Page:Husbandman and Housewife 1820.djvu/138

 state; but red clover, either alone, or mixt with rye grass, is the substance most commonly applied.

Soiling is a great saving of land: for one acre of cut clover, is equal to two pastured, even of the same crop, and in the same field.—It is a great saving of food: for when pastured, much of the crop is destroyed in various ways, as by trampling, dunging upon it, &c.—It is likewise safer for stock, for when they are soiled, they are not so liable to the same accidents, as when under the pasturing system—It is also the means of obtaining a greater quantity of rich dung, than can otherwise be obtained, (for the process can thus be carried on in summer as well as winter) and it puts clayland farms, in that respect, more nearly on a footing with those of a turnip soil. Its other advantages are, that the succeeding crop, after cut clover, is uniformly better than when it is pastured—that the fences are not so liable to injury from the stock maintained nor from the carelessness of those who are employed to catch them.

Working horses, or oxen, derive great advantage from soiling. They are saved the trouble of collecting their food, after their work is over;—can fill themselves much sooner, and consequently have more time for rest;—and can take their repose much better, in a stable or shed, with plenty of litter, than in an open field, where there are so many things to annoy them.

The experiments of soiling cattle have likewise been successful. Young steers become more tractable for work; nor is there any risk of cattle being hoven, if their feed is mowed two days in advance,. [sic] For milch cows, in particular, it is highly expedient to soil them, at least in the middle of the day, that they may not be tormented with flies in the field, nor induced to stand in brooks, or ponds of water, nor in the shade of