220 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



[Jan. 



Alfalfa hay is a richer feed than clover hay, containing as 

 much digestible protein, pound for pound, as wheat bran. 

 One of our Connecticut correspondents says " My horses would 

 leave their grain to eat it and the hens would do the same. I 

 shall keep at it till I make it go." 



If alfalfa can be grown and cured here, its value to our 

 farmers and dairymen will unquestionably be very great. 



AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF ALFALFA, CORN FODDER, 

 CLOVER HAY, AND MEADOW HAY. 



Besides yield and richness, alfalfa has other great merits. 

 At its best it is permanent on the land. There are very few 

 meadows in the State which do not need to be taken up every 

 five years, at least, and re-seeded. Alfalfa is claimed to keep 

 up its productiveness almost indefinitely, only needing perhaps 

 occasional top-dressings of phosphates and potash salts. 



It is an excellent soiling crop ; the first cutting being ready 

 somewhere between the middle of May and early June, and 

 two or three other cuttings follow until the 15th of Septem- 

 ber or later. I believe that if we introduce it here this will be 

 its chief use and its best use at first and while it is in the ex- 

 perimental stage. 



We all know that to cure clover hay properly, so that it is 

 not so dr\' as to lose its leaves and its value in handling, nor so 

 wet as to heat too much and spoil in the barn, is no easy matter 

 in our New England weather. 



