CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 



Before presenting tables of exact composition 

 of alfalfa let us consider its relation in productivity 

 of nutrients as compared with other common feed 

 stuffs. The following table is from a bulletin of 

 the New York Experiment station at Geneva: 



In order to show the high feeding value of the alfalfa from an 

 acre, the average product obtained at this station during the 

 three years past is stated in the following table in comparison 

 with the food supplied by several of our best common fodder 

 crops. The average of the five alfalfa crops was 34,104 pounds 

 of green fodder, or 8,035 pounds of dry matter, containing 1,411 

 pounds of protein, 1,103 pounds of this being albuminoids: 



The acreage yields of the several crops given above are such 

 as have been secured at different places in this part of the coun- 

 try from Pennsylvania to Canada. Sometimes considerably 

 larger crops have been obtained, but the average crop would be 

 less than any mentioned in the table. 



This is indeed a wonderful showing. More car- 

 bohydrates than corn and nearly three times as much 

 protein! And the crop of alfalfa, once the field is 

 established, can be grown and harvested at much 

 less expense than the corn, while corn impoverishes 

 land on which it grows and alfalfa enriches it. 



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