150 Animal Husbandry 
season. It means that crops and areas must be so arranged that 
one green crop will succeed another during the entire season. 
There are many advantages of soiling, such as increased food pro- 
duction from a given area, providing three times that of pasturage ; 
less waste, as the cattle are not constantly tramping and lying 
on the forage; greater variety of food, as the succession of crops 
provides many changes; increased milk and butter production 
when prices are high, as in the fall; less discomfort of- animals, 
as they are fed in the cool stables; and less fencing required. 
One great objection is the increased labor; such as preparing 
the soil for the crops, seeding every few days, cutting the crop 
of green material and hauling to stables, — the food being green 
and heavy, — and the extra labor of carrying for the cattle in the 
stable. 
247. Winter feeding of dairy cattle. — Winter feeding is the 
most expensive, and the profit to be derived will depend, in a 
large part, upon the economy of the winter ration. This does 
not mean that the cow should be fed sparingly ; on the other hand, 
the good dairy cow should be fed abundantly with a variety of 
nutritious feeds. A good dairy cow should make economical use 
of seven to ten pounds of grain per day, and fifteen to twenty 
pounds of dry forage, or better still, thirty to forty pounds of 
succulent food, and five to ten pounds of dry forage or hay, the 
exact amounts to be varied to meet conditions. 
248. Concentrated feeds. The more common grains fed to 
dairy cattle are the cereals — corn, oats, wheat, barley, and rye 
— and the mill refuse, of which there is an almost endless variety 
upon the market. The amount of grain that can be fed with 
profit to a dairy cow will depend on the price of the food, the 
yield of the cow, and the price obtained for her products. Some 
have suggested the feeding of as many pounds of grain per day as 
_ the cow produces pounds of butter-fat per week. In determining 
the amount and kind of grain, it is necessary to take into account 
the forage that is to go with it. For example, in many dairies 
