TENTH REVISED EDITION SOILING SOILING CROPS & ENSILAGE-BARN, STABLE and SILO CONSTRUCTION FRANK SHERMAN PEER nia UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, State University, Lexington, Ky» EXTRACTS FROM PRESS COMMENTS ON REVISED EDITION After a careful examination we regard it as one of the most practi- cal books on dairy feeding and stable management that we have ever read. We seldom give high praise to any book on agriculture, but this book really seems to fill a distinct want.— Rural New Yorker. It is a very instructive and interesting story and we wish every farmer would get a copy and read it, for each of the 247 pages contains information that no progressive farmer can afford to do without.— Indiana Farmer. Meets a real want. The whole thing is in the highest degree practical, simple, and sure to be useful — Country Gentleman. It is written in the crisp style peculiar to Mr. Peer, and while com- prehensive in scope, it has not the tiresome qualities of many technical treatises, and the reader experiences a restful feeling while absorbing the information so quaintly put together. --Jersey Bulletin. It is pre-eminently the book of the year. The Farmer does not often commend a book with the same vigor as this, but its merits are apparent and its suggestions are served up in attractive form. It should be in the hands of every man contemplating building.— Maine Farmer. It is written in an entertaining as well as practical manner. Reads more like a romance than a treatise on farm business. It makes such a combination of the practical with the pleasurable as to quite charm the reader.— Co-Operative Farmer. No better credential could be given than to say that the book is the result of practical experience. It is throughout thoroughly readable and instructive. The whole subject is discussed in an able manner. — Live Stock Journal, England. An exceedinginstructive and practical work of unusual interest. . . . The contents will bear and repay the closest study because they are at once sound in their information and unmistakably explicit. — The Field, London, Eng Mr. Peer has succeeded in producing a very readable boo Imparts much valuable information in the same original, forcible and in- teresting style that characterizes all Mr. Peer's writings.— Rider and Driver, N. Y Mr. Peer is a practical man who has made agriculture a study, and by his original and progressive ideas has placed our farming people under great obligations. — Newark Courier, Soiling, Ensilage, and Stable Construction BEING A REVISED EDITION OF SOIL- ING, SUMMER AND WINTER ; OR, THE ECONOMY OF FEEDING FARM STOCK FRANK SHERMAN JPEER Relating the experience of the author, giving the latest and most economical methods of summer and winter feeding and management of farm stock; also the construction of stables WITH ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK : PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR MDCCCCVI REVISED EDITION Entered, according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1900 By FRANK SHERMAN PEER In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C. COPYRIGHT, 1000, BY FRANK SHERMAN PEER 1 34 DEDICATION To the farmers' sons of America this book is dedicated, with the best wishes of the author, and with the hope that within its pages they may find encouragement to pursue agriculture as a business, instead of leaving the farm for some so-called higher pursuit INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EDITION. THERE is little need of a formal introduction to the subject of soiling. Most farmers and dairymen are more or less familiar with the subject through inquiries and articles that from time to time appear in the agricultural papers. To others who may chance to peruse these pages, I may say that the work is designed to answer the following perplexing questions, i.e., How can a farmer enrich his soil in a sure and economical manner? how supply his farm stock with the most nutritious food at the least cost? how obtain a full flow of milk from his cows during the entire season independently of parched pastures? how increase the number of farm stock or the acre- age of the farm without buying more land? how may the Eastern farmers successfully compete with the immigrant farmers of the West? An attempted solution to these and kindred ques- tions will be found in the following pages. In relating my own experience in conducting this system of feeding, and the wonderful re- sults obtained, I hope my readers will not accuse me of boasting of what / have done, or of what /can do. viii Introduction to the First Edition. Nearly every farmer may practise the system with the same or even better results. Each year's ex- perience reveals many new advantages of the sys- tem. I do not pretend that my conclusions will be found infallible under all circumstances, but I hope to show how the system was applied to my own farm, that the reader may obtain a clear view of its workings, and be enabled to carry on the system with such altera- tions as the different conditions under which he is placed shall suggest. I am not farming for pleasure, although I find a good deal of pleasure in farming. I follow farming for my daily bread, and the profit there is in the business. My farm operations are not supported by a profitable business or profession in town. I mention this that my readers will clearly under- stand that although this work contains some radical departures from "General Farming," they are not to be entertained by the experiences of a "fancy farmer," a " book farmer," or a "city farmer." I have no apology for presenting this subject in book form. I humbly acknowledge that it is not written at "the earnest solicitation of numerous friends," but because I am very much interested in farming as a business or profession, and I would be pleased to see more of our intelligent young men engaged in this pursuit. As a literary writer, I make no pretensions. If this work is well received, it must be entirely on its merits as a record of the personal, practical experi- Introduction to the First Edition. ix ence of a farmer; and if the reader finds as much pleasure in perusing these pages as it has given me to write them, I shall feel that my labor has not been spent in vain, nor the reader's attention claimed for naught. MAPLE LANE FARM, EAST PALMYRA, N. Y., 1881. INTRODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION. THE first edition of. "Soiling, Summer and Win- ter "has been exhausted since 1885. I have been trying to find time ever since to go over the ground again and present the work in better form, but the convenient season has ever seemed to be to-morrow, so that between business cares on the one hand, and the thief of time on the other, weeks have stolen into months, and months into years, leaving the work unfinished. There was another reason (but I never liked to let myself admit it) . I felt that my work on soiling was a little premature, and I have been waiting for a sign that would indicate that it was wanted. I published the 1880 edition myself, because no publisher could be found who had the courage to undertake it. In the mean time, the Farmers' Insti- tutes were inaugurated throughout the country, and Experimental Stations in nearly every State are delv- ing into every possible nook and corner in a legiti- mate strife among themselves to be the first to mas- ter and give to the public the latest ideas in regard to every known subject pertaining to agriculture. So that, in a great measure, they robbed one of that Introduction to Second Edition. xi zest and force necessary to sit down to a task of writing a book on any agricultural subject. I was subjected to much ridicule for my early en- deavors to introduce soiling, which was called " book farming " and " fancy farming, " etc. And when, late in 1878, I built a silo, and came out strongly in favor of ensilage, it was thought by many to be the climax of folly, while others suggested that I " might have gone wrong in the upper story." In these days (1875 to 1880) I went about the State visiting farm- ers' clubs, and discussing soiling and ensilage. I was quite young at the time, just out of my teens, and my views — however reasonable they appeared while I was before my audience — lost much of their force, I fear, on account of my youthful appearance. However, I kept on talking soiling, in season and out, until the Farmers' Institutes were established and ensilage at least became a popular theme. Ensilage has produced quite a revolution in farm- ing, but that is only "winter soiling," and has not accomplished half of what may be done by pursuing the method all the year round, for, as I have always claimed, summer soiling has many advantages over winter soiling, as will be shown further on, so that, although ensilage has made such wonderful strides, it by no means represents the best half of the sys- tem. "Why then," it may be asked, "has ensilage pre- ceded soiling?" Principally, I believe, because it was a new and startling discovery, and required an outlay of capital to begin with. Soon after ensilage xii Introduction to Second Edition. made its appearance, manufacturers of feed cutters sent catalogues and circulars (advertising their ma- chines) broadcast over the country, agents can- vassed towns, exhibited their machines at fairs, and told exaggerated stories of the advantages to be gained by ensilaging corn fodder. They said that ensilage was a good thing, and that their particular machine was the only thing. Ensilage being a new departure, a new discovery, the agricultural papers were full of it, and later it became a popular theme for discussion at the Farmers' Institutes, where it was listened to because it was new and sensational. Soiling, on the other hand, was a question that every farmer was familiar with. Few could be found but that had practised it to the extent of cutting clover green, and feeding it to their workhorses in the barns, or had sown a patch of corn for their cows to be fed over the fence in the pasture field to help out the pasture in a dry season. In doing this they never discovered anything very wonderful, or strik- ing, or sensational, as was the case in the introduc- tion of ensilage. No one talked soiling, and altogether it had little to force itself upon the attention of the public. Soiling has been unfortunate in not being properly introduced. No one in all the country has a far- thing to gain out of the farmer by advocating the system or encouraging its adoption. I have lived long enough to discover that people will listen to good advice, and admit that it is good advice, but if they can obtain it for nothing, it is Introduction to Second Edition, xiii seldom appreciated, and rarely made use of. I believe that if it required an investment of a thou- sand dollars in patent machinery, the soiling system would long ago have been adopted on thousands of farms, where to-day it is not practised at all, or only done by halves. People appreciate everything by what it costs. Soiling costs absolutely nothing by way of new machinery or buildings, other than can be found on any well-equipped farm. I repeat that ensilage — winter soiling — has produced quite a revolution in agriculture, but summer soiling is as much more desirable and beneficial than winter soiling or en- silage as ensilage is better and more economical than hay and dried cornstalks. Another hindrance in America to the adoption of soiling is that our farms, as a rule, are too large, and the rather mistaken notion that if a person can make money on a hundred acres, he can make seven times as much on seven hundred acres. The farm- ers and dairymen with small farms will be more easily convinced of the practicability of soiling than the owners of large farms. Nevertheless, soiling is coming. I have watched its advancement with great interest, although it has not yet become a fash- ionable question for discussion at Farmers' Insti- tutes; and although the experimental stations have hardly touched upon it, there are unmistakable signs that farmers of the Eastern States are ready for it. Last year I had the pleasure of attending quite a number of Farmers' Institutes in different xiv Introduction to Second Edition. parts of the State, and I noticed there was hardly a question box opened but that contained one or more questions bearing directly on the subject. I came home from attending these meetings, and have since taken up the pen with renewed courage, and feel sure that now I shall have the pleasure of telling the good news to thousands who, a few years ago, had little or no interest in the subject. In revising this work, I have made but little al- teration in the text and main features of the first edition. I am able, however, to bring to this work more extensive experience with certain soiling crops, which at that time I knew little about. I refer to sorghum and lucern for cattle and rape for sheep. These I have enlarged upon considerably also a few new plants are mentioned, such as crimson clover, etc. In winter soiling the principal changes are in handling the crop and the construction of the silo. I believe I have given due credit to the agricul- tural press and agricultural writers whom I have freely called upon throughout the work. I have found that re-writing a book is a more difficult task than producing the original. I have been obliged to do this work at odd times while travelling by rail, stopping at uncomfortable hotels, or while making a winter's trip across the Atlantic. I feel, therefore, as the manuscript leaves my hand, that it somewhat resembles a clock that the great temperance lecturer, John B. Gough, was fond of telling about, to the effect that when its hands Introduction to Second Edition. xv pointed to twenty-five minutes past four, and it struck seven, he knew it was just one o'clock. So with this work, it matters little how the hands point or how it strikes, if you only understand that it al- ways strikes for soiling. I hope this work will prove a handbook and guide to soiling. I have dwelt quite at length upon sub- jects leading up to the work, that the fundamental principles of the system and its advantages may be firmly established. This I hold to be more essential than the methods of soiling themselves, because if the reader has a foundation that is safe and to which he can always return, although the conditions under which he may find himself may differ materially from my own, he will be able to cut a new line for himself. This work is, so far as the details are concerned, but a row of blazed trees through the forest. My effort has been, therefore, more to present the prin- ciples and advantages of the soiling system so they shall be clear, unmistakable, and undeniable, and if I shall be so fortunate as to accomplish this in the following pages and impart to my reader the will, my purpose shall have been accomplished, and his own good judgment may be depended upon to find the way. In that case he may make mistakes and meet with disappointments. He may stumble and even fall, but in getting up he will always be getting on in the right direction. Many have started soiling, but in a half-hearted way, and have given it up on account of some little xvi Introduction to Second Edition. hitch in the management. They have become dis- couraged simply because they failed to see the great benefits to be gained. Others have tried partial soiling; in this they have experienced nearly all the disadvantages and not over a quarter of the benefits. Others are convinced that it is the thing to do, but are afraid of what their neighbors will say if they should branch out in any new line. I have been through all this ; the lions in the way are not half as ferocious as they look at a distance, and although there is always a rod in pickle for any man who would be wiser than his generation, the reward is more than ample compensation for all such cuts. " He laughs best, who laughs last." SQUAWKIE HILL FARM, MX. MORRIS, N. Y., 1899. CONTENTS. PAGE DEDICATION, v INTRODUCTION TO FIRST EDITION , . . . . vii INTRODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION . x CHAPTER I. OUR SOILS. Farming on an Exhausted Soil, . . . . 2 Farming on Productive Soil, ..... 3 Farming on Government Lands 4 CHAPTER II. OUR PLANTS. How to Feed Them 8 Comparative Tables 12 Barn-yard Manure, 13 Green Manure, 17 Liquid Manure, • • . 22 Saving Manure (Plaster) , . . . . .25 Commercial Fertilizer, 25 Oil Cake and Cotton-Seed Meal 30 CHAPTER III. OUR ANIMALS. How to Feed Them Economically, . . . .33 The Cow as a Machine, 33 When Insufficiently Fed, 35 CHAPTER IV. SOILING. My First Lesson in Agriculture, . . . . .38 How I Happened to Adopt Soiling, .... 44 xviii Contents. PAGE CHAPTER V. ADVANTAGES OF SOILING. Saving of Land, ........ 49 Saving of Fences, 54 Saving of Food, . . 56 Better Condition and Greater Comfort of Farm Stock, 58 Greater Production of Beef, Milk, and Butter, . . 63 The Increased Quantity and Quality of Manure, . 68 The Increased Productiveness of the Soil, . . .69 The Increased Acreage, 69 CHAPTER VI. PARTIAL SOILING. Inconvenience of, 76 Objections to, 77 CHAPTER VII. OBJECTIONS TO SOILING. Extra Labor, 80 CHAPTER VIII. SOILING VERSUS PASTURING. Experimental Reports 85 CHAPTER IX ROTATION OF SOILING CROPS. Laying Out the Work 89 Crops for June, 90 Crops for July, . 92 Crops for August 93 Crops for September and October, . . . .93 CHAPTER X. CUTTING AND GATHERING THE CROPS. Necessary Tools, Etc 97 Delivering to Barn, ....... 98 Contents. xix Feeding .......... 9» Caution in Feeding ..... . • • 99 Manner of Feeding, ....... 100 CHAPTER XI. BARN CONSTRUCTION. General Plan, ........ i<>3 Objections to Masonry Basements ..... 105 Ventilation, ... ...... ™9 Water, - .......... *l6 Handling the Manure, ....... I21 Manure Shed, ...... . . .126 Liquid Manure, ........ I27 The Mangers, ........ I28 Cattle Ties, .... ..... I31 CHAPTER XII. STABLE MANAGEMENT. In Winter .......... 134 In Summer, . ........ 136 CHAPTER XIII. SOILING CROPS ......... • Rye, .......... 137 Wheat ........... '38 Barley, ... ....... 138 Oats and Peas ......... 139 Corn ........... 141 Sorghum, ......... 144 Sorghum Bulletin Reports ....... 146 Non-Saccharine Sorghums, ...... 148 Kaffir Corn, ...... ... 149 Millet ........... 152 Clover ........... 153 Lucern, .......... J54 xx Contents. PAGE Lucern Bulletin Reports 156 Crimson Clover, 164 Cow Peas, 168 Soja Bean, 170 Prickly Comfrey, 171 CHAPTER XIV. SOILING SHEEP. The Advantages 172 The Results, 179 CHAPTER XV. SOILING CROPS FOR SHEEP. Vetches, 181 Rape 182 Turnips, 187 CHAPTER XVI. PORTABLE FENCING. Woven Wire, 188 Wooden Panels, 188 Hurdles, 189 Feeding Racks 190 CHAPTER XVII. MANNER OF SOILING SHEEP. Laying Out the Work, ....... 191 Permanent Pasture, 294 Feeding 196 Rotation of Crops, 198 CHAPTER XVIII SOILING HORSES. Brood Mares and Colts, 200 Contents. xxi CHAPTER XIX. WINTER SOILING (ENSILAGE). PAGE History, 204 Ensilage vs. Cured Fodder, 208 Palatability, . . . » 210 Ensilage vs. Hay, 210 CHAPTER XX. THE SILO. How Large to Build, 215 Where to Build 216 How to Build, 217 General Plan of Barn and Stable, .... 222 Stacking Ensilage, 224 CHAPTER XXI. GROWING ENSILAGE. Amount of Land Required, 226 Preparing the Ground, 226 Variety of Corn 227 Harvesting, 227 Filling the Silo, ..„.„... 229 Power, . 230 Pressing 230 Time to Harvest, . . . . . . . .232 Covering, 233 CHAPTER XXII. FEEDING ENSILAGE. Amount of Ration, 235 Cost of Production, 237 CHAPTER XXIII. SOILING -us. ENSILAGE. Comparative Value, 239 xxii Contents. CHAPTER XXIV. CONCLUSION. PAGE System, „ . 241 Education, 244 Farmer's Sons, 247 SOILING, ENSILAGE, AND STABLE CONSTRUCTION. CHAPTER I. OUR SOILS. THE great problem of feeding and clothing the millions depends upon the success of agriculture. The day has gone by, in the Eastern States at least, when a man can "farm it," because he does not know enough to do anything else. There is no business or profession in which a man is obliged to have such a diversity of knowledge as in farming. Every day brings him face to face with widely dif- ferent questions. There are his cows, their man- agement, breeding, care, feeding, the disposal of their product. Likewise his sheep, horses, swine, poultry, bees. Then there are his fruit trees, dif- ferent varieties, requiring special care and attention, and special knowledge. There is, as I said before, not a trade or profession requiring such a widely di- versified knowledge as general farming. Our predecessors who, through ignorance, robbed the soil of its fertility, left us little — in these days of keen competition — but a legacy of unprofitable labor. We ought to profit by their mistakes, and find some way, if possible, to make our land more productive. i 2 Soiling. Any fool can rob the soil of its fertility, but it takes a wise man, a professional agriculturist, to win it back to productiveness. If we do not succeed in doing this, we shall leave to our children a legacy which they will spurn, instead of one they could receive with rejoicing, and that one must be capable of supplying their increasing numbers and their in- creasing wants. FARMING ON AN EXHAUSTED SOIL.* I regret to say that the history of agriculture in America is any but one to which we may point with pride. What, may I ask, has become of the many farmers throughout the New England States who once lived comfortably, if not luxuriously? Why are their farms deserted, their houses unoccupied? We have not far to look for the answer— the fertility of the soil has been exhausted, sold in the markets of New York and Boston by the pound, by the bushel, and by the ton. Their owners, failing to find their toil longer remunerative, have gone West, many of them, where I presume they have gone on systemat- ically robbing the soil, leaving to their descendants a heritage of unremitting toil. Still more lament- able is the condition of thousands of farms in Vir- ginia and other parts of the sunny South. Here, but a few years ago, lived a people who boasted of their wealth, their refinement, their culture, and their chivalry. Why are their once beautiful fields * Extract from an address delivered by the author at Albany, N. Y.T before the County Agricultural Society in 1890. Our Soils 3 now fenceless and deserted? The land remains, the climate remains, the slaves remain, but the owners are not. The fertility of the soil went before them; they baled it with their cotton, barreled it with their sugar, until naught remains but the barren soil. A few years ago the term " out West " was synon- ymous with bounty and fertility. We were told that one had but to " tickle the soil with a hoe, and it laughed a harvest." All this has changed. Their average yield per acre during the last ten years has declined twenty-five per cent. FARMING ON PRODUCTIVE SOIL. Happily, however, this state of things, with a prop- er knowledge of agriculture, is unnecessary. There is a way, not only to maintain the fertility of the soil^ but to increase it. England has been under the plo\\. for centuries, still her average yield of wheat has in, creased to over thirty-one bushels per acre, while the average yield in this country has steadily declined until it is only about thirteen bushels per acre. China, one of the oldest countries in the world hac- increased the agricultural resources of the empire to keep pace with the rapidly increasing population. It is a fact that the heathen Chinee knows bettei than we how to preserve and increase the fertility of the soil. If America would close her eastern gates to emigrants who come here to rob our soil, and let a few Chinamen farmers in at the western gate, we might learn some valuable lessons iu fann- ing. Fertility means prosperity. 4 Soiling. There is not a fertile spot on the face of the earth but that is a prosperous one and a desirable one in which to live. THE CONDITION OF FARMING AT THE PRESENT DAY. The problem that confronts the present-day farmer is how to compete with the foreigners who come to this country annually by the tens of thousands, and who, on their arrival, our Government sets up in the farming business, offering to each one hundred and sixty acres of land. The only alternative we have in competing with these Government farmers is to do one of two things. We must either get down to their level, and work as they work, our wives and children constituting our hired help on the farm and in the house, live as they live, half fed and half clothed, go without books and papers, without recre- ation for ourselves or an education for our children. That is one way, but even then we cannot hope to compete with them on farms that cost us a hundred dollars an acre, and on which we are taxed to sup- port all sorts of charitable institutions, to say noth- ing of (as in this State) building state capitols and digging canals to benefit the adopted children of our Government, while at the same time they have their farms given to them. FARMING ON GOVERNMENT LANDS. A foreigner comes to this country with money enough to pay his fare to some of the Western States. Uncle Sam gives him a farm, then he finds Our Soils. 5 plenty of men ready to take a mortgage on it for enough to enable him to purchase the necessary tools, and there you see him a full-fledged American farmer. It is, indeed, a most serious predicament in which the public land policy of our Government has placed the farmers of the Eastern States. They are not only made to sell their products at cost and less, but their lands have depreciated in value fifty to seventy-five per cent., until many farmers in the Eastern States have been driven to bankruptcy, all for the sake of keeping up that boastful, useless, wasteful practice by the Government " that Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm," and of setting up thousands of foreigners annually in the farming business until competition is so keen that there is nothing left the farmers in the older States but unremitting toil. Their sons and daughters are thereby driven from the farm, and their places are being filled by foreigners, until we are fast becom- ing reduced to the condition of the peasant farmer of the old world. Farmers they are not. They are, more properly speaking, a lot of land pirates. They have a good farm given them, and imme- diately they begin to live on its fertility like a lot of highwaymen. Have I overdrawn the picture? I wish you might say I had. If you think so, look about and see how many one hundred, one hundred and fifty, or two hundred acre farms there are in your county, where the hired man gets about all the yearly profits, while the owner, with a ten or twenty thousand dollar investment, and his wife as 6 Soiling. well, work for their board and clothes. Farmers themselves are largely to blame for this state of things. They should demand through their repre- sentatives at Washington that the Government put a stop to the giving away any more of the public domain, until there is a demand for it at $10 or $15 per acre. No other business men would put up with such an infringement. The United Workmen said prison labor must cease, because the State was setting up laborers in competition with them, which it had no right to do, and prison labor ceased. The United Workmen said to the United States Government, " Put a stop to the contract laborers coming to this country to compete with us," and the law was passed. If an immigrant is engaged to come to this country to dig a sewer, the Government at Wash- ington sends him back to the country from which he came. The same United States Government says to the same immigrant and to every other foreigner, " You come over here, and Uncle Sam will give you one hundred and sixty acres of land ; that is to say, will set you up in the farming business." " Come from any nation, Come from any way. Come along, come along, Don't be alarmed : For Uncle Sam is rich enough To give you all a farm." So goes the old song. When the country was new, this could be done without injury to any one. Our Soils. 7 But that day has long since passed. These Govern- ment farmers have increased so rapidly that agricul- ture in the Eastern States has been reduced nearly to a level with immigrant farming. This, in short, is the present condition of agricul- ture in the Eastern States. There i» left us but one alternative, either to live as the immigrant farmers live, work as they work, or to cheapen our produc- tion by making one acre produce what now comes from four or five. I offer you this solution : I bring you in this volume a ray of hope. Try soiling. CHAPTER II. OUR PLANTS. How TO FEED THEM. OUR plants, like our animals, live, feed, grow, and die. It is only by feeding them alike liberally that we can hope to make them produce bountifully. Until a person comes to consider his growing plants as if they were his growing animals, claiming his care and attention, and looking to him to supply them, largely, with the food they must consume, then, and not till then, is he in possession of the prin- ciples that constitute successful farming. At first glance it would seem that the above statement was so self-evident that there was little use of mention- ing it, but when we look about a little and notice the way that many farmers starve their growing plants, even when they do not starve their cattle, it shows that they have never looked at their growing plants in this light. What has this to do with soiling? It is the princi- pal thing, as a celebrated English general- once said in reply to the War Department, which said to him : " General, it seems to the War Department that the thing that most concerned you in India was the growing of forage for bullocks. " "Yes, sir; that's Our Plants. 9 the principal thing in carrying on a successful war- fare in India or any other country. If we have the forage, we shall have the bullocks ; if we have the bullocks, we shall be able to support the men, and if our men are well supported, we shall have no trouble to conquer the enemy." That's the whole story. If we will give our greatest concern to our growing plants, we need not worry ourselves about the rest. The animals to eat it will come along easily enough. If you see it in that light, you will find, by the adoption of the soiling system, that you are able to provide an abundance of food for your growing plants in a sure and economical way, i.e., by the greater production of barnyard manure, plowing under green crops for manure, soiling your plants as well as your animals. But before we pro- ceed to discuss the value of barnyard, liquid and green manuring as compared with commercial fer- tilizer, let us first consider the comparative value of the ordinary grain and forage crops, both as a for- age (manure) for our plants and as feed for our ani- mals. This will help to explain some important questions in regard to producing the most economi- cal plant food and clinch several strong arguments in favor of soiling. "Good farming," says Lockhardt, "consists in taking large crops from the soil, while at the same time you leave the soil in better condition for suc- ceeding crops. " This strikes me as being the best definition of what constitutes good farming I have ever seen. It is the very science of farming. I o Soiling. Good crops make good manure, good manure pro- duces good crops. The value of grain and forage crops for plant food consists in the amount of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash that they contain, while the value of forage crops and grains for animal food depends chiefly upon the amount of albuminoids, carbo- hydrates and fat they contain. Animals, in the consumption of foods, take from them but a small proportion of their value for plant food, while the plants consume little or none of the elements that the animals require. Thus, if a ton of feed, say cotton-seed meal, should be plowed under as a fertilizer, as is often done in the Southern States, it would be of no more value to the land than if it had been first fed to the stock, providing none of its value as a plant food had been allowed to waste in the manure pile. Some plants or grains are very rich or valuable as plant food, while others are richer in animal food, and again others are valuable for both purposes. The following tables will furnish the reader some curious and interesting facts, and some information which will assist him, it is hoped, in making a most economical selection. The analysis from which the values of the differ- ent foods are estimated was taken from the work of Dr. Emil Wolff of the Royal Academy of Agricul- ture, Wurtemburg, Germany. I believe these ex- tended tables, as prepared by myself, were the first of the kind to appear in print in this coun- Our Plants. II try. They represent the average results of numer- ous analyses, and are sufficiently accurate for ail practical purposes. The original analysis repre- sented only the comparative proportions of differ- ent foods as given in 100 and 1,000 Ib. With these figures as a basis, I have estimated the number of parts or pounds found in one ton (2,000 Ib.) and computed the animal food value per ton, estimating albuminoids at $4, carbohydrates at 80 cents, fat at $4 per hundred pounds. These estimated values are obtained from the average prices of the different grains in market, but as the prices vary in different localities and in dif- ferent seasons, they cannot be said to be absolutely correct at all times. But they may serve to show the relative values of the different kinds of feed and forage. For instance, if the value of any one article is too high or too low, then all the others are corre- spondingly so. In calculating the value of the different grains and forage crops as plant food, I have taken the market price of nitrogen a'c. 15 cents, phosphoric acid at 6 cents, and potash at 5 cents per pound.* * These estimates were made for the first edition. At the present time, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash can be bought in certain forms for about one cent cheaper per pound. 12 Soiling. Grains. POUNDS OF ANIMAL FOOD PER TON. Value as Feed Per Ton. POUNDS OF PLANT FOOD PER TON. Value as Ma- nure Per Ton. | is 5 Is T3 SKi CJK t tfj '£* J53J cu<; 1 Red clover... Timothy '94 394 284 286 232 3° 60 5° 130 •2 598 976 s $ 604 540 656 764 704 730 720 64 60 66 5° 5" 54 5 28 40 20 $18.06 17.96 25.26 19.00 19.40 17-95 7-63 6.56 8-75 9.71 12.42 14.80 8.98 39-4 31.0 46.0 S3 "I 12.8 *•« 96 XI. 2 M-4 t! 4-4 4-2 ti C 10.6 36-6 40.8 30.6 56.6 ii 2.6 ii 7.8 20.2 37-0 19.2 $9-78 8.4o 10.86 ";£ 7-58 2.60 2.39 3.46 3.10 5.24 8.24 3.01 Tares, cut in blossom . . Peas, cut in blossom. . . Orchard grass Wheat straw Rye straw Barley straw Pea straw Bean straw Our Plants. Green Fodder. POUNDS OF ANIMAL FOOD PER TON. Value as Feed Per Ton. POUNDS OF PLANT FOOD PER TON. 0 B f? 1 ValUC aS Ma- ^<0>|nUrePerTOn' I, li •g'-d S li 0.8 4-4 J1J i 60 66 90 64 258 % X 16 12 $5-10 4-43 5-32 3-° 8.8 3-2 9.2 2.8 9.6 Clover (red) . . .... Lucern Peas Oats Rye Corn Hungarian millet $> 22 118 5° 3° 400 2?8 950 18 10 i 40 5-74 1:32 5-56 2.52 25.20 '3-8 20.0 8.0 9.2 4-8 2.6 1:1 2.8 12.6 8.6 17.0 7.2 8.0 2.81 1.20 4.78 1-95 2.26 Cabbage . Roots, Etc. POUNDS OF ANIMAL FOOD PER TON. H u w B u. o? 1 Value as *fe%28J Feed Per Ton. POUNDS OF PLANT FOOD PER TON. Value as Ma- nure Per Ton. Is 4° 64 22 20 li i 6 i 6.8 3-6 3-2 4-4 II m a Potatoes ... 420 i "56 3-8 1.6 2.0 $1.06 1.05 I.OI 1.18 Turnips Field beets P BARN-YARD MANURE. The manure heap is the farmers' bank. His drafts will invariably be honored at any banking house in proportion to the amounts of the deposits in his compost pile. But it is a mistaken notion to think that manure of one kind is as good as another kind of similar bulk. The foregoing table shows that a ton of clover hay contains $9.75 worth of plant food, a ton of cornmeal only $2.60, while 14 Soiling. the same weight of cotton -seed meal is worth $23. Clover hay is worth mor I ! 1 ! ^ 1 J * X PL (O h 4 t i < « 220 Ensilage. that form the hoops to the circle of the silo. Bore holes through these 2X4 scantling for the hoops to pass through. The scantling is set edgewise Pt&r\ of T\our\d Silo. o* i' a.' 3' i i i i and forms a stave of the silo, as shown. When these are hooped and set up, the setting up of the staves on the inside will be a very easy task. These The Silo. 22 1 ii — iu — = c "Round 5ilb, 222 Ensilage. hoops are made in sections, three or four pieces to each hoop, and are afterward drawn together by nuts on each end, not shown in the cut, as they come through the two by four. The doors or openings are nailed to a batten, shaped to fit the circle. They are then sawed out, and an inch board is put on, as shown, to form a jam. The doors are taken down as the silage is fed out. There are lumber firms in all parts of the country that make a specialty of furnishing the staves any desired length, and the iron hoops for completing the same. They are nothing more nor less than stave cisterns built plumb. As to the cost, if the stave silo is enclosed, there is little difference in the cost of the three styles. It would be useless to give figures, as the price of lumber differs, and what would be a guide for one would not answer for an- other GENERAL PLAN OF BARN AND STABLE. The following plan for a barn and silo suitable for summer soiling is shown on page 223. This barn shows two concrete silos, and dotted lines for two stave silos, one on each side of the barn, in case it is desirable to stand the cattle facing in opposite direc- tions. If it is thought more advantageous to stand the cattle facing each other, the two silos may be built at the end of the barn, as also shown by dotted lines, in which case the manure-shed will have to be moved further to the left. The question of The Silo. 223 224 Ensilage. which way the cattle had better stand may be decid- ed by the method of handling the manure. If the stables are to be cleaned daily by wheeling the manure in a barrow to a compost pile, then the cat- tle better stand facing, so as to be most convenient for feeding the soiling crops, which, of course, must be brought in on a wagon. Where the barn is already built, and there is not room for a drive through from end to end, the cattle may stand in rows crossways of the barn, or the soiling crops may be driven into the barn on the floor above, and fed down to the cattle in a shoot. With silos at the end of the barn, the silage may be thrown into a wagon from either silo through a shoot, and thus carted in front of the cows, and fed directly from the wagon into the mangers, in case the cows stand facing the floor, which is on a level with the top of manger, as is the four-foot passage shown on page 223. STACKING ENSILAGE. The method adopted in England has been to stack the ensilage, but the practice never became gen- eral, as they do not grow maize or Indian corn, and only the grasses, clover, oats, vetches, etc., are treated in this manner when the seasons are un- favorable for curing them. While any green plant may be ensilaged, corn is probably the only crop that will ever find universal favor for that purpose. The stacking process with hay is a most laborious process, and, therefore, has not come into general The Silo. 225 use. The stacks are usually provided with some sort of an arrangement for pressing the forage. That it could be done in this country is evident. Two canning factories in Mount Morris, N. Y., stack their pea vines, corn husks and cobs. These factories ensilage the husks of over a thousand acres of corn yearly, and winters feed out this stacked refuse to several hundred bullocks. The pea vines from nearly as many acres more are stacked in the same way (whole). This year one of the factories ran the refuse through a cutting box into a rough plank silo about thirty feet in diameter. The planks were rough just as they came from the saw-mill, set on end, and hooped with half-inch round iron. No roof was put on, and when the silage settled, the staves were taken down, the silage stood, and the whole mass kept in perfect form. Next year the staves (2 by 6 inch plank) will be set up again. As to its spoiling, there is six or eight inches on the sides that rots, and is thrown into the manure heap. As to freezing, they experience no inconvenience from that. If the top freezes a little, it is mixed with the unfrozen ; fermentation sets up, and the frozen part is thawed out by its own combustion. CHAPTER XXI. GROWING ENSILAGE. AMOUNT OF LAND REQUIRED. TWENTY tons per acre is a good average crop on land in a good state of cultivation. The yield per acre varies from twelve to fifty tons. If you have built a silo with capacity for your herd as above, it is easy to compute the number of tons it will require for six months' feeding at forty cubic feet per ton. As to how many acres you will require, that all de- pends upon the fertility of your soil, and the only way to tell is by trying. Make a liberal estimate, If you have too much, it is not necessarily wasted. It can be shocked and husked as field corn. PREPARING THE GROUND. If possible, plow in the autumn and sow to rye. Top dress the rye during the winter direct from the stables. Set stakes so as to continue on snow if necessary. Next spring plow the rye under, and as described in chapter on green manure, page 18, this green crop of rye plowed under will be the cheapest possible fertilizer, accumulating for you all the fall, winter, and spring. In this manner, Growing Ensilage. 227 one field, the most convenient to the barn and silos, may be kept growing ensilage fodder for years in succession. Plow deeper in the spring, the deeper the better. Put on three horses and do the work thoroughly. Prepare the soil as for field corn, and sow with a grain drill rigged as described for sowing corn for soiling crops, only the rows should be three feet apart. Sixteen quarts of seed per acre, or twelve quarts if sown three and one-half feet apart. Roll the ground before and after drilling, and cul- tivate two or three times with a smoothing harrow, teeth set slanting back, or a broadcast weeder. When corn gets too high for these, go through once or twice with two-horse or single-horse culti- vator. VARIETY. Personally I prefer the common Western Dent varieties of medium growth, a kind that ears well, to the larger, coarser, Southern varieties, which may produce more tons per acre. HARVESTING. With fifteen or twenty acres of ensilage fodder, no one can afford to be without one of the several corn harvesters, which will be found most handy in harvesting corn and sorghum for summer soiling as well. A low truck wagon or a low rack between the wheels of a high wagon are quite essential to the 228 Ensilage. handling of the fodder. A good plan is to use three wagons and two teams. A load is brought to the cutting machine, and driven alongside. Two men are required at the cutter, one to unload, the other to feed. The driver leaves his wagon Showing the McCormick corn harvester cutting corn on newly tile- drained ground in field where the draft trials were made. there, and goes to the field with one that has just been emptied. The driver loads his own wagon. This makes four men to deliver the fodder to the silo, and one man inside to keep it level and thor- oughly tramped around the edges, the engineer and the man who runs the harvester. The cutting may go on for a day or two before the filling begins. The wilting of the fodder will do no harm (a heavy Growing Ensilage. 229 rainstorm probably would). Some deliver the fod- der to the cutter in one-horse dump carts, dumping the load at the cutter, and returning to the field. FILLING THE SILO. A chute should be arranged to receive the silage as it comes into the top of the silo, and be so set as to cause the silage to fall in the center of the silo, for two reasons : if the silage is delivered into the silo from the carrier direct, the larger and heavier pieces are thrown out from the rest, and are, there- fore, more or less separated on landing inside. This should be avoided. Again, if the silage falls into the middle, and is allowed to form a stack there, the man who distributes the silage to the sides has all downhill work, and no attention need be paid to tramping except just around the edges. The tramping of the edges is best accomplished by a man standing with his back to the silo wall, and taking short side steps around the silo, then, spread- ing out another layer, say, a foot thick or more, from what is accumulating in the centre, then treading again. The idea of keeping a lot of men in a silo and sometimes a horse to tread is superfluous. If the silo is large and the cutting very rapid, before the men quit at night or before starting next morning, all hands can go in for a few minutes and help, or when there are a few minutes to spare between loads, the cutter, and feeder, and engineer, if there is one, can 230 Ensilage. give a hand. There is invariably a delay some time during the day that can be worked to advantage in this way. POWER. In some sections there are men who go about witn ensilage cutter and a threshing engine, and supply the extra help the same as for threshing ; and as en- silage harvest comes after most of the grain thresh- ing is over, there is usually no difficulty in securing an engine to do this work. A two-horse tread power will operate a good-sized cutter, but it seems like too much work, besides the horses are all wanted in the field at this time. An eight horse-power engine is best, as it only requires four to six horse-power to run a very large cutter. The engine is easily attended to, and the engineer can often give a hand at feeding, treading, etc. PRESSING. It was formerly thought necessary to weight the silage heavily. At Maple Lane farm, 1880 to 1883, we had two feet of stone on a plank covering. At Murray Hill in 1884, we made concrete blocks about eighteen inches square, and hoisted them in and out with a hand derrick. Nowadays little attention is paid to weighting; a few inches of cut straw, and a plank covering are about all that is necessary, and the majority do without that. Silage is heavy. A good day's filling has weight enough in itself to press all below it. Growing Ensilage. 231 It is the carbonic acid gas which it generates in the process of fermentation that is relied upon to preserve the silage. This is heavier than air. The first stage toward decay is the lactic, then the alco- holic, then the acetic. At this point, if the air is replaced by the carbonic acid gas which this stage of decomposition produces, the air, as before stated, is expelled and fermentation ceases. The next stage to the acetic is decay. When the silage is re- moved from the silo and comes in contact with the open air, fermentation begins where it left off, as in- dicated by the heat that is speedily generated. The only pressing that is necessary, if any at all, is to put on enough to press together or exclude as much air as possible from the last two feet of silage. It is a good plan to leave one or two days' cutting to put on top after the silo has settled. Or, where there are two silos, they can be cut into alternate days. As to slow or rapid filling, there is little to be said in favor of either. The question of the quality of the silage, I believe, is not owing at all to whether the silo was filled fast or slow, but to the condition of the corn itself when the harvesting begins. I have ensilaged corn in its greenest possible stage, before there was a sign of a leaf, when the ears were not yet fit for roasting or boiling; also when the ears were glazed and the leaves were dying, and still later when it was fit to cut and shock, ears ripe, husks ripe, bottom leaves ripe; then again after a severe frost, and again 232 Ensilage. with sweet corn after all the ears had been plucked for the canning factory. Some farmers cut and shock their ensilage, and after standing for a month or six weeks in the field, they ensilage it, and even then it makes good silage. I have had as sour ensi- lage from slow as from rapid filling, but the stalks were in both cases green. The poorest silage, sour, bitter, watery stuff, was from the first mentioned, the second was better in this respect, and the third best of all. This leads me to say that corn for ensilage should be sown from three to three and one-third feet apart, according to size of variety, so as to allow it to very nearly, if not quite, ripen as you would for cutting and shocking. The thoroughly ripe corn makes better ensilage than the green.- There is, from the moment the ear reaches maturity, a de- cided loss in feeding value of the stalk, as shown by the following: TIME TO HARVEST. New York Experiment Station, 8th Annual Report. "Yield per acre, and the per cent, of water for each period: Pounds Per Acre. Dry Matter. Per Cent Water. Tons Water Per Acre. j| . 8 21 9*3 Ssios 4643 85 76 September 7th, kernels glazed September 27th, kernels ripe 32,295 28,460 7,202 7,9l8 77.70 72.18 12.51 10.27 Growing Ensilage. 233 "Professor Roberts, of Cornell University, says: ' Fodder corn sown broadcast does not meet the needs of milking cows. Fodder corn is mainly a device of a thoughtless farmer, to fool his cows into believing that they have been fed when they have only been filled up.' " While the tons of water decreased as it neared maturity, the dry matter steadily increased. From the first date to the last the dry matter increased 4.8 times, i.e., 1,619 to 7,916 Ib. per acre, while the digestible albuminoids increased. " Starch Per Acre. Digestible Albuminoids. July ^oth 2,852 96 326.21 CORN PER ACRE. Albuminoids. Carbohydrates. Fat. July 3oth 1,168 10 478 60 677 78 6 561 64 3 434 " Corn in the shock loses thirteen to fifteen per cent, of dry matter." COVERING. Bran as a Covering.— Mr. Henry Woods, of Eng- land, was the first, I believe, to suggest the practice of covering the ensilage with bran. He says: "I 234 Ensilage. chose this covering in order to exclude the air by a cleaner and also a more effectual mantle than soil. A shrinkage goes on, soil has a tendency to crack, making openings that admit the air, and some por- tions of the soil, at least, work down into the ensi- lage. Moreover, there is the immense advantage of perfect cleanliness combined with usefulness. " He wrote this in 1883. In 1884 he says, "Further ex- perience has confirmed me in this view, i.e., a layer of bran over the boards not less than four or five inches in depth is the best possible covering." He adds in substance, by way of caution, that some have fallen into a great mistake of putting the bran under the planks instead of over, in which case the bran was injured for feeding purposes. The method that seems to have met with most universal favor in the States is to cut or spread over the top grass, then boards or planks. Others have covered with plank and earth, and report most favor- ably. Others still have put no covering at all over the silage except boards, while still others claim that the silage keeps better if planked and weighted. CHAPTER XXII. FEEDING ENSILAGE. AMOUNT OF RATION. ENSILAGE is not a perfect food, we are told by the chemist, and to make it so requires (per cubic foot) a few pounds of bran, crushed oats, oil-cake meal, or one feeding a day of cured oats and peas or clover hay. As to the amount of grain to be given with two feedings of ensilage and one of clover hay, that depends entirely what we are feeding for, the dry cattle and young things will thrive on ensilage morning and evening, and clover hay or oats or peas at noon. If it is desirable to make winter but- ter, a ration of the above mixture in the following proportions will be found about right: three parts bran, two parts crushed oats, and one part of oil- cake meal (old process preferred). My experiments with so-called balanced rations have not been as satisfactory in practice as in theory. I am quite satisfied with the above feed. As to the amount of silage to feed morning and night, give all they will eat up clean. The feeder will soon learn how much to give of grain or silage. The best rule is to keep giving grain as long as a cow responds to it. When 236 Ensilage. you have reached that point, you have found your animal's capacity, and there stop. You will require a pair of scales to weigh each milking, a Babcock to make occasional tests. With these at hand, you can easily find a cow's capacity. To this she should be fed to make her most economical. No one can make a cast-iron feeding ration. Only an intelligent feeder with scales and test at hand can find a cow's capac- ity, and you will be surprised to find that two quarts of the above mixture a day is one cow's limit, and sixteen quarts a day can be taken care of by a cow standing next to her. Balanced rations are, no doubt, all right theoretically, but there comes in capacity of the cow, strength of machinery. A small cow may be, and they generally are, better and more economical feeders than large ones. It takes, we are told, two per cent, of the live weight a day of hay or its equivalent to sustain life. A cow weighing 1,000 Ib. will require twenty pounds that go to run the machine. A cow weighing 1,500 Ib. requires thirty pounds a day, ten pounds a day more to support that extra 500 Ib. of carcass. Ten pounds a day could be put to better use by being fed to the 1,000 Ib. cow. Ten pounds a day is 3,500 Ib. a year, or one and three-quarters tons of hay or its equiva- lent. At $12 a ton this equals $20 a year, just to support that extra 500 Ib. of carcass that is no earthly use to the cow or owner until she goes to the block. A 1,500 Ib. cow must yield $20 a year more than a 1,000 Ib. cow to pay as well, all other things being equal. This is no fancy sketch. It is a question Feeding Ensilage. 237 easily demonstrated, and when a breeder or a dairy- man begins culling out his cattle to those that pay the best for the amount of food consumed, he will, as a rule, discard more cows that weigh over 1,000 Ib. than under. So much for feeding. No rule can be given. Each cow must answer for herself. COST OF PRODUCTION. On this subject there is a very wide difference in the estimates sent into the agricultural papers, all the way from 30 cents to $2.00 per ton. I may give the following as an approximate estimate of the cost of growing and harvesting one acre, producing thirty tons, which is a very good yield, and a very good day's work to harvest it: Plowing, seeding, cultivating $5- oo Seed, twelve quarts, 60 cents per bushel 25 Harvesting, three laborers in the field 3.00 Three laborers at silo 3.00 One engineer, engine and fuel 5.00 At thirty tons per acre $16. 25 This makes a cost of 54 cents per ton, to which should be added, if you wish to get at the full cost : Brought forward $16. 25 Manure, estimated 5.00 Use of three teams, one cutting, two hauling, say 5.00 Use of grounds 5-°° Use of tools and silo 5.00 $30.25 238 Ensilage. This brings the total cost at about $1.20 per ton. The above does not signify very much either way. Some may find my figures too high and others too low. My ensilage has never cost me much over 50 cents per ton, as shown in first table. CHAPTER XXIII. SOILING VS. ENSILAGE. COMPARATIVE VALUE. IT has been advocated by some enthusiastic ensilage men that, instead of soiling cattle in summer, en- silage should be fed the year round. This opinion must certainly come from enthusiasm, for in reality there are small grounds on which to sustain such an argument. I have already said soil- ing is as far ahead of ensilaging as ensilage is ahead of cured fodder. First, there is a loss of feeding value in silage amounting to about twenty-five per cent. Second, soiling is more economical in point of extra labor (that many seem to think is so great). Soiling crops go direct from the field to the cattle. Ensilage has to be cut and deposited in the silo, then taken out again. All this labor is omitted in case of soiling crops. Again, oats and peas, barley, rye, the clovers, are more nearly a perfect feed in the green state than corn, even before it has lost twenty-five per cent, of its feeding value in the silo. Again, the change from silage to fresh-cut oats and peas, for instance, is a very welcome change, and has never, in my experience, failed to increase the flow of milk. True, there is a little saving in 240 Ensilage. securing the ensilage at once, but not as much as is imagined. There should always be enough ensilage to more than last through the season. The new crop can be put on top of what is left without the slightest in- jury to either. CHAPTER XXIV. CONCLUSION. SYSTEM. THERE is one thing especially necessary in con- ducting the soiling system successfully. It is not capital as some might suppose, for men without capi- tal are usually the first to adopt it. It is also un- necessary that a man should have a large farm stocked and equipped, because the system is equally well adapted to a limited number of acres. Nor will only those be successful who live near large cities, where land is high. Whatever may be the condition of the land, it is safe to say than the amount of land that will keep one head by pasturing will keep four or five by soiling. The rule works as well on cheap land as on high-priced land, the latter not being necessarily more productive than the former. Therefore, if from land worth $25 per acre, a farmer sells as many dollars' worth of prod- uce as on land near the city worth $200 per acre, the soiling system is as profitable to the one as to the other. The difference in the profit from soiling will be found from the productiveness of the soil, and not necessarily in the price of the land. If on a farm worth $100 per acre a farmer can keep one 16 242 Ensilage. cow one year from an acre of land, and another, whose farm on account of its location, is worth $200 per acre, but is only capable of keeping one cow a year upon two to five acres, the profit in soiling is greatly in favor of the farmer with the cheaper land, so far as keeping cows is concerned. This is mentioned because it is so often stated that "it may pay to soil where the land is high-priced," and to show that the price of land is not a sure indi- cation that soiling will be found successful in pro portion to its cash value. We can imagine, however^ a farmer, under the most favorable circumstances, failing to obtain satisfactory results from soiling, for the want of system. Without system a farmer may soon become dis- heartened, and pronounce the whole thing impracti- cable; for instance, by omitting to sow at the proper time, or the proper amount. Sowing too much at a time, the stock are unable to consume it in its most succulent state, continuing to feed unti1 it becomes tough, when it is only eaten to satisfy in. tense hunger. By having too little, his cows must be turned into the field until the next crop is in condition, thus causing him to become dissatisfied. Again, we can imagine a man with plenty of feed, putting, at one feeding, sufficient before his cows to last them all day; they breathe upon it for a few hours, and nothing short of severe hunger will in- duce them to take it, in which case his stock would shrink in the flow of milk, and increase on turning them to pasture, which would lead him to say that Conclusion. 243 the cows did better at pasture, and thus condemn the system. Again, by not having properly constructed stables or stalls, they might become very filthy or unhealthy, and the cow would long for " pleasant fields and pure air," and this might lead the farmer to abandon the system. Again, his manner of cutting and feeding might require more labor than the advocates of the system profess, and he might thus think that the system might be well enough for a farmer with plenty of capital, a "fancy farmer," a "book farmer," but not for him. Again, by his undertaking too much at once, and getting everything mixed up. The last state of that man would be worse than the first. But by so systematizing the work that every want will be supplied, any farmer can feel sure of success. He need not necessarily follow the plan in detail that is laid down in the previous pages, for it is not so perfect but that it may be improved. If closely followed, the system will lead to success ; therefore, I may be pardoned for saying that until he learns by actual experience a better way, the beginner is advised to adhere to the plan pointed out in all its essential points. Many things that looked as if they would result in improvements, when put to the test, will be found wanting. The principal requis- ite to success by soiling is system. The work of sowing, cutting, and feeding should all be placed in the charge of one person, who can 244 Ensilage. be relied upon to do the work as directed ; and when the daily routine is once established, it will be found much less laborious than it seems to be. The labor is comparatively light; it may be performed by a stout boy where the number of cows does not exceed twenty-five head, but nothing should be left to chance. When the proper time comes for sowing, the work must be done. The cutting must also be attended to when the crop is ready. The feeding also must be regular and uniform in quantity. With a little practice, and if a person is not entirely destitute of ability to work systematically, he can- not easily fail of conducting the soiling system with profit, and also to enjoy the many advantages which it affords. I have never heard of a man who hav- ing once thoroughly adopted the system, was not, ever afterward, decidedly pronounced in its favor. EDUCATION. As Mr. Stewart says, in conducting the soiling system successfully, "the need is more for head work than for hand work." I believe that he might have extended the remark to every branch of agriculture, especially where the price of land is necessarily high. The day has gone by in the older States when a man can follow farm- ing, because he does not know enough to do any- thing else. It may be done in the West, where land may be had for the asking, and so productive Conclusion. 245 that by "the slightest effort it will produce an abundant harvest ; " but in the East it is not only essential that the farmer should possess a knowledge of how to produce a crop from the soil, but how to leave the soil in as good condition as before the crop was taken, or better. This, in my opinion, is good farming ; while he who harvests a crop at the expense of the soil is not a true husbandman. Farming is an honorable profession, but he who tries to obtain by it something for nothing is never a credit to his profession. There seems to be among some classes of farmers a great antipathy to what they term book farmers. Why may every other man learn what pertains to the advancement of his business from books, and not the farmer? We point with pride to this man or that man in the medical profession, and say that he is a well-read physician; to a lawyer, and say that he is a well- read attorney ; to a citizen, and say that he is the best-read man in the place. These are chosen and preferred for their learning, and their excellence is measured by the number of books they have mas- tered. Again, why should farmers subscribe for two or more papers devoted to politics, religion, or science, and read them diligently, papers devoted to every subject but one? Why purchase books of fiction, books pertaining to all subjects but one, and that one his own business? Why does he consult his neighbor as to his methods of growing a certain crop, and follow his example, when, if the neighbor 246 Ensilage. should write out his experience in book form, it would be denounced as book farming? Whence do farmers' sons get the idea that, as soon as they ob- tain an education, there is no use for it on the farm? They are sent to school, taught chemistry, botany, engineering, and surveying, but from their fathers' examples they have learned to think that such an education may do well enough for a book- keeper or a dry-goods clerk, but to apply such knowledge to an agricultural pursuit is all wrong; it is book farming, and yet it is knowledge that can be put to practical use on the farm. Do farmers mean to acknowledge that their pro- fession requires less intelligence than others? What is there in farming that requires a man to be ignorant? Must a farmer, in getting on in the world, move backward like a crab, or as Mark Twain says of the inhabitants of the Azores Islands, among whom all efforts to introduce new and improved methods of farming have failed: "The peasants crossed themselves, and prayed to God to shield them from all blasphemous desire to know more than their fathers did before them "? These questions I will leave the reader to solve. However, I will venture to suggest as a remedy, a better education for the future farmer. The great problem of feeding and clothing the millions de- pends upon the success of agriculture, and requires of its followers a knowledge that embraces a wider and more liberal education than any other pursuit. Said the late President Garfield : " At the head of Conclusion. 247 all the sciences and arts, at the head of civilization and progress, stands, not militarism, the science that kills, not commerce, the art that accumulates wealth, but agriculture, the mother of all industry and the maintainer of human life." FARMERS' SONS. It must be admitted that agriculture at the pres- ent time has much to discourage the farmers' sons and daughters ; but the outlook for the near future is brighter. Soon our government lands will all be given away. At no distant day, the cities, at the present rate of increase (compared with agricul- ture), will consume all our own farm products. This day is hastening on like a candle burning at both ends; the Government burning at one end, the Western immigrant farmers, who are rapidly reduc- ing the fertility of their land, are hastening the good time from the other end. There is surely a good time coming. A day is dawning when agri- culture will once more take rank, as she deserves, among the noblest and highest professions. Let me admonish you to stick to the old farm a little longer, and try soiling. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 • Box 951388 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. DEC 1 5 2005 SHLr 2 WEEK LOAN 25 Jft-2,' 43(5205) ' UJFQIHttfc Uni\ S«