The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-12-06
SoiIing Dairy Cows.

Selling is that system of feeding
cattle in which the animals are de.
prived Of ~pasturage and kept in small
Enclosures, food of every kind being
brought to them. 1t especially applies
to the system of cutting and bringing
to cattle roughage in a green state.
The process began in Europe, and had
a very natural development. First the
cattle were tethered and allowed to
pasture within a certain circle indi!
Gated by the rope that held them. AS
they deyoured the green heritage grow
ing within this circle, the herdsman,cut
and brought to them grass and other
food plants from fields in which the
cattle would not be allowed to 80. The
Europeans early conceived the idea
that on the recently titled soils produc.
ing grass, and a heavy growth of it,
the tramping Of the cattle would COM
pact the soil and make it unproductive
by causing the soil particles to pack
so closely together that no air could
be admitted. The land had by that
time become so valuable and the hold
ings of the farmers so small that they
could not afford to lose the use of q sim
gle foot of it. The European herdsman
in the best titled portions of Europe
learned from experience that he could
raise more grass on a piece of land
by keeping it in meadow than by al
lowing it to be used as pasture. This
was in part due to the fact that he
would not cut his grass until it was
at a height where it would produce the
best weight per acre. The roots of
such grass struck deeply and drew
nourishment from a thicker layer Of
soil than the pasture grasses that were
kept fed close to the ground. It will
thus be seen that the soiling system
has developed as a natural result Of
the increased value of land.
The practice is old in Europe. but it
is new in the United States, especially
in the West. Only on Il most in
tensively cultivated farms is it being
used to-day. Generally it is introduced
for the purpose of relieving the pas
ture land from useless pasturage and
adding to the amount of land than can
be titled. In some cases it is employed
because the pastures are too far from
the barns to make pasturing advisable.
l noticed that this was the case at
Biltmore, N. c., where Mr.. Vanderbilt
has a herd of 100 Jerseys. At the
time of my visit the pastures were To-
Gated so far from the barns that it
was not advisable to use them. There
fore, green grass was daily fed to the
COWS in their stalls. Selling is a profit
able operation if it is properly conduct
ed. 1t is very easy, however, to make
a great mistake in the feeding of cattle
being Soiled. This mistake is in sup
posing that constalks can take the
place of ordinary pasture grass. The
cow, if left to herself on the pasture,
will generally find all the protein food
she needs, because many of our pas
ture grasses, especially Kentucky blue
grass and Canadian blue grass, are
rich in protein; and these kinds
of grasses should be cut and fed
in preference to cornstalks. Corn
stalks are, however, a very good part
of the green ration, provided they are
| not the whole of it. Tie most desira-
bic feeds for cattle being so handled
are cornstalks, grass, clover, alfalfa,
aGd, to some extent, roots, including
beets, carrots and turnips. Soiling
will continue to increase with the ad-
vance in the price of land. 1t is only
one phase of intensive farming.-M. G.
Tb,rcton in Tribune Former