THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



275 



SOILING. 



With respect to the soiling of cattle, it is the 

 case with some farmers that their calves are 

 never turned into the field until they are a year 

 old, and that many cattle may be said to be 

 wholly reared in the stall. The fat stock, which 

 are sent to the Smithfield cattle show, and much 

 of what is designed for the market, are kept al- 

 together in the stalls or in loose boxes, as they 

 are here termed. 



In regard to milch cows in the country, they 

 are commonly depastured ; but in the large dairy 

 establishment of London and its vicinity they 

 are wholly soiled. After being once placed in 

 the stalls, they are never untied, excepting in 

 some cases where they are loosened for the pur- 

 pose of being watered, until their milk ceases 

 to be sufficient to meet the expense of their 

 keeping. They are then fattened and sold to 

 the butcher. The feed is cut and daily brought 

 to them in a green state, sometimes from a con- 

 siderable distance. In such a city, cows, if kept 

 at all, must be kept in the house ; and during 

 the season when green feed is attainable, it is 

 of course obtained, for its advantages in increas- 

 ing the milk. 



Two great advantages of soiling cattle are, 

 first, the increase of manure ; and second, the 

 keeping of more cattle on the same land. 



The increase of manure from soiling is very 

 far beyond what would be supposed by any one 

 not experienced. Where proper provision is made 

 for this purpose, all the manure of the animals 

 is saved, instead of being left and scattered either 

 on the roadside, or in the fields, to be dried up 

 by the sun, or washed away by the rain ; and 

 it is at hand to be applied as the farmer shall 

 choose. It gives him an opportunity of con- 

 verting all his long litter and the straw of his 

 farm into the most valuable of manure, by using 

 it as an absorbent for a large amount of the 

 liquid portions of the excrements of his cattle. 

 It affords him likewise the power, by properly 

 constructed gutters and tanks, of saving his 

 liquid manure — the best portion, if well managed, 

 and, according to the estimation of many emi- 

 nent farmers, compared with the solid portions 

 of the manure, in point of value, full two to 

 one. 



The next great advantage of soiling is the 

 increased stock which may be kept upon the 

 same land. From the various facts which have 

 come under my observation, where the soil is 

 carefully and judiciously cultivated, and duly 

 manured, and a proper rotation observed, I be- 

 lieve that on land under artificial grass or escu- 

 lent crops, three animals may be soiled where 

 one only is now grazed. I believe this may be 

 done with equal or superior advantage to the 

 health and thrift of the animals, and that, in 

 most cases, the increase of valuable manure ob- 



tained in this way will much more than pay for 

 any extraordinary trouble of attendance. 



Another advantage is in the saving of inte- 

 rior fences upon a farm. Where cattle are kept 

 constantly in barns or yards, the necessity of 

 enclosures is of course done away ; and, sepa- 

 rate from the saving of expense in the case, the 

 convenience of cultivating in long lines and open 

 fields, the saving of land, and the superior neat- 

 ness of the cultivation, are great and obvious 

 advantages. 



The trouble of cutting and carrying the fodder 

 for a large stock presents to many persons an 

 insuperable objection to soiling. This, however, 

 must depend on local circumstances, which every 

 farmer must take into consideration for himself. 

 Without doubt, in some cases it might be such 

 as to render the experiment ineligible. The dif- 

 ficulty of finding a supply of green feed suffi- 

 ciently early in the spring, is likewise made an 

 objection. This may be an objection in many 

 localities ; but in England proper, where an 

 ample supply of Swedish turnips, carrots, and 

 mangel-wurtzel are grown, and where winter 

 vetches, rye, Italian rye grass, and lucerne, af- 

 ford an early cutting, this objection does not ap- 

 ply. It has been objected that cows soiled will 

 not give so much milk as when grazed ; on the 

 other hand, the testimony of some individuals, 

 with whom I have become acquainted, estab- 

 lishes the contrary. At Teddeslej', in Stafford- 

 shire, where a large stock is soiled, the opinion 

 is that the cows do not give so much milk as 

 when grazed. At Glasnevin, Ireland, the opi- 

 nion of the intelligent superintendent of that es- 

 tablishment is that their production of milk un- 

 der the soiling system is much greater than when 

 grazed. In a trial lately reported upon the com- 

 parative advantages of feeding cows with malt 

 or barley and other articles of food, it was found 

 that, upon being taken from the fields to the 

 stalls, the milk of these cows was considerably 

 increased. It is difficult to make a comparison 

 in the case upon which the matter may be con- 

 fidently determined. The quality of milk must, 

 to a degree, depend upon the nature, and its 

 quantity upon the supply, of the food which the 

 animal receives. Some animals naturally and 

 constitutionally, from peculiarities or circum- 

 stances which have never yet been explained, 

 secrete milk of a much richer quality than 

 others. The Alderney or Guernsey cows are 

 remarkable examples of this kind, their miik 

 being much richer lhan that of any other breed 

 of cows known. Yet that the quality of the 

 milk is not wholly constitutional, but depends, 

 to a considerable degree, upon the nature of the 

 food on which the cow is fed, is well established. 

 Its quantity, of course, depends upon the supply 

 of food which the animal receives. It seems to 

 be determined by experiments, which have been 

 made here that, of all food, grass fed green will 



