the value of 

 a soiling system and the relative im- 

 portance of different crops for this pur- 

 pose. As shown by Carlyle and others, 

 it is important to have a constant suc- 

 cession of crops, and the dairyman must 

 therefore devise a scheme by which he 

 can secure a constant supply of green 

 forage for his locality. 



