762 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



A Member: You mean alfalfa hay ground up? 

 MR. WING: Yes. 



Member: Nearly equal with wheat bran? 



MB. WING: Yes. 



A Member: Is that the whole stalk or only the top that is ground? 



MR. WING: The entire plant. My lambs do not discriminate 

 about stalks as they do about the clover. I will give you an illustra- 

 tion of the value of alfalfa. We have some clover this year on some 

 land that we bought that we thought was not rich enough to raise 

 alfalfa on, and we had been feeding that clover to one bunch of 

 lambs; two other bunches of lambs were fed on some very badly 

 damaged alfalfa. We had a great deal of rain at the time of the first 

 batch of hay last season, and the alfalfa stood there in shocks until 

 when I went to open it out it smelled, and there were traces of mil- 

 dew in it, and it looked like manure when it was wet and soppy. I 

 felt pretty blue. We had probably 45 or 50 acres of hay in that con- 

 dition. But we opened it out and got it dry, and it looked better, 

 and I put the best of it in the barn and the worst of it in the rack. 

 I have been feeding some of the worst of that hay to one bunch of 

 lambs, and some pretty good clover to another bunch up to the first 

 of the year. With the clover-fed lambs I had my brother feed all of 

 the corn they would take in the ten weeks, and now, we didn't weigh 

 these lambs when we put them in the feeding, but if you know the 

 western lambs 3011 will know they run uniform. The alfalfa-fed 

 lambs were about 5 pounds heavier than the other lambs that had 

 all the corn they would consume. 



A Member: Without corn? 



MR. WING: Without corn and with damaged alfalfa. That on 

 my bunch of lambs means over $500 if it had been fed throughout. 

 They ate that damaged alfalfa almost all of it; threw out very little. 

 And with alfalfa hay, as we ordinarily raise it. we do not throw 

 out anything and make good gains. I think any of you will concede 

 that. 



A Member: Do you think you know how much a lamb gained in 

 ten weeks? 



MR. WING: Well, in the ten weeks they gained, one bunch, about 

 five pounds, I presume, and the other ten pounds. The first period, 

 you know, frequently up until Christmas, we do not expect to get 

 much if any gain at all. We get the weak western lambs, and then 

 after that period you begin to get the gains after they get a good 

 start. 



A Member: Starting an alfalfa field in Pennsylvania, the first year 

 seems to be a general failure. Would you put it right back on the 

 same ground and inoculate? 



MR. WING: Let me give you another suggestion. I have talked 

 to a number of you. Why don't you mix your clover and alfalfa say 



