1916.] WHY GROW ALFALFA? 67 



known that growing animals and laying hens need much lime. 

 We have recently learned that the amount of milk a dairy cow 

 can give may be limited by the amount of lime she is able to 

 assimilate from her food and water. It is my belief founded 

 on some years of study, that when we fully understand the 

 wonderful results obtained by farmers who feed alfalfa we shall 

 have to attribute part of the beneficial affects to the large lime 

 content of alfalfa. It has been a puzzle to understand how or 

 why cows should increase the milk yield beyond that calculated 

 from the carbohydrate and protein content of the feed. The 

 lime content in alfalfa may answer that puzzle. 



Alfalfa has 34 per cent, of lime in its ashes. Clover has 20 

 per cent., timothy 4 per cent., and ensilage about the same as 

 timothy. Then, too, the alfalfa hay has more ash per hundred 

 pounds than have the clovers. From one hundred pounds of 

 alfalfa hay we get about 8.8 pounds of ashes, and from one 

 hundred pounds of clover hay we get 6.2 -^ouiids of ashes. From 

 that we get the following table for cIi:.-... and clever hay com- 

 pared as to ash and *' :: cc::t:it: 



a:::;:!: i:.y. Red Clover Hay. 



Total ashes in a ton of, 173. 124. 



Lime in a ton, 59.84 24.80 



There is a belief maintained by a number of scientists that 

 there is danger of weakening the activities of animals or plants by 

 feeding an excess of magnesium. We get an excess of mag- 

 nesium in the seeds of plants. Calcium is the antidote for an ex- 

 cess of magnesium. We get an excess of calcium in the leaves and 

 green stems of plants and in milk. There is contradictory evi- 

 dence for and against this theory; some think the calcium is needed 

 to balance the phosphorus, should either prove to be true, it will 

 explain in part or in whole the beneficial results of alfalfa over 

 such feeds as wheat, bran and corn. Certainly there is evidence 

 enough to enable a v/ise farmer to know that he should have some 

 leaves of plants in his feed for swine, chickens and dairy cows 

 every meal in the year. Alfalfa seems to be the best plant known 

 for obtaining an excess of calcium to balance our excesses of 

 magnesium and phosphorus from heavy seed mxixtures in feed 

 rations. The calcium and magnesium in feeds is as follows : 



