SOILING. 173 



the waste of the pasture caused by treading, lying upon, 

 fouling, etc., are prevented. A very important saving is 

 also found in the use of all the green food that grows upon 

 the land, such as plantain, foul grasses, thistles, daisies, and 

 nearly everything denominated weeds, when cut in a suc- 

 culent state, are eaten, and are wholesome. The fine flavor 

 of the flesh of the antelope and wild game, comes from 

 aromatic herbs and what we denominate weeds. Most, if 

 not all of the troublesome wild grasses that infest our cul- 

 tivated fields are wholesome food for cattle, if cut at the 

 right time; and soiling does this and saves all. Young 

 Canada thistles and other tender thistles, are eaten by cat- 

 tle and sheep, and preferred by horses to grass. That pes- 

 tiferous weed, the white^ daisy, makes excellent food if cut 

 before blossom, and can probably be exterminated by fre- 

 quent cutting. Soiling offers a complete remedy for weeds, 

 as nearly all are killed by frequent cuttings. Judicious 

 soiling will soon make clean farms, and the weeds will pay 

 for their destruction. 



Another source of saving food, in soiling cows or other 

 cattle intended for beef, is that they are saved the exercise 

 of many hours per day in foraging over large fields in 

 search of food. This exercise is at the expenditure of 

 food, and amounts to much more than is generally sup- 

 posed. In a scanty pasture it requires constant exertion 

 for 10 to 16 hours per day for cows or steers to get food to 

 satisfy their wants. The food required to supply this 

 force is saved when- the animals get all the food they want 

 without exercise. But it must be understood that the 

 soiling system does not prevent such exercise as is neces- 

 sary for the health of animals. 



Youatt mentions in his "Complete Grazier," what all 

 who have practiced the soiling system know, that cattle 

 will eat many plants with avidity if given them in the 

 barn, which they did not eat when growing in the field. 



