on. 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 would withstand 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, and the like. 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 saleable. 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, saleable milk should 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 an hour or less,
under the same conditions. Its effect on the system of young children
is, therefore