702 CATTLE AND DAIEY FARMING. 



keep twenty cattle instead of seven, the usual number found on a farm of that size. The 

 financial results of soiling 20 acres of forage during six month are: 



Ten fattening cattle (lOS tons fodder at J'J.IS, $232; attendance, $50). $282 



Two milch cowa (86 tons fodder, $184; attendance, $40; milking, $30) — . 244 



Outlay - .- 526 



Increase on 10 cattle, $5 per head per month - 300 



Manure 50 



Milk from 10 cows, 180 days, 10 quarts at li cents 225 



Manure 40 



Forty tons fodder toother animals 86 



701 



Balance profit 175 



These figures are offered merely for the sake of comparison. They show that Professor 

 Brown obtains for rent and profit about 33 shillings per acre, the value of the land being 

 less than 15 shillings an acre. He charges against the land about 9 shillings per ton as 

 the cost of the forage or about £5 5s. per acre, the yield of the crop being less than 12 tons 

 per acre. He sells the milk at a halfpenny and an eighth per quart, and his cattle increase 

 in value about 5 shillings per week. In England all the figures must be altered to adapt 

 them to the very different circumstances, and each person who adopts the soiling system 

 must alter the figures according to his own particular circumstances. 



One of the most successful examples of soiling that I have ever seen was on rich land 

 on the south coast, near a large town and in mild climate. The value of the produce on 

 milk and butter is at least four times as great as in the example I have just offered, and 

 the yield of forage per acre is quite 50 per cent, higher. Every kind of forage whicjj is 

 usually found on fertile land, or which Mr. Brown has mentioned, grows well except san- 

 foin and prickly comfrey, which have not been attempted. Lucern, which is the besii 

 soiling crop of Canada, flourishing under a hot sun, yields more than the 16 tons an 

 acre which Mr. Brown no doubt correctly attributes to it. Cabbages, for which he only 

 claims 12 tons an acre, yield 40 tons, and though they are hardly a "forage crop," they 

 are one of the most useful and quite the most productive of the soiling crops. Another 

 advantage on the same farm, with its warm, deep soil and sheltered aspect, is the ex- 

 tension of the season. Trifolium, a prominent crop in the district, is nowhere forwarder, 

 and the permanent pastures, which are mown for soiling at any time when required, are 

 nowhere later in their growth. 



To carry out the soiling system advantageously we require green crops, and several 

 sorts of some of them, early and late, so as to extend the period of feeding, and to pre- 

 vent the occurrence of gaps in the regular provision of food. On the farm in question 

 there are four sorts of trifolium — early, late, later, latest — the last named being a recent 

 acquisition, and a timely one. There are two sorts of red clover blossoming this year 

 (1883) about June 20 and July 5, and the earlier of these is now (July) entirely saved 

 for hay, the introduction of the "later" and "latest" trifolium having extended the 

 trifolium season into the middle of July, when pastures follow, and other succulent 

 food, such as cabbages, becomes abundant. A debtor and creditor account for this farm, 

 if I could offer one, would no doubt be interesting, but it would not be so edifying as a 

 similar account for his own farm by any agriculturist who may try the soiling system. 

 It is certainly profitable on this farm, and will prove so elsewhere, in a decree varying 

 according to soil, climate, management, and the valge of the produce. The cows on 

 this farm are nearly all of the Alderney breed, and they are fed with corn, bran, and 

 cotton cake, in addition to their green food; and as the sale of butter removes from a 

 farm less of the soil constituents than any other kind of farm produce, and as hay and 

 roots, which remove in their sale more than wheat or barley, acre for acre, are rarely 

 sold, the laud grows richer year by year. It is admitted that the site is favorable for 

 soiling; but the system succeeds on very different sites — where the rent of the land is 

 twenty or twenty- five shillings per acre instead of three pounds, as in the case of the farm 

 just noticed. 



On a cold, poor hill, where Alderney cows would perish, I have known a very success- 

 ful example of the system here repommended. The forage crops were different. Lucerne 

 was replaced for sanfoin, and tares sown for succession; and "seeds," mixed clovers, 

 and rye grass were prominent. The kind of produce in this case is young beef, highly 

 fed from calfhood, and the calves reared at home at the homestead under the hill. 



There are certain great advantages attaching to this system, especially in the case of 

 all mature animals, fatting cattle, and milking cows. Young animals will be better in 



