EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



299 



practice. It is questionable even whether the first cutting, which is 

 made at a time when the weather is apt to be unfavorable for curing, 

 may with profit be placed in the silo. However, the last cutting may, 

 to advantage, be mixed with corn, if the weather does not permit it to 

 be made into a good grade of hay. Ensilage made by mixing one load of 

 alfalfa hay with two or three loads of corn would be of higher feeding 

 value than ensilage made from corn alone. 



FEEDING VALUE OF ALFALFA HAY. 



No attempt will here be made to go into an elaborate discussion of 

 the feeding value of alfalfa hay. In looking over the reports, however, 

 it has been interesting to note that not a single alfalfa grower has any 

 complaint to make in regard to the feeding value of alfalfa hay and 

 practically all who have expressed an opinion consider it very valuable. 

 Of the 97 growers making a comparison with clover, 12.3 per cent con- 

 sider the hay worth twice as much as clover; 14.4 per cent one and one- 

 half times as much as clover; 5.1 per cent one and one-third times as 

 much as clover ; 10.3 per cent one and one-fourth times as much as clover 

 and 50.6 per cent state that it is better than clover. Alfalfa hay appears 

 to have a feeding value above what its composition would indicate, as 

 all kinds of stock do exceptionally well on it. Even hogs, which are 

 not supposed to be able to handle any large quantity of rough feed, do 

 well on alfalfa hay as the main part of the maintenance ration. Be- 

 cause of its high protein content, it is especially valuable as a feed for 

 dairy cows, for breeding animals and for growing young stock. It is of 

 considerable economic value when grown and fed on the farm, as it 

 takes the place of high-priced protein-rich concentrates, such as bran 

 and cotton seed meal, which have of late years entered so largely into 

 the feeding problems in this state. It is more economical under 

 most conditions at least, to feed it as a part ration either with corn 

 or some carbohydrate roughness, as corn stover or grass hay, rather 

 than to feed it alone. 



ALFALFA AS A PASTURE CROP. 



Two hundred fifteen or about thirty-eight per cent of the alfalfa grow- 

 ers report having used alfalfa for pasture purposes. These tests have 

 been made with all kinds of stock and under various conditions of 

 pasture, season, etc. Twenty per cent of these growers fail to say with 

 what results they have used alfalfa as a pasture crop. The results 

 from the other eighty per cent, who expressed an opinion in regard to 

 this point, are presented in tabular form below. 



TABLE XVI.— RESULTS OF PASTURING ALFALFA. 



Horses 



Cattle and sheep 



Hogs 



Poultry 



Total 



No. of 

 reports. 



19 



81 



75 



2 



177 



Good 



results, 



per cent. 



100.0 

 90.1 

 97.3 



100.0 



Medium 



results, 



per cent. 





 3.7 

 1.3 







Poor 



results, 



per cent. 





 6.2 

 1.3 







