Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1885-03-12
ReyD
SoILiNo.
Seine of the Reasons which Render the

Some of the Reasons Which Render the
System ImpracticAble in the West.
A correspondent writes from Kansas:
81 have read with a great deal Of inter-
est what has been said in the Rural and
Stockman concerning soiling. and I am
impressed with the profitableness of the
system under certain circumstances at
least. But what would like to inquire
is this: Do You recommend it under all
circumstances In reply we would
say that we have discussed sOiling, SO
far as the West is concerned, more as
possibility of the future than as having
any special interest 10 Western farmers,
Or the great mass of them. ut the pres
ent time. There j. no need of sOiling
on the average Western farm. The ole
ments of the necessii, do not exist as
they do in the East. where the farms
are smaller. and where il is desirable TO
make every acre do the best. Generally
our farms consist Of more acres than
We can Use TO advantage. We are land
rich ar land poor. aS YOU may choose.
The irSt element of the necessity of
soilins is a nigh price for land. That
exist IN some parts of the West, but not
in the Vest as a whole. That would re-
suit in smaller farms, and with smaller
farms we should be under the necessity
of changing our methods OF agricul-
TN - the end that WE might
make our land produce more. In
most 81 the West We have the
best land in the world for Soiling
thlra l.. in
land for the purpose which must never
be lost sight of if the system is to be
made profitable. There !, land that is
suitable for nothing else but pasturing.
li.i il would he foliy /" attempt to do
srlyihin@ else with IT, Slunlp>. stones,
ana IN exceeding profuSion of hills
and holiows. for instance. invite to
pa,tIIrage and nothing else. There
NAV ha pieces of such land that may he
prpiit&bly used for selling. but as
whole il can not be with any marked
su"crs>. But on level. or comparatively
level land that j. arabic. and worth
seventy five, or even fifty dollars an
.,cr". I labor is not too high. it will pay
TO sol. There i no doubt about it,
the sage opinion of fancy dairy writer's
to the contrary Notwithstanding. In
thc West labor is 50 high that it would |
give MANY Of us T. pause, before we
entered upon such an undertaking. But
as far ;tS that is concerned. we think
we have shown in previous issues of
the RHr0i and .Sfock nan that if the
conditions exist % make the adoption
nf the system desirable otherwise, il
:an bc made profitable notwithstand- /
,n,, -l,nr. f.,-t lob ic hI.vt
often. in different parts of the country.
part ri IA farm will he very hilly. or
Otherwise only lit for pasturage. while i
the balance will be good tillable land.
On such Il farm the soiling system will \
nerr.;t the keeping of double the
amount of stock that could he kept il
stock was furnished nothing but pas
turc The increase of manure would 4
give an increase of fodder, and thus
make the winter keep of the increased \
amount of stock possible and easy.
But there is one thing. and very ir:-
9a,rant thing. for even the farmer who 4
j. perfectly situated for soiling to re-
member. Ii is not best to make sud- 4
den and radical change from one sys-
tenn Ia another. Such changes in any I
direction in matters of business do not I
work satisfactorily. Many, or. at least, /
some. have no doubt failed for this very /
reason. and are now among the few 1
who have given Soiling any study what
ever, who declare it barren ideality. \
The simplest things in life can be per-
formed well by the average man only \
after some experience. Selling looks to |!
be easy. and certainly it is not commu- |,
nicated. Yet the majority. should peo- !,
pie rush into it suddenly, would fail to i
achieve the best possible results. 1t is II
best to begin on Il small scale. Ii the II
stock of Il farm is added TO beyond what
the pasture will carry. do not add all u
that experience suggests might have
been carried if the system had been Il
practiced until it had become familiar.
Reduce the pasture Il little year by year.
4 good plan to test the merits of the II
system is to spil mornings and evenings, II
the cattle and other animals n
20 run on the pasture in the middle Of n
the day. In this way the pastures will II
be KEEP, in good condition. and the cows
will give a good flow of milk. and soil
inc will recommend itself to the farmer
and dair,man. Professional dairymen \
can introduce Che soiling system on =
large scale with more safety than the
general farmer can, for they are accus-
toned to grow and raise fodder to feed
whel pastures are short. But as before
stated. the subject just now is not of
much practical interest 10 the major
part of our western farming community.
1t j, great question whether we should \
not be better off if our farms were \
smaller. and we stroye 20 make our 4
land produce more But the fact re-
mains that we have any quantity of
land. and while we have it. such svs- \,
tenn as soling is scarcely practical with
us UcSter,s Rurat.
Editorial Suffering.