SOILING AND PASTURE. 327 
should be large, so that they will hold at least a 
day’s supply of forage, and they may just as well 
hold enough for two or more days. They ought to 
be on runners so that they can be readily moved by 
attaching a team of horses. Thus the racks need 
not stand in any one spot long enough to kill the 
grass there. And wherever they stand the grass will 
be wonderfully thickened and improved. 
Cows will give more milk and make it cheaper to 
have the run of a grass field in connection with al- 
falfa soiling than when they are soiled on alfalfa 
in the stable. There is also a great economy of labor 
in this practice since there is no manure to handle, 
and if the racks are moved often the spread of fer- 
tility over the grass field will wonderfully improve 
the pasturage. 
In cutting alfalfa for soiling one ought always 
after the first cutting to be governed by the growth 
of the buds or shoots at the base of the stems as al- 
ready directed. Thus the vigor of the plants will 
not be disturbed and the yield will continue un- 
diminished for several years. 
In the San Joaquin Valley, of California, are 
many very great alfalfa ranches and farms. I have 
seen there large dairies fed on green alfalfa and on 
alfalfa silage, it being found better to ensilo the al- 
falfa in order to soften the prickly beards of the 
wild grasses infesting the fields. The more common 
practice throughout the San Joaquin Valley, how- 
ever, is to pasture the alfalfa in summer and feed 
