No. 6. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 761 



that, but the old fashioned kicker that we had would knock the 

 leaves oft". 



A Member: Do the roots bother the tile drains? 



MR. WING : Yes, if you get tile running through your field, that 

 is a field with running water throughout the entire growing season, 

 it will be better to leave that strip of ground over the tile without 

 any alfalfa. We had a hundred yards of tile filled. We have about 

 14 miles of tile there on that farm. 



A Member: Would you advise paying $20 a ton for the alfalfa 

 meal? 



MR. WING: No, I do not believe I would. What would you want 

 to use it for? 



A Member: Feeding dairy cows. 



MR. WING: I do not believe there would be any advantage to 

 dairy cattle to have it ground. Your dairy cattle will eat it all. 

 A Member: It is not on" the market in any other form. 



MR. WING: No, sir, unfortunately it is not on the market very 

 much yet, but it will be. i believe that Ohio is going to raise a 

 lot of alfalfa hay. 



A Member: Would you pay $20 for it if bran was the same price? 

 And if the alfalfa were put in the same mechanical condition that 

 the bran is in, would it, in your mind, be a substitute for bran? 



MR. WING: Yes, I would not hesitate to say that alfalfa will make 

 a substitute for bran. I will tell you what I base my assumption 

 upon. One or two years we fed lambs on shredded fodder or with 

 clover hay and bought bran, and my bran bill was something huge. 

 I gave them what bran they would consume. Also I have had quite 

 a little experience feeding bran to our fine sheep, and we just about 

 get our bran bill out, and my gains with alfalfa and no bran are 

 as good to-day as they were ever, I don't know but a little better. 



A Member: The advantage of grinding the alfalfa is to put it into 

 the same mechanical condition that bran is in, and to save the cow 

 that work. 



MR. WING: The cow hasn't anything else to do. I would think 

 it would be cheaper to buy the hay. 



A Member: If you could get hay and bran at say $20 a ton and 

 ground alfalfa at $20 a ton also, which would you take? 



MR. WING: Well, that would depend a little on what kind of 

 alfalfa that was ground. If it was damaged alfalfa I would prefer 

 the bran. 



A Member: Supposing it was first-class? 



MR. WING: According to analyses there is not very much diff- 

 erence, and according to my own experience in feeding there has 

 not been a great deal of difference. 

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