SOILING AND PASTURE. 325 
Double System Best—But this would hardly be 
the most profitable way to use either the cow or the 
alfalfa. A partial system of soiling in connection 
with a good pasture is the better way. Thus if the 
cows were put daily in the stable, or fed in racks, 
with 20 to 25 lbs. of green alfalfa and then given 
access to a good pasture of almost any sort of nutri- 
tious grass the results would be much better. For 
making beef I found that when racks are placed in 
the bluegrass pasture and are filled daily or once 
in two or three days with green alfalfa, the cattle 
made splendid growth. When in addition a small 
amount of corn was fed them they made probably 
the most rapid and cheapest gains possible. 
Early Cutting Hurtful—Alfalfa makes early 
growth for soiling, but it is bad for the plants to be 
mown off too early. In England where alfalfa is 
chiefly used as a soiling crop for horses the alfalfa 
is much weakened where it is cut too early, along the 
top of the field where cutting begins. On Wood- 
land Farm, where alfalfa has often been cut for soil- 
ing sheep, it has been observed that where the cut- 
ting was premature the alfalfa soon became unpro- 
ductive and weeds and grasses came in. 
If therefore it is desired that the field endure 
for a number of years it is well to wait till near the 
time of bloom before beginning to cut, even for soil- 
ing. Or it may be felt to be cheaper to sacrifice a 
little of the field in order to take advantage of the 
first available growth. In this case the strip mown 
