Milch Cows and Dairy Farming / Comprising the Breeds, Breeding, and Management, in Health and Disease, of Dairy and Other Stock, the Selection of Milch Cows, with a Full Explanation of Guenon's Method; The Culture of Forage Plants, and the Production of Milk, Butter, and Cheese: Embodying the Most Recent Improvements, and Adapted to Farming in the United States and British Provinces. With a Treatise upon the Dairy Husbandry of Holland; To Which Is Added Horsfall's System of Dairy Management

by Charles Louis Flint

Soiling.

—Of the advantages of soiling milch cows, or feeding exclusively in the barn, there are still many conflicting opinions. As to its economy of land and food there is no question, it being generally admitted that a given number of animals may be abundantly fed on a less space; nor is there much question as to the increased quantity of milk yielded in stall feeding. Its economy in this country turns rather upon the cost of labor and land; and the question asked by the dairyman is whether it will pay—whether its advantages are sufficient to balance the extra expense of cutting and feeding over and above cropping on the pasture. The importance of this subject has been strongly impressed upon the attention of farmers in many sections of the country, by a growing conviction that something must be done to improve the pastures, or that they must be abandoned altogether.

Thousands of acres of neglected pasture-land in the older states are so poor and worn out that from four to eight acres furnish but a miserable subsistence for a good-sized cow. No animal can flourish under such circumstances. The labor and exertion of feeding is too great, to say nothing of the vastly inferior quality of the grasses in such pastures to those on more recently seeded lands. True economy would dictate that such pastures should either be allowed to run up to wood, or be devoted to sheep-walks, or ploughed and improved. Cows, to be able to yield well, must have plenty of food of a sweet and nutritious quality; and unless they find it, they wander over a large space, if at liberty, and deprive themselves of rest.

If a farmer or dairyman is the unfortunate owner of such pastures, there can be no question that, as a matter of real economy, he had better resort to the soiling system for his milch cows, by which means he will largely increase his annual supply of good manure, and thus have the means of improving, and bringing his land to a higher state of cultivation. A very successful instance of this management occurs in the report of the visiting committee of an agricultural society in Massachusetts, in which they say: “We have now in mind a farmer in this county who keeps seven or eight cows in the stable through the summer, and feeds them on green fodder, chiefly Indian-corn. We asked him the reasons for it. His answer was: 1. That he gets more milk than he can by any other method. 2. That he gets more manure, especially liquid manure. 3. That he saves it all, by keeping a supply of mould or mud under the stable, to be taken out and renewed as often as necessary. 4. That it is less troublesome than to drive his cows to pasture; that they are less vexed by flies, and have equally good health. 5. That his mowing-land is every year growing more productive, without the expense of artificial manure. He estimates that on an acre of good land twenty tons of green fodder may be raised. That which is dried is cut fine, and mixed with meal or shorts, and fed with profit. He believes that a reduced and partially worn-out farm—supposing the land to be naturally good—could be brought into prime order in five years, without extra outlay of money for manure, by the use of green fodder in connection with the raising and keeping of pigs; not fattening them, but selling at the age of four or five months.” He keeps most of his land in grass, improving its quality and productiveness by means of top-dressing, and putting money in his pocket,—which is, after all, the true test both for theory and practice.

Another practical case in hand on this point is that of a gentleman in the same state, who had four cows, but not a rod of land to pasture them on. They were, therefore, never out of the barn,—or, at least, not out of the yard,—and were fed with grass, regularly mown for them; with green Indian-corn fodder, which had been sown broadcast for the purpose; and with about three pints of meal a day. Their produce in butter was kept for thirteen weeks. Two of them were but two years old, having calved the same spring. All the milk of one of them was taken by her calf six weeks out of the thirteen, and some of the milk of the other was taken for family use, the quantity of which was not measured. These heifers could not be estimated, therefore, as more than equal to one cow in full milk. And yet from these cows no less than three hundred and eighty-nine pounds of butter were made in the thirteen weeks. Another pound would have made an average of thirty pounds a week for the whole time.

It appears from these, and other similar instances of successful soiling, or stall-feeding in summer on green crops cut for the purpose, that the largely increased quantity of the yield fully counterbalances the slightly deteriorated quality. And not only is the quantity yielded by each cow increased, but the same extent of land, under good culture, will carry double or treble the number of ordinary pastures, and keep them in better condition. There is also a saving of manure. But with us the economy of soiling is the exception, and not the rule.

In adopting this system of feeding, regularity is required as much as in any other, and a proper variety of food. A succession of green crops should be provided, as near as convenient to the stable. The first will naturally be winter rye, in the Northern States, as that shoots up with great luxuriance. Winter rape would probably be an exceedingly valuable addition to the plants usually cultivated for soiling in this country, in sections where it withstands the severity of the winter. Cabbages kept in the cellar, or pit, and transplanted early, will also come in here to advantage, and clover will very soon follow them; oats, millet, and green Indian-corn, as the season advances; and, a little later still, perhaps, the Chinese sugar-cane, which should not be cut till headed out. These plants, in addition to other cultivated grasses, will furnish an unfailing succession of succulent and tender fodder; while the addition of a little Indian, linseed, or cotton-seed meal will be found economical.

In the vicinity of large towns and cities, where the object is too often to feed for the largest quantity, without reference to quality, an article known as distillers’ swill, or still-slop, is extensively used. This, if properly fed in limited quantities, in combination with other and more bulky food, may be a valuable article for the dairyman; but, if given, as it too often is, without the addition of other kinds of food, it soon affects the health and constitution of the animals fed on it. This swill contains a considerable quantity of water, some nitrogenous compounds, and some inorganic matter, in the shape of phosphates and alkaline salts found in the different kinds of grain of which it is made up, as Indian corn, wheat, barley, rye, &c. Where this forms the principal food of milch cows, the milk is of a very poor quality—blue in color, and requiring the addition of coloring substances to make it salable. It contains, often, less than one per cent. of butter, and seldom over one and three tenths or one and a half per cent., while good, salable milk ought to contain from three to five per cent. It will not coagulate, it is said, in less than five or six hours, while good milk will invariably coagulate in one hour or less, under the same conditions. Its effect on the system of young children is therefore very destructive, causing diseases of various kinds, and, if continued, certain death.