764 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



feet deep, tried all kinds of soil, and had a great many failures, and 

 welcomed every failure as much as I would a success, because it 

 1 aught me as much, and I finally formulated a method which I want 

 to say has proved eminently successful. Prof. Henry at our experi- 

 ment station said, "Hoard, I don't think you can succeed.'' The whole 

 of the agricultural college thought I couldn't do it, but I did it. 

 The result of it is I put 180 tons in my barns last year from 35 

 acres of land. 



Now, a few things about what I do with it. For instance I was 

 feeding ordinary ha}' to my herds of Guernsey cattle and eight to 

 ten pounds of Ajax flakes and bran with 36 pounds of good field 

 corn ensilage that would go from '90 to 100 baskets to the acre. 

 When 1 put my cows upon alfalfa hay, ten to twelve pounds, they 

 continued in that way for two weeks. They increased their milk 

 How and I put the manure under a magnifying glass and I made up 

 my mind I was throwing away grain. I reduced the grain ration, 

 and the milk flow held; and I reduced it until I cut the grain ration 

 squarely in two, and it saved me 50 per cent, of my grain ration. 

 It is Avorth that much in making milk. So that 35 pounds of good 

 field corn ensilage with the corn in, and ten to twelve pounds of 

 alfalfa hay, particularly if it was the second and third cutting, will 

 almost complete the ration, needing say about 3 pounds of bran 

 and a pound of gluten or three pounds of bran and two pounds of 

 ground barley to the cow. Now, those cows did this last year. The 

 whole herd averaged, and they were not fed any more than from 

 the 15th of May until the 15th of October, they averaged 6,750 

 pounds of milk, and made within a fraction of 400 pounds of butter 

 per cow. That was the result of feeding 35 pounds of ensilage and 

 10 to 12 pounds of alfalfa hay, and the ration of grain I told you. 

 It cost |32.60 per cow and $6 a year for the pasturage. 



Another thing I do with alfalfa. I have three field teams of 

 horses. I fed the alfalfa hay, first cutting, just the coarsest, for 

 the winter keeping of my horses on eight ears of corn a day. My 

 horses are fat on 12 pounds of alfalfa and eight ears of corn a day. 

 So much for horses. My brood sows from the time they are served 

 until the time they farrow are fed on nothing but their drink and 

 alfalfa hay. A party of gentlemen from the university on Saturday 

 last came over from the classes and they said to me that they had 

 heard that I kept my brood sows on alfalfa hay during the period 

 of gestation, and I said, "Yes." "Well, we would like to see the 

 hogs." I took them into the hog pen and showed them the sows. 

 And they looked at me in blank amazement. "Why," they said, 

 "these hogs are in good condition." "Yes." "And they get noth- 

 ing but alfalfa hay." "That is all the nutriment they get except 

 their drink." 



A Member: Was that hay cut? 



GOV. HOAKD: Yes, sir, second and third cuttings. 



A Member: What kind of drink do you give them? 



GOV. HOARD: Their drink is mostly water, no whiskey I assure 

 you. It is rarely ever they get milk — 28 calves taking the skim milk. 

 But you will be perfectly amazed, you can keep hogs all winter on 

 nothing but hay and what water they need. 



