FORAGE CROPS FOR HOGS IN KANSAS AND OKLAHOMA. 33 



pound ho*rs. Upland of fair averufje fertility will support from 8 

 to 10 head of the same kind of ho^i^s. There are fields that have sup- 

 ported '2'} head per acre all throu<jli the season for a number of years 

 and arc still in (^ood condition, and there are other fields that will 

 not furnish pasture for more than 5 head per acre; but these are 

 extremes. When a field is used only for pasture it is better to divide 

 it into several lots and move the hogs from one to the other as oc- 

 casion requires. 



The len<!fth of the season during which this pasture is furnished 

 also varies. Alfalfa is ready for pasture on the average from the 

 middle of April in southern Oklahoma to the middle of May in 

 northern Kansas. In nuiny cases it will do to j^asture earlier, but it 

 is not best, as the young alfalfa has not the start it should have for 

 heavy pasturing, nor has it the strength in the plant. AVhen not 

 pastured too early it will furnish feed at the rate mentioned during 

 nearly the whole season until October in the North and November in 

 the South. In some years the pasture season will continue a month 

 later in the autumn, depending on the rainfall and the lateness of 

 cool weather. In some seasons, if the summer is unusually dry and 

 hot, the pasture will become short; but usually j^asture for the num- 

 ber of hogs previously specified can be depended on for about seven 

 months of the 3'ear in the southern limit of the territory named and 

 for about five months in the northern limit. This rule will apply to 

 other sections of the country in the same latitude as Oklahoma and 

 Kansas. 



While many farmers pasture alfalfa fields to their full capacity, 

 in some sections, especially in northern Kansas, it is customary to run 

 about half as many hogs as the alfalfa fields will support. This 

 practice permits the cutting of the usual number of crops of hay, 

 though the yield of hay is, of course, reduced. 



Alfalfa not only furnishes a great amount of pasture, but it is of 

 a character that goes to make bone and muscle. It belongs to the 

 leguminous family of plants, as do the clovers, the cowi3ea, the field 

 pea, the soy bean, and the vetches, and while it is furnishing this 

 valuable food it is at the same time adding fertility to the land. 

 Alfalfa pasture or alfalfa hay and corn are very nearly a balanced 

 ration for animals, and while it is better to have a grain ration fed 

 with it to hogs as well as other animals, yet a healthier, thriftier hog 

 can be raised on alfalfa alone than on corn alone. Many instances 

 are found where hogs have been raised on alfalfa alone. One Okla- 

 homa farmer marketed in December, 1905, 61 head of spring pigs 

 eight months old that averaged ITl pounds. These hogs had run 

 from the time they were little pigs with their mothers on 15 acres of 



111— IV 



