130 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



It is inadvisable to pasture in the spring until the alfalfa has made 

 a growth of eight or ten inches. After that swine may pasture during 

 the growing season and up until about the time the last cutting would be 

 made in the fall. The same conditions for going into the winter that 

 apply to alfalfa cut for hay should apply to pastured alfalfa; that is, 

 a certain amount of growth should remain for protection and for the 

 catching of the winter's snows. When the growth is not large the 

 number of hogs per acre should be reduced, and when the growth is com- 

 ing on rapidly the number may be increased. Most growers believe, 

 however, that it is best not to pasture an alfalfa field to full capacity. 



Very little hay should be expected from a pastured alfalfa field. The 

 amount that is harvested depends upon the extent of pasturing. It is 

 the usual practice to cut a pastured field two or three times during the 

 season, handling the hay in the customary manner, in order to "freshen 

 up the stand." While this is being done the hogs should be taken off and 

 not put back until the next crop has made a good start. A method 

 practiced by some growers is to alternate alfalfa pastures. Two or more 

 fields are separated and the hogs taken from one field to another. By this 

 method more hay is gotten and the effects of pasturage are not so 

 noticeable. 



FIG. 123. Hogs pasturing on alfalfa at the J. W. Lough farm, Scott county. 

 Separated fields or lots enable the grower the better to control the pasturage. 



Because of the tendency of hogs to root in alfalfa, which is injurious, 

 it is the custom among about three-fourths of the growers reporting to 

 "ring" or to "'snout" them. Ringing is accomplished by putting rings in 

 the noses, and snouting by cutting the noses of the animals the upper 

 rim of the noses, the "rooters." 



There can be little doubt that pasturage injures alfalfa to a certain 

 extent, and when it is overdone it will cause the death of the field. It is 

 such an economical method of producing pork, however, that a judicious 

 use of alfalfa for this purpose is to be recommended. Swine, young and 

 old, do well on alfalfa pasturage. Growing pigs make a wonderfully 

 vigorous growth. Alfalfa makes large bone and muscle with a great 

 saving in grain. From Labette county comes a report reading, "Alone 

 it is satisfactory; with a little grain they do exceptionally well on it." 



