484 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



However, it should not "be fed exclusively, but can be rated very highly 

 when a small allowance is fed daily. The leaves are a coarse hay of high 

 feeding value, and the ear, having been left in the husks, is eaten with 

 greater relish than the hard grain which has fully matured and been placed 

 in a bin. There is no much better forage for sheep, but care should be 

 taken that they do not get too much grain. Fodder is Ijest fed outside 

 where it tends to give the flock their needed daily exercise. 



TIMOTHY HAY. 



Timothy hay with its stiff, woody stems, yields a very small amount 

 of forage and should not occupy an important place on the sheep farm. 



ALFALFA HAY. 



In making alfalfa hay the greatest care should be exercised in saving 

 the leaves and finer parts, so easily wasted. The possible loss from care- 

 less making is great, but when properly cured, alfalfa is very palatable to 

 sheep. Perhaps it will give slightly better results to fattening sheep than 

 clover. Where it can be successfully grown it finds great favor for this 

 purpose, "but in the corn belt the amount of special work required in its 

 production is much greater than with clover. The tap root of alfalfa 

 reaches many feet into the soil, thus indicating that the plant must have 

 a subsoil through which roots may pass and water should not be near the 

 surface. For breeding sheep the feeding value is not much different than 

 clover. 



MILLET HAY. 



Millet hay is not considered a good rough feed for sheep. If it is to be 

 used for hay it should be cut when just coming into bloom to avoid the 

 formation of the hard seeds which are nearly indigestalsle by live stock. 

 In too many instances it is cut late, and then when the hay is used entire- 

 ly it is apt to be very injurious. The principal objections are that it 

 causes increased action of the kidneys, also scour. More care is necessary 

 in feeding millet than any other coarse fodder. If it is to be fed, it should 

 be in limited quantities and not continuously. If you have it on hand and 

 do not care to purchase clover or other hay for whole allowance it would 

 be advisable to at least feed an amount of clover equal to that of the mil- 

 let. 



OAT A^"D PEA HAY. 



The prominent characteristic of the field pea is its large content of 

 protein or bone and muscle building material, this richness of protein ren- 

 dering it particularly useful for breeding ewes and growing lambs. When 

 grown with oats it is a feed that merits the consideration of all flockmast- 

 ers. We have received good results from feeding oat-and-pea hay, the seed 

 having been sown at the rate of about two bushels of oats and one bushel 

 of peas per acre. Seeding can be done practically as early as oats alone. 

 Just as the oats are turning yellow at ripening time the pea seed will also 

 have passed the milky stage and it is the right time to cut it for hay. 

 This combination forms a forage of high nutritive value much appreciated 



