Pastures for Hogs. 155 



ground. It will supply about as much pasture as red clover, is sown 

 at the same time and furnishes pasture for about the same period. 

 It is used rather extensively in the lower grounds of Northwest Mis- 

 souri, where it seems to be especially well adapted. 



Alfalfa is shown by the experience of its users to be somewhat 

 superior to red clover as a hog pasture, both as to quality and amount 

 of feed furnished. While an acre of clover will pasture from 8 to 12 

 hogs averaging 75-125 pounds per head, the same area of alfalfa will 

 pasture 15 to 20 head of the same kind of shoats. Although alfalfa 

 is just beginning to be recognized in this State, 10.7 per cent, of our 

 correspondents say that alfalfa is the best forage crop that can be 

 grown for hogs. Those who make these statements are not confined to 

 any particular section, but are well distributed over the entire State. 

 The value of this crop as a hog pasture has long been recognized in 

 Kansas and Nebraska, where the alfalfa-growing industry is much 

 older than in Missouri, and its value is now being recognized in this 

 State. Alfalfa comes earlier in the spring than clover, and if kept 

 from heading, will make a green succulent nitrogenous forage from 

 spring until heavy freezing comes in the fall. Not only does this plant 

 give a good forage during? the growing season, but the hay, especially 

 the last cutting, will furnish a high class roughage for hogs in winter 

 and anyone who has used alfalfa hay for this purpose never fails to 

 recommend it very highly. 



The same precautions should be taken when pasturing alfalfa as 

 when pasturing clover; i. e., the hogs should not be turned on before 

 the pasture is well started, should not be pastured while the land is 

 wet, nor so heavily that the plant does not grow well, and should not 

 be allowed to grow large enough to get w^oody. If the purpose is to 

 use the alfalfa solely for pasture, the field should be divided and one 

 part pastured while the other is growing. The common practice, how- 

 ever, is to allow enough pasture so that about two crops or more of 

 hay are harvested each year while the hogs are using it for pasture. 

 By cutting the parts of the field a few days apart, one part is fur- 

 nishing pasture while the other is being cut for hay. In this way 

 pasture is furnished for a very large part of the year. 



Feeding Spring Pigs on Clover or Alfalfa Pasture. — The composi- 

 tion of clover and alfalfa, and the character of the forage furnished 

 by pasturing the two, are so nearly the same that the best methods of 

 feeding for one will apply equally well for the other. As neither 

 alfalfa nor clover seed can form any considerable part of the ration, 

 the feeding value of the pasture rests on the forage alone. Since both 

 plants furnish an abundance of protein for the growing hog, and corn 



