Introduction to Second Edition, xiii 



seldom appreciated, and rarely made use of. I 

 believe that if it required an investment of a thou- 

 sand dollars in patent machinery, the soiling system 

 would long ago have been adopted on thousands of 

 fafms, where to-day it is not practised at all, or only 

 done by halves. People appreciate everything by 

 what it costs. 



Soiling costs absolutely nothing by way of new 

 machinery or buildings, other than can be found on 

 any well-equipped farm. I repeat that ensilage — 

 winter soiling — has produced quite a revolution in 

 agriculture, but summer soiling is as much more 

 desirable and beneficial than winter soiling or en- 

 silage as ensilage is better and more economical 

 than hay and dried cornstalks. 



Another hindrance in America to the adoption of 

 soiling is that our farms, as a rule, are too large, 

 and the rather mistaken notion that if a person can 

 make money on a hundred acres, he can make seven 

 times as much on seven hundred acres. The farm- 

 ers and dairymen with small farms will be more 

 easily convinced of the practicability of soiling than 

 the owners of large farms. Nevertheless, soiling is 

 coming. I have watched its advancement with 

 great interest, although it has not yet become a fash- 

 ionable question for discussion at Farmers' Insti- 

 tutes; and although the experimental stations have 

 hardly touched upon it, there are unmistakable 

 signs that farmers of the Eastern States are ready 

 for it. Last year I had the pleasure of attending 

 quite a number of Farmers' Institutes in different 



