SOILING. 325 



of animals are to be kept, a stable should be on each side of the 

 floor, so that a one-horse cart may be used to bring the summer 

 food. By this arrangement, there is little more labor in feeding 

 fifty, than twenty-five animals in the ordinary way. Then water 

 should be convenient. A tank in the yard near the stable; 

 more convenient still, pipes arranged for pumping the water in 

 front of the animals, so that a man, or power, at the pump, may 

 water any number of animals at once. Some barns are so 

 arranged that the manure is dropped, by a trap door through the 

 floor, into a cellar. This is an economy of labor, and also a great 

 saving in manure, as it is kept from all exposure to sun, wind. 

 and rain. 



"Let us, in conclusion, epitomize the soiling system. There 

 are three incidental sources from which the extra labor is more 

 than compensated. 



"1st. The extra product of milk, butter, and beef, will pay 

 the labor. 



"2d. The manure, being all saved, will more than pay the 

 labor. 



"3d. The saving in fences, as we have seen, is a great item, 

 and will more than pay the labor. 



"And lastly, the saving in land, when turned to full account, 

 will enable the stock feeder to double the net income of his farm. 

 That this is a moderate calculation, we have only to look at 

 some of the small German States, where eight cows are fre- 

 quently kept upon ten acres. There, fences are unknown — all 

 animals are soiled, and necessity has compelled economy of 

 land ; thus we see the result. American farmers are ever seeking 

 for more land — too seldom for greater products. The small 

 farmers will find their interest in using the land they have, before 

 striving for more, which they do not well cultivate. Tillable 

 land, worth even twenty-five dollars per acre, cannot be profit- 

 ably pastured. Let the small farmers, at least, try soiling. If 



